I just got back from diving a week in Cozumel. It was a fantastic dive experience. I did experience my first reg-air failure. It occurred about at about 85 ft. depth with 1900 pounds left. The regulator suddenly quit. I knew the second wasn't going to help. I looked at gauge and saw no pressure so moved to my dive buddy. It all worked as I had trained to get his second. My point is that I was close enough to make it work. I noticed many dive partners far apart and nowhere around. Like Alex says make a plan and stick close. Yes it can happen to you. I am approaching 200 dives with no problems. Don't get lulled into complacency. K4JRS
The whole idea of the Buddy System and Emergency Procedures hinges on the proximity of your buddy. If you both have a good emergency system in place but are 100 yards apart at the time of the emergency, you're on your own. All that training, practice and gear selection was wasted. It looks like you guys have it together. BTW, why did you have no air?? Alec
Curious as to if you found out what caused the regulator failure? So, you said it send from 1900 to O pressure on your pressure gauge. Sounds like something other than a regulator failure. Maybe valve on the tank?
RE: Night-diving & "lights shine in the eyes." Alec, gotta tell you this. The times me, my brother, cousin, + friends have been down to "diver-freedom" Curcao, at the end of day after nightfall, we all would go right off the dock/shore & play Hide & Seek. And yes, we'd BLAST our lights full beam in each other's faces! This was in water no deeper than 30-40 ft, and yes, mega-messes up your night-vision, but since it was just a game to kinda relax.... it was AWESOMELY fun! (But we WERE extra careful in keeping track of each other)
Sounds like good fun with older lights. Not sure how 1800+ lumens in the eyes close up would affect your buoyancy!!! All divers, regardless of age, are just kids with cool toys. Thanks for watching. Alec
Alec, ya they were indeed the older lights; back in the days when dive-lights were NOT measured in MEGA- lumens capability. Some of the so-called "modern lights" that are so powerful they can light up the whole damn ocean.... NO - we wouldn't have been playing "the game" with any of those!
Alec would you possibly be up for doing a video about diving in cold vs. warm water the equipment differences and any other stuff. Thanks for making great videos all the time!👍
Not etiquette, but safety (big time!); I ALWAYS carry a small clip-on bell which was given to me as a gift around 10 years ago. Second time out that thing possibly saved my life on a wreck dive. My buddy (resort dive master) was leading me through the wreck and he turned a 90-degree corner - the companionway he was in was only wide enough for one person, so he immediately disappeared from sight. The instant he turned the corner I was floating up to the top of the compartment because my rental plastic belt buckle had sheared clean off and my weights headed south pronto, way out of reach. I was pinned to the roof and panicking big time, but I remembered my bell. I took the top off and started ringing like crazy - he heard it and realised I wasn't behind him any more so turned around and found me high above. Anyway I got my weights back and managed to squeeze them into my BCD pockets and we carried on. So I always carry my bell, and I ONLY use steel belt buckles, period.
Another great Vid... 2-3 of us are starting to dive regularly and this would be helpful. I think it all goes along with the concept of team diving and how it increases safety. In case of an OOA buddy knows exactly where to turn to get air and the other buddy will almost certainly see the OOA and start to react even before OOA diver turns...
Right! I've often said that the best rescue is the one where you don't have to do anything - a la, your buddy grabs your Safe Second and saves himself. Take care. Alec
Good stuff, made me smile quite a few times. On holiday I also like to be the one at the back of the group rather than in the fur ball and silt storm around the leader; it is so much quieter and easier to see situations developing before someone has an issue. Diving in UK I almost always use a light, generally to make myself more visible, although we use the lights to illuminate hand signals rather than doing the Blair Witch thing to make our faces look spooky. If I'm trailing my buddy I also have my light shining on the bottom in his field of view so he knows I'm still there and if the beam starts waving he'll know I have an issue. My biggest thing though is just making the effort to keep good situational awareness going, especially of the people around you. So if I'm going through a swim-through for instance I'll want to check when I'm through that the guy behind me is OK too before I continue on. Example of great buddying: two of us were diving a quarry doing a long gradual descent. I was on 32% Nitrox and buddy on regular air. At 32m he taps me on the shoulder and signals to remind me my max depth on my gas is 34m. Yes I was watching our depth and had an alarm set on my computer but it was just so good to know he was fully aware, indeed ahead of my situation and had my back.
Situational awareness - wish there was more underwater and on the highway. Seems many people have no idea where they are or what they are doing there. Take care. Alec
Thank you Alec, plenty of great tips for a fresh diver. In this video, you had a short sentence of solo diving. I am told I need a buddy, solo diving is a no go. I bread on my own, I swim on my own, more important I like to be on my own. So why not solo diving. Can you make a tech tip or two regarding sole diving? Keep up the good work. T
I can do that. It's common practice to dive as a buddy pair, partly for safety and partly for enjoyment. However, with a proper attitude, gear and training, solo diving is fine. I'll look into a video. Alec
This is a vey nice video. The part about the Buddy orientation being consistently on your right or left is RIGHT ON. Very frustrating when you make this dive and you mention it to your buddy but they don't follow thru. Happy New Year.
Thanks Reza. Finding a good dive buddy is like finding a good wife (or husband). When I finally found the perfect dive buddy, I married her so I'd always have a good buddy. Take care. Alec
That’s one thing I love in the diving world,once you have been taught a neat trick / hack the whole point then is to pass on the knowledge and not ever be a “know it all” douche
Alec Peirce Scuba no, my inspector at work. He’d come crawling down the ladder out of an airplane with a 1800 linen light pointed right at you. He was a crazy old man. I miss working with him.
Hey alec when I get paired up with an Instagram buddy, the first thing I look for is their behaviour before a dive. As this is a good indicator of their experience. I.E. if their fiddling and checking and rechecking and checking their gear multiple times it's a good indication that their new and nervous. A loud braggart whose boisterous can either mean their nervous or are wild. My preferred installation buddy is one who calmly prepares their gear while socializing.this indicates they are comfortable with their gear and are relaxed. I will dive with anyone but these indicators let me know what to expect so that I'm not surprised. I like to think I am the third type of diver as I have described but I will also inform people of how many times I've done a certain site and let others with more experience take the lead
As a solo diver i've picked up a lot of bad habits admittedly. I am so used to just going wherever i want that i chafe having to monitor someone else. Recently done my firsr dive tour with a group and it was annoying as hell having people all over in the water and no freedom to deviate from the divemaster's plan. I'm guilty of changing sides and going every which way but i want to see things... :(
You can imagine how hard it was for me. After almost 20 years of diving alone, I became an instructor and had to monitor a bunch of new divers for the entire dive. Diving alone you have the best buddy in the world - just don't expect him to help you in an emergency! Good luck. Alec
Hi Alec, oddly enough I am looking to buy a new dive light and trust your recommendations. Which Big Blue light do you recommend for casual, recreational night diving? Thinking about the Big Blue AL1200XWP.
Hi my name is Fernando iam from Puerto Rico. I will like to Ask you if you can recomend a something to deep clean my BC. Because my BCN was kept in a Box and got a lot of humidity. Thank for any help
I've dived in Africa (RSA & Mozambique). Getting those big pontoon boats through the surf and then into them is the best part of the dive!! Thanks for watching. Alec
It's experienced divers who know and practice these things. I love diving with my wife Diana (just got her 30 years PADI instructor pin) since I always know where she is. Since I don't have to keep looking for her I enjoy the dive much more than with a new diver or an inconsiderate one. Take care. Alec
Hi my name is Fernando iam from Puerto Rico. I will like to Ask you if you can recomend a something to deep clean my BC. Because my BCN was kept in a Box and got a lot of humidity. Thank for any help
I just got back from diving a week in Cozumel. It was a fantastic dive experience. I did experience my first reg-air failure. It occurred about at about 85 ft. depth with 1900 pounds left. The regulator suddenly quit. I knew the second wasn't going to help. I looked at gauge and saw no pressure so moved to my dive buddy. It all worked as I had trained to get his second. My point is that I was close enough to make it work. I noticed many dive partners far apart and nowhere around. Like Alex says make a plan and stick close. Yes it can happen to you. I am approaching 200 dives with no problems. Don't get lulled into complacency.
K4JRS
The whole idea of the Buddy System and Emergency Procedures hinges on the proximity of your buddy.
If you both have a good emergency system in place but are 100 yards apart at the time of the emergency, you're on your own. All that training, practice and gear selection was wasted.
It looks like you guys have it together.
BTW, why did you have no air??
Alec
Curious as to if you found out what caused the regulator failure? So, you said it send from 1900 to O pressure on your pressure gauge. Sounds like something other than a regulator failure. Maybe valve on the tank?
Don't get right behind someone climbing up the ladder. If they slip and fall you'll get a face full of cylinder.
I have seen than happen to a friend. Never be under them.
A
I am so glad I came across your channel Alec. You provide quality content. Thank you
Well thanks LT.
Alec
RE: Night-diving & "lights shine in the eyes." Alec, gotta tell you this. The times me, my brother, cousin, + friends have been down to "diver-freedom" Curcao, at the end of day after nightfall, we all would go right off the dock/shore & play Hide & Seek. And yes, we'd BLAST our lights full beam in each other's faces! This was in water no deeper than 30-40 ft, and yes, mega-messes up your night-vision, but since it was just a game to kinda relax.... it was AWESOMELY fun! (But we WERE extra careful in keeping track of each other)
Sounds like good fun with older lights. Not sure how 1800+ lumens in the eyes close up would affect your buoyancy!!! All divers, regardless of age, are just kids with cool toys.
Thanks for watching.
Alec
Alec, ya they were indeed the older lights; back in the days when dive-lights were NOT measured in MEGA- lumens capability. Some of the so-called "modern lights" that are so powerful they can light up the whole damn ocean.... NO - we wouldn't have been playing "the game" with any of those!
We all have that one shirt, or pair of pants we love, including me. Alec's is that blue shirt.
Comfy and good looking. Where's the beef?
Thanks for watching.
Alec
This video is helpful for new divers or veteran's with god awful habits. Peace 👍
Diver etiquette is the same as at a dinner table, some have them, some don't.
Dive safe.
Alec
one of my favorites is ( in most shallow dives) watching someone come by dragging the octo in the bottom muck with the bc hose floating up, lol
Me too and they always seem surprised it was dragging.
Alec would you possibly be up for doing a video about diving in cold vs. warm water the equipment differences and any other stuff. Thanks for making great videos all the time!👍
Good tips,keep them comming!
Thank you for this video, Alec. These are great tips to make a dive more enjoyable.
Greetings from Sri Lanka!! Very thoughtful tips Alec.. Thank you! Been watching your vids.. So educational and fun!!
Not etiquette, but safety (big time!); I ALWAYS carry a small clip-on bell which was given to me as a gift around 10 years ago. Second time out that thing possibly saved my life on a wreck dive. My buddy (resort dive master) was leading me through the wreck and he turned a 90-degree corner - the companionway he was in was only wide enough for one person, so he immediately disappeared from sight.
The instant he turned the corner I was floating up to the top of the compartment because my rental plastic belt buckle had sheared clean off and my weights headed south pronto, way out of reach. I was pinned to the roof and panicking big time, but I remembered my bell. I took the top off and started ringing like crazy - he heard it and realised I wasn't behind him any more so turned around and found me high above.
Anyway I got my weights back and managed to squeeze them into my BCD pockets and we carried on. So I always carry my bell, and I ONLY use steel belt buckles, period.
A great story with a happy ending. Well done with the bell.
A
Thank you ! Very smart things.
You are welcome!
Another great Vid... 2-3 of us are starting to dive regularly and this would be helpful. I think it all goes along with the concept of team diving and how it increases safety. In case of an OOA buddy knows exactly where to turn to get air and the other buddy will almost certainly see the OOA and start to react even before OOA diver turns...
Right!
I've often said that the best rescue is the one where you don't have to do anything - a la, your buddy grabs your Safe Second and saves himself.
Take care.
Alec
This is a great video important tips that many people forget. :-)
Good stuff, made me smile quite a few times. On holiday I also like to be the one at the back of the group rather than in the fur ball and silt storm around the leader; it is so much quieter and easier to see situations developing before someone has an issue. Diving in UK I almost always use a light, generally to make myself more visible, although we use the lights to illuminate hand signals rather than doing the Blair Witch thing to make our faces look spooky. If I'm trailing my buddy I also have my light shining on the bottom in his field of view so he knows I'm still there and if the beam starts waving he'll know I have an issue. My biggest thing though is just making the effort to keep good situational awareness going, especially of the people around you. So if I'm going through a swim-through for instance I'll want to check when I'm through that the guy behind me is OK too before I continue on. Example of great buddying: two of us were diving a quarry doing a long gradual descent. I was on 32% Nitrox and buddy on regular air. At 32m he taps me on the shoulder and signals to remind me my max depth on my gas is 34m. Yes I was watching our depth and had an alarm set on my computer but it was just so good to know he was fully aware, indeed ahead of my situation and had my back.
Situational awareness - wish there was more underwater and on the highway.
Seems many people have no idea where they are or what they are doing there.
Take care.
Alec
Thank you Alec, plenty of great tips for a fresh diver. In this video, you had a short sentence of solo diving. I am told I need a buddy, solo diving is a no go. I bread on my own, I swim on my own, more important I like to be on my own. So why not solo diving. Can you make a tech tip or two regarding sole diving? Keep up the good work. T
I can do that. It's common practice to dive as a buddy pair, partly for safety and partly for enjoyment.
However, with a proper attitude, gear and training, solo diving is fine.
I'll look into a video.
Alec
This is a vey nice video. The part about the Buddy orientation being consistently on your right or left is RIGHT ON. Very frustrating when you make this dive and you mention it to your buddy but they don't follow thru.
Happy New Year.
Thanks Reza.
Finding a good dive buddy is like finding a good wife (or husband).
When I finally found the perfect dive buddy, I married her so I'd always have a good buddy.
Take care.
Alec
OH!!!!!! That's really cute and funny. Buddy for life. Who carries the dive flag?
@@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter
Alec Peirce Scuba
Awesome video as always
That’s one thing I love in the diving world,once you have been taught a neat trick / hack the whole point then is to pass on the knowledge and not ever be a “know it all” douche
Sharing makes our sport safer and more fun. Thanks Alan.
If you are waiting by the latter you could help the other divers get on the boat
The flashlight... I had an inspector that did that every chance he got 😆
Did you mean instructor? Yup some do it a lot.
Alec Peirce Scuba no, my inspector at work. He’d come crawling down the ladder out of an airplane with a 1800 linen light pointed right at you. He was a crazy old man. I miss working with him.
My wife doesn't go under, so I'm a solo diver myself: This buddy dynamic is very helpful for me to remember.
Alex do you have any video/movie from your early dives - like in the 60´s or 70´s to upload?
Great video 👌 Thanks Alec
Hey alec when I get paired up with an Instagram buddy, the first thing I look for is their behaviour before a dive. As this is a good indicator of their experience. I.E. if their fiddling and checking and rechecking and checking their gear multiple times it's a good indication that their new and nervous. A loud braggart whose boisterous can either mean their nervous or are wild. My preferred installation buddy is one who calmly prepares their gear while socializing.this indicates they are comfortable with their gear and are relaxed. I will dive with anyone but these indicators let me know what to expect so that I'm not surprised. I like to think I am the third type of diver as I have described but I will also inform people of how many times I've done a certain site and let others with more experience take the lead
As a solo diver i've picked up a lot of bad habits admittedly. I am so used to just going wherever i want that i chafe having to monitor someone else. Recently done my firsr dive tour with a group and it was annoying as hell having people all over in the water and no freedom to deviate from the divemaster's plan.
I'm guilty of changing sides and going every which way but i want to see things... :(
You can imagine how hard it was for me. After almost 20 years of diving alone, I became an instructor and had to monitor a bunch of new divers for the entire dive.
Diving alone you have the best buddy in the world - just don't expect him to help you in an emergency!
Good luck. Alec
Best Dive vlogger💫👍
He is like the sea but the only diffrence is the sea is full of life and amazing sites but this man is full of tips for diving abd experience
Another great video Alec, is everything ok buddy?
Going great, no hurricanes at the ranch and the summer heat has passed. All good with yourself?
Alec.
Great advice
Thanks again John.
Alec
Hi Alec, oddly enough I am looking to buy a new dive light and trust your recommendations. Which Big Blue light do you recommend for casual, recreational night diving? Thinking about the Big Blue AL1200XWP.
great video
Hi my name is Fernando iam from Puerto Rico. I will like to Ask you if you can recomend a something to deep clean my BC. Because my BCN was kept in a Box and got a lot of humidity. Thank for any help
Nice...
so damn right.
Thanks for watching Cheston.
Alec
The worst diver to be paired is the diver with an ego or war stories. They usually ignore most safety protocols and wander off on their own.
In Africa we don't have the ladder problem because we just jump on the boat😂🇿🇦
I've dived in Africa (RSA & Mozambique). Getting those big pontoon boats through the surf and then into them is the best part of the dive!!
Thanks for watching.
Alec
Such sound advice.. Need to show my Dive buddy this as he thinks only new divers think this way regarding location of your buddy.
It's experienced divers who know and practice these things.
I love diving with my wife Diana (just got her 30 years PADI instructor pin) since I always know where she is. Since I don't have to keep looking for her I enjoy the dive much more than with a new diver or an inconsiderate one.
Take care.
Alec
Hi my name is Fernando iam from Puerto Rico. I will like to Ask you if you can recomend a something to deep clean my BC. Because my BCN was kept in a Box and got a lot of humidity. Thank for any help