- We had an incident recently where a modern diver was be towed by a vintage diver on a scooter and the modern diver's "Safe" second went into free flow and promptly emptied the Scuba tank. They treated it like a simple out of air situation and surfaced without incident. BUT... There are two aspects of Vintage diving that DID and COULD HAVE made the situation safer:
- First, the modern diver had zero air when they reached the surface. That's no air for the inflator to fill the BCD. The Vintage diver pulled the cord on a CO2 vest and there was instant floatation. I have had my Vintage CO2 vest referred to as a "Suicide Vest" by modern diving instructors no less. On the other hand, the US Navy Seals still wear inflatable vests and they even have two separate CO2 mechanisms... They can inflate their vest twice in the same dive if they have to.
- Second, if the modern diver had a J-Valve (reserve) the free flow would have stopped when the tank still had 300 psi. A pull on the J-Rod would have given the modern diver breathing air as well as BCD inflation. I have also had my Vintage J-Valves referred to as "Suicide Valves" by modern diving instructors. But when XS Scuba introduced modern production J-Valves a few years ago, I found out they are a Workers Safety requirement by OSHA for commercial divers.
- What I'm taking from this incident is that CO2 inflation is GOOD. And J-Valve reserves are also GOOD. And furthermore, the J-Valve reserve should be turned ON even if you're diving with a pressure gauge.