Thread: my shallow water blackout nightmare
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Old June 8th, 2006
jimqpublic jimqpublic is offline
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Re: my shallow water blackout nightmare
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One more thing is proper weighting. According to PFI 90% of blackouts or sambas occur at the surface and 9% occur in the last several meters. Your blackout at 15 feet is pretty classic. If you follow PFI's weighting advice and are neutral at 10 meters (33 feet) then you will float up to the surface in 99% of blackouts. You still need to be rescued since face down on the surface you drown, but at least your buddy doesn't have to chase you down as you sink toward the bottom.

As deep as you were diving being neutral at 33' is no problem. It only becomes an issue if you're diving in shallow water. Most of the students in my PFI class reduced their weight belts by 6 pounds or so to be neutral at 10m.

Regarding the fear- I think that practicing rescues each time you go to dive should help to regain your confidence. That and reasonable caution can turn the fear into useful tools.
Last edited by jimqpublic; June 8th, 2006 at 13:05.
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