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For Folks that Use Hookah (Diving ONE, not the Other Kind!!)

Could be a lot of things...My Ear doctor told me I can never dive again..after an inner ear surgery procedure, He strongly admonished: "You WILL black out and drown yerself if you try it!" So, about a month later, I was sitting in the shade in the water underneath the dock at Capt Dons in Bonaire., drinking some RedStripes of course....Both my Girls were out on a wreck dive of the Helma Hooker....So I was holed up under the dock just enjoying myself.....

Boredom eventually ensued as is typical, so I dog paddled out from under the dock and noticed a sunken boat in what looked to be about 20' of water...Intrigued, I paddled back to the dock and got a tank and my gear and gingerly went down to take a look...Well, the water in Bonaire is GIN clear...and I underestimated the depth by a little bit...

I blew BCD and dropped down off the ledge, Like Ed Harris did in in the smash hit movie 'Abyss'. I got down to that boat, was taking a look at it, admiring its construction etc...then I casually glanced over at my depth gauge! 120 FEET! Holy Bleep! Up I came...of course there was no Dive Buddy around, no dock boy to make a rescue...it only looked like @ 20' give or take! So yeah...all sorts of things can happen...

Although a drowning death is said to be a peaceful way to go...from folks that drowned and survived, they say after the initial panic, and following acceptance, its actually not too bad once a guy just gives up and relaxes...Probably like most marriage experiences...in both cases, ..the sooner you know you are in over your head, the better, just accept it and relax..being a bit deaf helps in both cases too....:laughing:
 

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Cheap way to dive

I can see a failure issue sooner or later, sad it probably took his life , tanks are better i guess , i am not a diver , but even with tanks there still remains threats under water , chances i am not willing to take.
 
I'm sure theres a lot of us that have had our close calls with drowning a time or two...Falling through the ice beaver trapping, getting washed off a fast salmon river gravel bar with waders on, participating in a beer funnel chug contest, neti pots, hot tubs, babysitters, ya know, standard common threats........

Well, besides all of the above, the closest I ever came to actually 'Really Drowning' involved an anchor, a rope, and a slippery asst deck...and beer...

I built this TugBoat you see...(quite lovely dont you think?) I'm proud of her and happy with her hydrodynamic performance.....but notice the curvity asst portion right there by the wheelhouse? In conjunction, I poured myself a massive concrete anchor of my own design, probably weighed 50lbs....So, Out in 40' of water one day, drinking a course, with my cousin aboard, I went to pull the anchor...so I was sort of standing on that slippery asst slopey portion of the deck, bouncing the anchor along side the boat to get the mud off of it, cigarette in my mouth..when all of a sudden, Zip Zoom!

I slipped on the deck!, fell flat on my @ss!, and down went that anchor! In its intrepidness to make it to the bottom, it threw a wrap of line around my arm, and over the side I went with it!! It happened so fast! Just like a Bering Sea Crabber can attest being grabbed by a launched pot and over the rail you go with it!


I managed to have one lung full of air to work with as I untangled myself in the murky muddy depths...took me about 15 minutes I figure, I eventually popped to the surface, cigarette still in my mouth, seaweed all over my head like a manatee threw up a dinner salad.....my Cousin was up there laughing hysterically!

I'm like damn! That was a close one! Note to self: No more slippery asst decks! And henceforth, lets pour ourselves some lighter anchors! :laughing:
 

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That sucks. Maybe a blackout, hopefully not carbon monoxide from a bad air intake or intake location. Not lobster mini season yet so maybe just scouting some spots.
 
death while diving at 20 feet is most likely either a medical issue like a massive heart attack or stroke, or its CO blowing back over the compressor intake.

20 feet is just too shallow in open water for other problems. you can spit out your reg and make an easy, leisurely ascent. Cant get bends from 20 ft.
 
You usually go to sleep due to exhaust fumes. That is why electric ones are highly recommended. Most gas Hookah you will never get the exhaust far enough from the intake. I am sure a lot of inexperienced hookah divers think their eyes are burning due to lens soap or a hard night of drinking. Heck around here some still think you can breath underwater with a 50 ft garden hose:shock:
 
Very bad news, too young thats for sure.
I thought a long time about getting a hookah but eventually I decided to get scuba certified.Glad I did, hookahs are noisy. That was one of the main reasons I chose scuba.
 
Very bad news, too young thats for sure.
I thought a long time about getting a hookah but eventually I decided to get scuba certified.Glad I did, hookahs are noisy. That was one of the main reasons I chose scuba.

Absolutely. I bought one, used it once and it was gone. I get enough complaints. I sure didn't need that thing outside of swim areas!
 
The way I read it is there is one Hookah and 2 divers in the water at a time,2 diver Hookahs very common, WHY was one diver fine and not the other? same air to both!
 
when I first saw this this first thime that came to mind was the exhaust fumes . I don't dive that deep with a good dredge but you have to be mindful of the wind direction so the exhaust fumes are down with from your compressor.
 
The thing with "exhaust" explanation is that its not "sneaky". Its doesnt just make you fall asleep. You get sick. You get a headache. You get a screaming headache, nausea, vomiting before you ever pass out. The only people who die from CO poisoning are people who were already asleep or just ignored all the symptoms.
 
Battery power the only way to go.

This is a two man unit. The pumps are down low in the water to dampen the sound and to keep the pumps cool. No exhaust. Pump only runs when air is low in the reserve tank. Takes a standard 12 volt car battery. Connection for the second hose is on the front of the reserve tank. The flag needs a little help! Get scuba certified to use one of these!!!!!!!
 

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