On Monday, December 18, 2000 2:47 AM, Lee Bell wrote:

(snip)

> Of course, the standard, I presume it's standard, signal for low and out
of
> gas isn't much use when the one that needs to see it is behind the diver
> whose in trouble.  I submit to the group, that this is something that
should
> be addressed and challange the list to come up with something that might
> become standard for emergencies that occur while a buddy is behind, things
> like low on gas, out of gas, I'm stuck, whatever.

Assuming that the lead diver is out of gas and stuck, (and with no room to
pass through a long hose - and leaving aside the diver's ability to signal
backward with a light), the initial thrashing of the fins might be a give
away that something is amiss.  This would be confirmed when movement ceases.

It's probably trite to sugest that with proper planning nobody should be in
that sort of situation where they're likely to be low on gas.  (Being out of
gas completely, of course, could be because of a catastrophic equipment
failure.)  Becoming stuck in a narrow passage is something else again.

It's easy to conceive of  a range of gizmos - audible signalling devices;
tail light signalling devices, etc. - but these would all rely on the lead
diver being in a position to activate them.  They are also additional
failure points and - from that point of view - unreliable.

Assuming that the legs/fins of the lead diver are easily visible to those
behind - and that there is sufficient room for the distressed diver to move
them - then some sort of leg signals would be an obvious method.  The
problem there is that in an out of gas situation there is little time for
calculated thought on the part of the stuck diver.

If it was me in that situation, all that you'd notice was some frantic
thrashing followed by a few twitches and then no movement at all! :-)

Strike