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It is with great fear and trepidation I relate a recent
training experience because of the fire storm it will most
likely start.  Only due to George's sparkling personality
and encouragement do I post this.

I wrote gmiiii (is that the requisite number of i's?)
regarding the octopus neck strap after a problem with an
open water student this weekend.  Last week I was going
to make a surgical tubing octostrap but ran out of time.
After all, I only had five OW students to work with so
why worry?  Besides, that is not the "normal" equipment
configuration.

One of the students was doing very well on the training
dives, the first three anyway.  On the last dive, all other
skills completed, remove and replace the mask.  She had
flooded and cleared the mask, partial and complete, three
times already.  Now, she floods, removes, replaces and
starts to clear the mask.  Gives a slight cough and goes
into full blown panic.  Wide eyes and all.  I'm holding on
to her BC shoulder strap with one hand and holding the reg
in her mouth with the other.

The student manages to pull the reg out of her mouth in spite
of my hand, rips the reg out of my mouth and hauls me to the
surface.  From 20' a free ascent is a no never mind.  The
only concern was that she was exhalling all the way.

At the surface the student managed to climb high enough on me
to be almost sitting on my shoulders.  No reg in my mouth,
holding on to the student makes it a little hard to find the
alternate which is in the prescribed location.

End result, after a couple minutes I got her calmed down enough
to descend to the platform, redo the skill and finish the dive.

End, end result - no matter what training organizations may or
may not say about equipment configuraton, I won't be going back
without the proper, professionally constructed (by me)
octostrap!  It would be terribly embarrassing to be drowned in
a quarry by an open water student.  I could never live that down!

BTW, gmiiii, I'll probably ask for a copy of your video soon.

Ralph Landry, still alive and kicking

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