There are two ways to do it. During rescue, we were taught how to deal with a conscious or unconscious diver that we were trying to assist underwater who was puking while coming up from depth. The first urge a person has right after they finish puking is to take a giant inhale. So the key is to try to make sure they don't suck back in a mouthful of puke when they do it and aspirate it into their windpipe and lungs. If you puke through the regulator, you need to clear it before trying to inhale in case you have chunks left in it. So the way we were taught was to hold the regulator in their mouth and pop one side out and push the purge button to blow it clean before pushing it back into their mouth as soon as they finish puking.

In practice, since I was the one doing the puking, I grabbed my wife by the shoulder strap of her BC to let her control our buoyancy so I wouldn't accidently have a runaway ascent. Then I turned away from her, pulled the reg to the side of my mouth, and let go with the chum. As I felt it finishing, I pushed the purge button and stuck it back in my mouth. Of course my wife had no idea what was happening and kept trying to turn me back towards her until she saw me blowing chunks and the cloud of fish around my head. Then she was more than happy to keep me at arm's length.

The other way to do it is to keep the reg in your mouth, puke through it, then use your teeth and tongue to strain any chunks out of the first breathe you take back in. Depending on how under control you are in the conditions and whether you have a buddy there to keep you stabilized, that may be the better way in some situations.

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How does one deal with puking in a regulator?

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You just keep pushing the purge valve on the front of the regulator and it ejects the puke from your mouth!

It ain't the only way to puke underwater! I went through the County of Los Angeles Advanced Diver Program back in the early '90s. This course is 10 weeks long and includes lectures, several beach and boat dives culiminating in a weekend trip to Avalon on Catalina Island. The instructors were all old crusty Southern CA divers who'd been around diving from the beginning of SCUBA -- not your typical CA granola type. We had a wild evening of partying in Avalon and met at the Casino to do our morning checkout dives pretty hungover. Our team dropped down to 30' and settled around the instructor in a circle and waited for his instructions. He just reached up, took his reg out his mouth, spewed a few chunks, put his reg back in his mouth and started with his instructions lke it was a normal part of his routine. He even blew a few bubbles at the end to show us he was "always breathing".

mandevilleag said:

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It ain't the only way to puke underwater! I went through the County of Los Angeles Advanced Diver Program back in the early '90s. This course is 10 weeks long and includes lectures, several beach and boat dives culiminating in a weekend trip to Avalon on Catalina Island. The instructors were all old crusty Southern CA divers who'd been around diving from the beginning of SCUBA -- not your typical CA granola type. We had a wild evening of partying in Avalon and met at the Casino to do our morning checkout dives pretty hungover. Our team dropped down to 30' and settled around the instructor in a circle and waited for his instructions. He just reached up, took his reg out his mouth, spewed a few chunks, put his reg back in his mouth and started with his instructions lke it was a normal part of his routine. He even blew a few bubbles at the end to show us he was "always breathing".

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While I can assure you that wasn't how I felt on the inside, my wife tells me I looked pretty casual about it when it happened. It is not a skill I would ever want to practice enough to feel proficient at. I felt pretty terrible for the whole rest of the dive and it took about 2 hours in a shaded chaise lounge on the beach to feel well enough to want to get up and finish the walk to the room.

I love diving in SE Asia. Going again in October for 5th trip. Show up, tip well and you dont have to lift a finger.

Diving the kelp forests off Catalina Island is pretty cool. The water was frigid when I was there in December though.

jammer262 said:

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Tx-Ag2010 said:

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This is the type of recommendation I was looking for (considering the OB)... I will definitely check out the perdix.

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My buddy uses the Teric. It's brand new from Shearwater. Had I not just bought the pro plus X I would be wanting it. He only has four dives on it, but loved it.

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I spent the last few hours reading about the Teric and in traditional TexAgs OB fashion I found a way to double my budget. That computer looks badass...(definitely overkill, but I've been told that's my middle name)

Back in 2008, luxury watch maker, Linde Werdelin, made a snap on dive computer for their dive watch...

https://gizmodo.com/383518/sea-instrument-a-dive-computer-add-on-for-posh-divers

It started at $3000 for the computer... watch sold separately...

Tx-Ag2010 said:

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jammer262 said:

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Tx-Ag2010 said:

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This is the type of recommendation I was looking for (considering the OB)... I will definitely check out the perdix.

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My buddy uses the Teric. It's brand new from Shearwater. Had I not just bought the pro plus X I would be wanting it. He only has four dives on it, but loved it.

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I spent the last few hours reading about the Teric and in traditional TexAgs OB fashion I found a way to double my budget. That computer looks badass...(definitely overkill, but I've been told that's my middle name)

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Yeah it's bad ass. Wears great as just a watch too. I'm the same way, might end up getting it next year.

jammer262 said:

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Tx-Ag2010 said:

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jammer262 said:

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Tx-Ag2010 said:

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This is the type of recommendation I was looking for (considering the OB)... I will definitely check out the perdix.

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My buddy uses the Teric. It's brand new from Shearwater. Had I not just bought the pro plus X I would be wanting it. He only has four dives on it, but loved it.

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I spent the last few hours reading about the Teric and in traditional TexAgs OB fashion I found a way to double my budget. That computer looks badass...(definitely overkill, but I've been told that's my middle name)

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Yeah it's bad ass. Wears great as just a watch too. I'm the same way, might end up getting it next year.

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Just ordered the Teric... or I suppose backordered would be the more accurate term. Hopefully it arrives in time.

Are there any downsides to buying a good used regulator and having it serviced? Are there any things I should be on the lookout for?

I'm looking at the Sherwood SR2 and the Scuba pro mk25/600 or 700 regulator.

Tx-Ag2010 said:

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Are there any downsides to buying a good used regulator and having it serviced? Are there any things I should be on the lookout for?

I'm looking at the Sherwood SR2 and the Scuba pro mk25/600 or 700 regulator.

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We have two Scupaproks. I believe those two. One of them we got the whole set (reg, octo and console) for like $300 and has it serviced. The other was just the first and second stage with only a couple dives on it. They're good stuff and can be serviced almost anywhere except College Station.

Does anyone with a pacemaker dive? I'd be interested in hearing the limitations/experiences.

BSD said:

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Does anyone with a pacemaker dive? I'd be interested in hearing the limitations/experiences.

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I don't, but there are some good threads on the scubaboard dive medicine forum. See the links below. Lots of good input from folks like Duke Dive Medicine and other docs. Sounds like it isn't a simple yes or no issue. Need to not just worry about rating of pacemaker for depth, but also what kind of pressure you might need for dcs hyperbaric treatment.

https://www.scubaboard.com/community/threads/diving-with-a-defibrillator.563208/

https://www.scubaboard.com/community/threads/medtronic-pacemakers-and-scuba-diving.492022/

Mr. Dubi said:

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Tx-Ag2010 said:

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Are there any downsides to buying a good used regulator and having it serviced? Are there any things I should be on the lookout for?

I'm looking at the Sherwood SR2 and the Scuba pro mk25/600 or 700 regulator.

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We have two Scupaproks. I believe those two. One of them we got the whole set (reg, octo and console) for like $300 and has it serviced. The other was just the first and second stage with only a couple dives on it. They're good stuff and can be serviced almost anywhere except College Station.

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We have a friend in Austin who is a scuba instructor. He said the older ScubaPro regulators are bullet proof. Buy it and get it serviced and you will have many years of use. So we followed his advice and purchased two of them.

We purchased one from a professor at Iowa State who had an ad on Scubaboard. The 2nd from our Austin friend and it belonged to his girlfriend.

Check Scubaboard and also dive shops.

BSD said:

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Does anyone with a pacemaker dive? I'd be interested in hearing the limitations/experiences.

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I've taught one student with a pace maker and have had several others who had open heart surgery. PADI requires a medical form signed by a doctor for anything like that. Student with a pace maker didn't have any doctor imposed limitations on his medical, but he did carry nitro pills in a drybox just in case.

Your cardiologist is the best person to judge your relative fitness to dive. They can always consult with DAN for additional information about diving with heart conditions if they're nervous about making that determination on their own.

https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/faq/Pacemakers_and_Diving

BSD said:

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Does anyone with a pacemaker dive? I'd be interested in hearing the limitations/experiences.

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I do not have a pacemaker nor am I a medical professional. I have stayed at a holiday inn express!

IMO, there are many resorts with shore reefs that are 5-20' deep and are full of sea life! If you want to dive just plan on staying shallower than 30' so you would not need hyperbaric treatment. 10'-15' dives can be extremely fun plus your tank lasts forever.

I suffer from ear issues when I dive that worsen through the week. So I greatly enjoy shallow dives as they are easier on my ears. Plus photos in shallow depths have better color.

Tx-Ag2010 said:

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Are there any downsides to buying a good used regulator and having it serviced? Are there any things I should be on the lookout for?

I'm looking at the Sherwood SR2 and the Scuba pro mk25/600 or 700 regulator.

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I have the Scubapro mk25. I bought it used from my shop. 300ish, no issues. Oh, and congrats on the Teric, it looked awesome!

One thing I would mention is making sure that you have someone to be able to service your gear locally. I have a Poseidon Xstream regulator that I had no problem servicing in Asia, but Gigglin' Marlin is the only place in Houston that has the tool to open it and apparently it is like a $1000 wrench. That being said, I love my Poseidon Reg. It works a little differently so the "sucking" power required to start air flow is less than most regs and I like that. Is it necessary? Probably not... But I love my pressure gauge also.

http://www.poseidon.com/products/regulators-gauges/xstream

Thanks for the pacemaker info. Obviously, medical clearance by the cardiologist would be the first thing I'd do. the underlying condition is under control, though. I've made quite the recovery and have near-normal to normal heart function. I've done some due diligence and according to the literature, my device continued to function as designed when exposed to more than 1,000 test cycles at pressures up to 5.0 atmospheres, which they list at 130 ft. I, of course, don't want to risk anything and have no desire t go that far down so I will remain above 50 ft if cleared. Like you guys say, there is plenty to see there

BSD said:

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Thanks for the pacemaker info. Obviously, medical clearance by the cardiologist would be the first thing I'd do. the underlying condition is under control, though. I've made quite the recovery and have near-normal to normal heart function. I've done some due diligence and according to the literature, my device continued to function as designed when exposed to more than 1,000 test cycles at pressures up to 5.0 atmospheres, which they list at 130 ft. I, of course, don't want to risk anything and have no desire t go that far down so I will remain above 50 ft if cleared. Like you guys say, there is plenty to see there

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Dubi is spot on about shallow reefs having lots to see! 60' is ~3 atmospheres so you should be good there. Definitely refer your cardiologist to DAN if they have questions. DAN is a great organization and consults on lots of cases. If your cardiologist won't clear you and won't consult with DAN, reach out to DAN yourself. They have a network of doctors who specialize in dive medicine who can check you out.

https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/network/physician

TexAgs92 and others...

What are the best places to stay on Little Cayman? I dove Grand Cayman last year and want to go that direction again probably around March 2019...

There will probably be some non-divers in our group too, so the nice resort-type places would likely be best, rather than smaller, low amenity hotels.

TIA.

Unfortunately, on Little Cayman the non-divers are probably going to be bored stiff. Other than snorkeling, birdwatching, and laying in a hammock or chaise lounge on the beach, it is pretty much dead. There are about 200 full time residents, 1 liquor store, and 1 grocery store. If you can talk the non-divers into signing up for that, more power to you. The place we stay is Little Cayman Beach Resort. It is a nice smaller resort, about 40 rooms with two queen or 1 king bed, and there is a pool, bar, and full buffet style dining included in the all-inclusive meal plans. They have a spa across the street as well. Drinks are not included in the meal plan, but you can get packages that include a set number of drinks per day (3 maybe?). They also have a set of condos call The Reef at Little Cayman with 2 and 3BR units that is about a 3 minute walk down the beach. You can do dive packages and meal packages that include those condos if you have a bigger group. The big draw for me is the level of service there. Everybody there from the front desk, to the kitchen and dining room staff, to the dive staff are just awesome. They do their best to learn your name after the first day and by the end of the week, you feel like you are leaving a bunch of friends. Along the way, they do their best to make everything as easy as possible for you...the motto emblazoned on their tshirts is "Valet Diving" and they mean it.

There are two other full service resorts with dining and dive ops, Southern Cross Club and Pirates Point. Southern Cross is a bit more expensive than LCBR, but tends to put on a "barefoot elegance" style to their offerings. It is a bit smaller and has smaller boats, and my understanding is that the menu is a bit more limited than LCBR, but everybody that I know who has been there raves about it as well. Pirates Point is a bit more rustic in the accomodations and they only do 2 dives per day. Their big draw used to be that the owner was a professional chef and the food was to die for from my understanding. The food at least used to be served family style, but since the owner passed, I am not sure if her daughter has made any changes.

There are also a couple of condo places (Conch Club Condos and Paradise Villas). They do not have full meal plans, but Conch Club does have their own dive operation that works from the LCBR dock. There is one restaurant (The Hungry Iguana) and I believe you can buy meals at the other resorts if you want, but they are pretty pricey.

Overall, I would gladly stay at or dive with any of the hotels or operations down there. You really can't go wrong in picking one. The only thing that would keep me from bringing a mixed group of divers and non-divers is that there is not much to keep the non-divers entertained. If they are the type that would love to lay in a hammock on a nearly deserted beach while the dive boats are out and read a book, then they will be right at home. If your group is the type that needs shopping, night life, a bunch of restaurants to choose from, etc. it is the wrong place for you.

HTH

Something else you might consider is Cayman Brac. It is kind of a nice middle ground between Grand and Little. It has a slightly larger population, a few more topside activities for sightseeing, and a bit more variety for food choices. There is really only one "resort" on the island though and it is a sister resort to LCBR called Cayman Brac Beach Resort. They just upgraded the rooms and rebuilt a really nice pool on the grounds. Keep in mind that any of the places on Little or Brac that I refer to as "resorts" are really just nice full service dive hotels. They are not five star Ritz Carlton/Sandals style resorts, but more a place with nice grounds/beaches, great service, and nice clean comfortable rooms. They are a good step up from something like a Holiday Inn, but they are not 5star resorts either.

txags92 said:

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Something else you might consider is Cayman Brac. It is kind of a nice middle ground between Grand and Little. It has a slightly larger population, a few more topside activities for sightseeing, and a bit more variety for food choices. There is really only one "resort" on the island though and it is a sister resort to LCBR called Cayman Brac Beach Resort. They just upgraded the rooms and rebuilt a really nice pool on the grounds. Keep in mind that any of the places on Little or Brac that I refer to as "resorts" are really just nice full service dive hotels. They are not five star Ritz Carlton/Sandals style resorts, but more a place with nice grounds/beaches, great service, and nice clean comfortable rooms. They are a good step up from something like a Holiday Inn, but they are not 5star resorts either.

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We stayed at Cayman Brac Beach Resort last year and really enjoyed it.

It was in January and the water was extremely rough( ie damn hard to get off and on the dive boat rough).

TxAgs92,
Thank you so much for your thoughtful and thorough descriptions about Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. It is very helpful for future planning.

No problem. If you decide to plan a trip there, let me know and I can give you some tips.

Found a pretty good deal on a Scubapro regulator and bcd set... only thing left to purchase is a wetsuit.

I don't think I'll need one but a couple people I have talked to have recommended getting a shorty... Does anyone have a good recommendation for a wetsuit?

Got my wife one for warm water diving here. I have never dove in the Caribbean with one but it worked fine for her. Wetsuit

Thanks. I've never had to use an actual wetsuit ( I run fairly hot and have a good bit of natural insulation), but have never been diving outside of Texas.

I might just hold off for now and just get one in Bonaire if needed.

Tx-Ag2010 said:

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Thanks. I've never had to use an actual wetsuit ( I run fairly hot and have a good bit of natural insulation), but have never been diving outside of Texas.

I might just hold off for now and just get one in Bonaire if needed.

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Water temp in September will be nice and warm. I'd bring a skin to wear; I doubt you need a wetsuit.

dubi said:

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Tx-Ag2010 said:

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Thanks. I've never had to use an actual wetsuit ( I run fairly hot and have a good bit of natural insulation), but have never been diving outside of Texas.

I might just hold off for now and just get one in Bonaire if needed.

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Water temp in September will be nice and warm. I'd bring a skin to wear; I doubt you need a wetsuit.

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This. A cheaper way to go is a set of Under Armour tights. they work well to keep any stinging critters off of you.

if you decide to get a wetsuit, I like anything with extra stretch for people with extra insulation. I usually dive a Henderson Thermoprene. The extra stretch really makes them easy to get on and off, Other brands make something similar

Tx-Ag2010 said:

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Found a pretty good deal on a Scubapro regulator and bcd set... only thing left to purchase is a wetsuit.

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Make sure you take any used gear in to get serviced prior to your trip. I'd get the first servicing done locally so you can try everything out in the pool. Most shops will let you use their pool for free to make sure the reg is tuned correctly.

Quote:

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This. A cheaper way to go is a set of Under Armour tights. they work well to keep any stinging critters off of you.

if you decide to get a wetsuit, I like anything with extra stretch for people with extra insulation. I usually dive a Henderson Thermoprene. The extra stretch really makes them easy to get on and off, Other brands make something similar

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I have a skin like this for diving and it does not cost anymore than Under Armour products, but agree that is a good idea.

I love Henderson; I have the hyperstretch and it is super easy to get on and off. I have it in 1mm, 3mm and 5mm.