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#51878
Would You Share Air with a Freediver?
Greg - 12/30/2013 7:18 AM
Category: Survey
Replies: 48

If you and a buddy are scuba diving and a freediver approaches you, giving you the out-of-air hand signal...what would you do? You are 80 feet underwater. You have a little over half a tank of air left. You do not know who the freediver is or what his qualifications are. The freediver has a loaded speargun.

Please add a little more detail to your answer in the comment field.

This actually happened to another DiveBuddy member, read more about it here: divebuddy.com/blog/11663/out-of-air
#104
mcolligon - 2/03/2015 5:00 PM
[Choose #1] I would always try to help someone as long as I did not put myself or the other at greater risk.
#62
Stumpy - 6/13/2014 11:55 AM
[Choose #4] Only if it was an obvious life or death situation. But before he gotvair from me, I would wrap my legs around him and hold on to him for dear life...His...because if he then holds his breath and shoots to the surface, he’ll most likely end up dead.
#5471
DiveBuddyChgo - 3/20/2014 4:19 AM
[Choose #3] One breath you donate gas to anyone not on scuba. You could be paying for a very costly lawsuit. If your cert’d as a professional then you already lost the suit. Also everything else you saved up for a diving style retirement.
#395
McNair - 2/20/2014 12:09 PM
[Choose #1] Easy answer. Either give him/her your octo or he/she is going to take it OR your primary from you. Oh & the spear gun is now mine.
#2638
John_giu - 2/03/2014 4:58 PM
[Choose #4] why wouldn’t you?
#7719
Nitediver - 1/04/2014 12:05 PM
[Choose #1] Not sure this is the safest course of action but it’s what I’d do.
#289
Plmr747 - 1/02/2014 5:37 PM
[Choose #1] It’s only sensible, help someone in need. Accending slowly, ensuring safety stop.
#803
Hawkeye54 - 1/01/2014 4:26 PM
[Choose #1] If he can approach and signal me, he probably has enough stamina to reach the surface the same way he came down. That said, I would not write off someone’s life to be selfish of my own dive. I’d give him the air and control his ascent rate.
#4035
uwlover4u - 1/01/2014 11:00 AM
[Choose #1] Although I would be willing to help I would seriously question what kind of idiot would do something like this. Too bad the article does not say why this freediver acted this way.
#15369
scott - 1/01/2014 8:45 AM
[Choose #1] Give him air, Drop the gun, and a proper ascend. I don’t think the free diver will be much trouble after he gets the reg in his face and your hose is at the most 6 feet (like my primary) so he won’t get far. Then hope for the best.
#1350
Pixel - 12/31/2013 3:45 AM
[Choose #1] I’d do what I could. I would also take the loaded speargun off this person. If they panic, who knows what might happen accidently.
#593
DiverMikeB - 12/30/2013 10:42 PM
[Choose #1] If I could safely accend with the free diver I would try that first.
#12608
Eric_R - 12/30/2013 9:00 PM
[Choose #1] How would you know that the diver was a free diver? Maybe the diver shed his equipment because of problems. Out of air is out of air. If you have to think about whether you should provide it then you shouldn’t be diving.
#4236
tazzer9797 - 12/30/2013 8:47 PM
[Choose #1] The person needs air.. give it... but I would wonder why he over did it in his or her limits to need theair in the first place...
#14775
tardmaster - 12/30/2013 6:44 PM
[Choose #1] Why not give it to him? That being said, i agree with latitude. He’s going up with me at MY pace to prevent his injury. I then proceed to find out how he got his butt into trouble and either cut my dive short or put me and my buddy at risk.
#28739
RAWalker - 12/30/2013 2:07 PM
[Choose #1] Back onthe surface I’d suggest the freediver is in the wrong sport and to invest in scuba gear or at least a bailout bottle.
#1600
lerpy - 12/30/2013 1:39 PM
[Choose #1] WOW this would be an interesting situation. I think I would do what most are saying, give the air and go to the surface. If you are a freediver and asking for some air you better be in a "situation" where you need help, not just wanting a free breath
#280
peter2204 - 12/30/2013 1:33 PM
[Choose #1] the article said he had dived before with a short si so his stops would have been different to your own so he still could have got bent on youre stops
#122
KDphoto - 12/30/2013 1:24 PM
[Choose #1] I would def give the freediver air, and then ascend slowly making sure they don’t get over expansion. I’d then make him pay for the dive :)
#5828
Agojo - 12/30/2013 11:25 AM
[Choose #4] Yes, but they would be with me to the surface. If they did it again I would say no and consider it cleansing of the gene pool! (see my out of air article, wasn’t a freediver)
#4002
WarmWaterTurner - 12/30/2013 11:00 AM
[Choose #1] Snorklers have tried this as well. But, I agree that if I give you air then you are going to go up with me. You are also going to hang on my safety stop as well - for my sake.
#1406
Green_Achers - 12/30/2013 9:15 AM
[Choose #1] The only alternative is to tell him to go find his own air. JK
#1376
RockRat2008 - 12/30/2013 8:52 AM
[Choose #4] I chose 4 b/c I honestly don’t know what I’d do; I think habit/training would make me give him my otco, but who knows.
#8064
Rich-D-Fish - 12/30/2013 8:44 AM
[Choose #4] Why waste the air. It was a search and recovery mission after all.
#21088
LatitudeAdjustment - 12/30/2013 8:25 AM
[Choose #1] Once he shares my air he isn’t a free diver, he’s going up with me!
#2309
Scuba-Smurf - 12/30/2013 7:36 AM
[Choose #1] Fully agree with you Greg... However once on the surface I’d probably give him a piece of my mind for getting himself in such a situation!
#51878
Subscribed
Greg - 12/30/2013 7:24 AM
[Choose #1] This is a difficult situation that I never want to be in. In the heat of the moment, I would probably give him my alternate air source, force him to the give the speargun to my buddy, then hold the freediver as we ascend to avoid lung overexpansion.