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NAUI Scuba Diver 80 Diving Skills You must also remember to vent air from your BC to slow your ascent. Your ascent rate will increase due to the buoyancy of your wetsuit and its expansion. If you are in warm water and drop your weight belt, you will have to swim to the surface. However, not having the extra weight will help make your ascent easier. General Guidelines If you find yourself without air, you might wonder which method of ascent you should use. The method you should use depends on the situation, but the following general guidelines should help you decide which method to use: • Discuss and agree on emergency procedures with your buddy before your dive. This discussion should include the signals you will use in an emergency and your respective equipment configurations. • The optimal method of knowing that you have air in an emergency is to carry a contingency air supply like a pony bottle. This is the easiest and safest method for reaching the surface if you find that your primary scuba unit is not providing air. Simply place the backup regulator in your mouth, clear it, and continue breathing as you ascend. • A dependent ascent, breathing from your buddy’s air supply, is better than an independent swimming or buoyant ascent because you have a supply of air during the ascent. Breathing from your buddy’s back-up regulator is better than trying to perform buddy breathing. Remember that buddy breathing takes practice and you and your buddy must both be comfortable with buddy breathing. • You should consider doing an independent ascent only if your buddy is not available. It should be obvious that not running out of air in the first place is the best course of action. Monitor your submersible pressure gauge frequently during your dive to avoid running out of air. Making this one of your diving habits will ensure that all of your ascents will be normal ascents and you will not need to worry about decisions regarding emergency ascents. Verify What You Have Learned Review the following questions about safety skills: 23. Each diver should take __________ breaths when sharing air with one regulator. 24. How do you know which of your buddy’s two regulators to use during an assisted ascent? ______________________________ ______________________________ 25. If you are planning to use buddy breathing in an emergency, you should ______________________________ ______________________________ 26. When is it appropriate to choose a buoyant emergency ascent? ______________________________ ______________________________ BUDDY SYSTEM It is easy to keep track of your buddy in controlled conditions where the visibility is good and the area is limited. Maintaining contact with your buddy in open water is not as easy. Diving is fun, but it is not as fun if you spend most of your time looking for your buddy. If you use the following points to keep track of your buddy, diving will be very enjoyable: • Agree on a leader for each dive. • Discuss the dive before you get in the water and agree on the location, purpose, activity, and general course you will follow under water. • Maintain your same position relative to one another for your entire dive. If you start out on the right side of your buddy, stay on the right side for the entire dive. It is more enjoyable to dive side by side than for one of you to be in front and the other buddy following behind. • Establish your direction of travel under water and then follow that heading until you or your buddy suggest a change or stop with a clear signal. Make sure your buddy acknowledges the signal before you change direction. If you do get separated from your buddy, you will


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