My dive partner told me to always double-check my bailout bottle valve, and it saved my neck last month

We were doing a 160 foot inspection on a platform in the Gulf. I was geared up and ready to go, but my partner, this old hand named Carl, stopped me before I hit the water. He pointed at my bailout bottle and said, 'Check that valve again. I saw you turn it, but did you feel it seat?' I was in a hurry, but I did it. Sure enough, it was only a quarter turn open. If I'd needed that gas in a hurry, I would have been sucking on nothing. That simple five second check, which I used to think was overkill, was the difference between a normal dive and a real bad day. It's stuck with me. What's one piece of simple advice you got that you almost ignored, but ended up being a lifesaver?

2 comments

2 Comments

felix4783d agoMost Upvoted

Double-checking is just basic procedure. That's not advice, it's the bare minimum.

lucaslane3d ago

You know, Felix has a point about it being basic procedure. But that's exactly why it's such good advice. We all know the steps, but in the real world, with time pressure or just plain routine, our brains skip them. The advice isn't just to know the steps, it's to fight that autopilot feeling. My old instructor called it "getting complacent in the checklist." He said the procedure is just words on paper until you make the conscious choice to do it every single time, especially when you think you don't need to. That mental shift from going through motions to actually engaging is what turns a basic rule into a lifesaver.