The Three Stooges
Approach to Air Sharing

When an out-of-air diver approaches you seeking to share air, one of three things may happen. (We’ll use those patron saints of slapstick, the Three Stooges, to demonstrate.)

• When Larry runs out of air, he may simply come up, take your alternate air source, begin breathing from it — then let you know that he’s out of air, has taken your octopus and would most likely prefer to ascend with you in tow.
• Moe, on the other hand, may come up, get your attention, give you the “out of air” signal — then sit there like a bump on a log waiting for you to do something.

• Curly doesn’t screw around. When he comes up to you, he wastes no time hunting for your octopus or waiting for you to pass him one. Curly simply takes the second stage he can find most readily and which he knows is working: The one in your mouth.

Of these three scenarios, the first is arguably the most ideal. If Larry comes up and simply takes your alternate-air-source second stage, you never have to give up the one from your mouth. Unfortunately, divers with this much presence of mind also tend to have sufficient intelligence to actually look at their pressure gauges from time to time and, as a consequence, seldom run out of air.

The more likely scenarios »

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