two of mine involve water.
i used to surf, longboards and surf skis
the ski i used the most had a waist belt which you looped it through a locking cam action to hold it, so it was a case of flipping it across to release it (i could never eskimo roll!)
i bought another ski which was much more high performance, and tons easier to wipe out on.
this had the plastic two pronged clip which you get on bum bags and rucksacks (hope you know what i mean) and you had to squeeze to two sides to release it.
so there i am out surfing on my own.........not the best idea......on the new ski and i wipe out. i didnt get a good lungfull, and im waiting for the washing machine cycle to finish and then go to release the waist belt.......................except im trying to undo the old cam action belt.
its black, ive got no air in my lungs and i cant understand why im not getting the belt undone.
im sure im still here because i didnt panic........diver training i guess, i just told myself to relax and feel along the belt and hey presto, i got it undone.
i got out of the water and had a long sit down......that was the last session i had that day!
the other one wasnt quiite as bad.
i was on a 20 metre dive with the guy who ran the diving club.
being much younger and a bit of a prat id forgotten to pack my demand valve.
his wife had hers, and being pregnant wasnt diving so it used that.
we were down for about 10 minutes when i started getting mouthfuls of seawater each time i breathed...............disturbing to say the least!
i gave my buddy the "problem" signal, then after about 4 mouthfuls it stopped, and i was just getting air again.
i signalled to him to surface and had a good puke!
told him what happened to which he replied, "oh shit, i thought id gotten that fixed!"
what a noob!
again, i put it down to the training that im here.
basically, if i had panicked either time i reckon i would have been right in the sh*t!!!