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You hit the nail on the head. I realized I was doing this when I was in a pool recently. I was hanging around the bottom of the deep end just trying to hover, removing/replacing mask, watching bubbles go up, etc., and decided I wanted to see if I could swim around the pool staying within a...

When doing the emergency buoyant ascent in our OW class pool drills, our instructor actually told us that if he doesn't see bubbles on the way up, we were getting punched in the gut. Not sure if he actually meant it, but it made sense to me at the time.

Another thread got me started thinking, and I wonder if I'm swimming too much while underwater. I've always been at home in water, and consider myself a very strong swimmer (graduated every level of swim lessons offered as a kid, wished I grew up somewhere with a swim team). When diving, I...

I'm far from an expert, but I like simple, straightforward and bulletproof. I just got my hands on an Oceanic Veo 1.0 a couple months back, and it looks like it should serve my purposes. One button, sure, but it'll get the job done, and it's Nitrox compatible. I just wanted to chime in that...

Congratulations! I've been in your shoes, dreaming of diving for years before finally getting certified. It's a huge milestone, so take pride in it and go have fun!

** Never mind, OP beat me to it. ** I could be wrong, but I think the OP's use of "solo" meant that they came without their own buddy (i.e. not as a pair), not that they are solo divers. Doesn't change the fact that there should have been much better pre-dive communication about buddies and...

So, my plan for this summer is to use my in-laws' pool to get used to my new gear and work on skills until I can get out for some dives later this year (I've got a lot going on between now and Sept!). Two weeks ago, we were staying at my in-laws' for the weekend, and I was hoping to use the...

I'd forgotten about that one. My OW instructor would get us all into the pool, throw his gear into the deep end (9'), and we'd all hang out while watching him don all the gear at the bottom of the deep end. Impressed the heck out of me. I would have never thought of that! I'm sure I'm not...

So, I had my first opportunity to get into my in-laws' pool with my new gear last weekend, and figured that I ought to make sure I'm comfortable in the 62-degree water before I fork over the money for a tank/fill. So, Friday night, I tried to get into my thick wetsuit and fail (thighs are too...

I'd say that if the suit fits, go for it. I lucked into a couple suits that had been sitting for years for $25 apiece from a local former instructor last fall. The 3mm steamer had only been in the water a couple times (purely a vacation suit), and the other is a thicker (can't tell if it's 5mm...

The problem, of cousre, is that us noobs don't know what we don't know. Then again, maybe I need to just convince my wife I need to go to the Philippines for AOW ;) ---------- Post added April 26th, 2012 at 02:38 PM ---------- I feel like if I can't figure this stuff out myself, I should...

Thanks all for the advice. My main concern wasn't that AOW necessarily constitutes an "advanced" diver, but that I might not get as much from the AOW classes if I'm constantly fighting with buoyancy issues, incorrect weighting, unfamiliar gear or the like. I was a couple pounds overweighted...

Last summer/fall, I completed my OW certification through Paradise Divers, a SSI shop in Louisville, KY. I was thrilled with my instruction, and felt like I came away from it with a really solid foundation for diving. This summer, I'll be relocating up the river to Cincinnati, and find myself...

Yeah, I learned somewhere that the "crackle" is the eustachian tube pulling open and closing again. I get it all the time in my right ear. Wish it happened more easily in my left, but we can't all have awesome ears, I suppose.

I'll just add top the chorus - I had what sounds like the exact same issue on my cert dives last fall. I'd gone to my internist (a freediver!) while doing the class work to ask about allgeries, and he put me on Flonase, which worked great until my bottle ran low the day before my OW dives. I...

I've actually got to give mine a lot of credit. Knowing that I've always wanted to dive, she gave me the OW class as an anniversary present, and she was willing to try scuba for an in-pool demo on vacation a couple years back. She just wasn't comfortable under water breathing through a reg...

I'm sure I'll eventually wind up in metal, but for the time being, my non-diving wife probably wouldn't be too understanding if I bought replacement 2nd stages before even diving with the ones I just bought. She's already annoyed that I spent so much ($150) for regs and a BC. For some reason...

Okay, so I just bought my first reg set (Conshelf 20 1st stage, Conshelf SE2 primary and standard yellow USD Octo). First thing I did after receiving them was to pop the covers off the 2nd stages to check cleanliness and general condition (thanks for the tip, herman!). Squeaky clean all...

I'll third this one. I was weighted similarly in my pool sessions, and my instructor did a very good job in our first pool session or two in pointing out to me when I was breathing off the top. Basically, I could kneel on the bottom breathing deeply, and if I took a deep breath or didn't...

Not quite the same thing as an actual panic, but I had my instructor throw this one at me during our last OW pool session. We had an odd number of people in the class, I was paired up with the instructor for the OOA drill. As soon as the 2nd last group surfaces (and without any warning), my...