Compass skills?

[tracydr]

If your land compass has that problem too, you need to buy a better compass

My point is that there are some POS being sold by dive gear companies which shouldn't pass as usable compasses.

Keep in mind I'm not talking about the balance of the magnet/needle for the magnetic field for the particular "zone" of the world you're in requiring the compass to be level, but rather I'm talking about asymmetrically balanced (in terms of weight) needles/wheels. A proper compass should be operate fine when very slightly off-level without north rotating to wherever the low point on the compass is.

My comment is also not a "YOU ARE DOING THIS WRONG", but rather "one more thing to watch out for when using compasses..."

Yes. I'm aware of that issue. I have to drive my truck around in little circles to " set" the compass for the state I'm in.

 

[101recon]

I feel really bone-headed about this but I am just not getting my compass skills down as well as I should. I think part of the problem is that my land nave in the Army used a slightly different style of compass and I just can't seem to make the conversion. Also, my OW was way back in 1995 and my husband, who has taught my AOW, rescue and is now teaching my DM has made the reasonable expectation that I already have the basic navigation skills. I've had good enough skills to muddle along and pass AOW and Rescue but simply don't feel fluent yet.
Is there anything better than my PADI books that I can read on using my dive compass? I really want to be proficient enough to lead night, shore dives, etc. I used toe quite good at land navigation so I'm not quite sure what's happened.

I had a bit of the same problem when I first started using my dive compass.After 30 years of using a lensatic compass with ease,I was surprised to find myself having trouble.
Old habits die hard and it took me a while to incorporate (remember ) adding or subtracting 180 to/from the value shown on the FACE of the compass.My solution was to simply think of the peep hole on my Cobra the same as the peep sight on my lensatic.No adding or subtracting needed.I still have to pause at times but it is going smoother the more I practice.

 

[fnfalman]

I only shoot the azimuth if I were to really need to get from Point A to Point B. Usually I'd use terrain association and contour following (maintain same depth), kick counts AND time (how many minutes I've been going this way and how many minutes I'm going that way). Compensate for surges and currents as needed just like when you make your jaunts in the wood and have to compensate for footings, slopes, etc.

Navigation principles are the same. If you can do land nav, you can do UG nav.

 

[tracydr]

So, tomorrow I'm taking my underwater compass out in the park and I'm going to do some simple land nave. Then, next weekend I'm draggin my husbands but out to the lake so he can watch me to some search drills in piss poor visibility. Thanks, guys! Huah!

 

[Bubbletrubble]

I just wanted to amplify one of the comments that fnfalman made.

Don't forget to complement compass skills with recognition of natural underwater landmarks.
In real world diving, I rarely have my nose glued to my compass shooting azimuths. A distinctive coral structure, a weird-looking rock, or a large gorgonian can be used as waypoints along your dive route. I take note of the depth of such "markers" and create a mental map of the dive site with approximate distances and bearings in-between the points. At new-to-me sites, this is how I find my way back to the boat. I visualize the map and hop from one waypoint to the next.

For what it's worth, I find that people who have good spatial visualization and know where they're going most of the time (on terra firma) will generally take that same level of navigational awareness underwater with them. If you don't have this inborn skill set, don't despair. It is possible to develop your inner homing pigeon. Like most things in life, it just takes practice. Have fun!

 

[Jim Lapenta]

The low vis issue is one of the reasons that I was glad to see SEI take the old Underwater Nav specialty that the YMCA was doing and get rid of it. The new UW Nav specialty that would go to any SEI instructor requesting it, is the one I wrote. I took the PADI course and at the time thought it was pretty good until I actually dove with someone who had Nav skills so good they were downright scary! It was then I discovered and realized that the course was not that great. Too much emphasis was placed on the end result as opposed to the means to it in my course anyway. It was too compressed and did not give adequate time to practice it and certainly did not go over all the available aids. And it was only 3 dives! The new course I've written and have taught is 6 dives, 8 hours of classroom and covers compass, natural, and the use of lines and reels.

Heavy emphasis is on buddy skills and communication and navigating as a team. The last item is where the real learning IMO takes place. Not everyone is good with a compass or perhaps natural. But if you approach the process as a team and practice the skills on EVERY dive, you learn from each other.

In the beginning with compass for example there are some basic things that are required of the diver to do. Watch the heading, watch depth, watch air, note features, keep track of time, and most of all- have good buoyancy and trim. If the last - buoyancy and trim - are not present sucessful nav is possible but damn hard. The other stuff is also a great deal for a newer diver to do all alone. This is where my class kind of broke down. With a less than stellar buddy it was hard to act as team because they just did not get that when I was moving up or down while focusing on the compass they needed to correct that. We also were expected to take too big of a chunk of real estate at a time.

The way I teach it is to have the student do small patterns and expand them. Focus on helicopter turns, swim SLOWLY, and concentrate on accuracy as opposed to distance. This is why there are 6 dives and we do them in relativley shallow water. This allows dive times of up to and over an hour per dive! And so far every minute of that is needed for this course. I have sent my UW Nav course to a couple of people and gotten good reviews. Instructors from other agencies in fact. Since it is my course I have elected to offer it to anyone interested in taking it. It is written clearly and concisely. There is a student guide, instructor guide, final exam, and power point. I put a great deal of work into it and cannot afford to give it away.

If anyone wants it, the cost is now $15 for a PDF of the student guide. The whole shooting match including instructor guide and power point is now $65. I'll email all of it upon receipt of funds. Paypal, check, or M/O. Instructors who elect to use it are free to, I do ask that for every student guide you elect to print and distribute that you send me the sum of $1 US funds. On the honor system for this. It is designed so that you can and should add to it to suit your local conditions. One size does not fit all.

It is illustrated and includes a section on gas management that is also IMO necessary when doing nav. Oh and part of the course requirement is to create a map of the site not just talk about doing one. And there is a final exam as well.