scubafool
Contributor
Edit: Sorry, forgot where I was.
difficulty with safety stop
- Thread starter JFras30
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some very good tips posted (although the empty the BC first before starting up one I disagree with)
DumpsterDiver mentioned something that helped me when I was trying to hold a stop in midwater ... quit chasing the gage, watch the particulate matter in the water for a direct feedback
DumpsterDiver mentioned something that helped me when I was trying to hold a stop in midwater ... quit chasing the gage, watch the particulate matter in the water for a direct feedback
1_T_Submariner
Contributor
You have already recieved a lot of advice (good and not as good). I would like to just reinforce SLOW as a technique. Given correct weighting etc... Slow is good underwater. Dump air and add air slowly. Use very small air bursts with your inflator and small vents with your vent. Alot of new divers don't realize how much bouyancy they are moving.
Have fun and Dive Dive Dive. It will become 2nd nature eventually.
Have fun and Dive Dive Dive. It will become 2nd nature eventually.
diveprof
Contributor
A couple of our tips that may help:
1. There is a fair amount of wetsuit compression as we make our descents and subsequently substantial expansion during the last 3/4 to 1/2 atm on the ascent. This is particularly noticeable if you are wearing more than a 3/2 wetsuit. Maintaining neutral buoyancy at exactly 15' can be a challenge in a hearvier suit given the rapid expansion of the wetsuit and changes created by waves passing overhead if there are big seas. I would suggest focusing on your depth quage/computer closely on ascent with your other hand on the dump. Control your bouyancy throughout the ascent. Begin your stop at 20' make sure that you are able to hold this comfortably for a minute or two before ascending further - keep watching your depth guage. Then ease up a couple of feet to finish the stop. You do not have to do the safety stop at exactly 15' - in a open water situation in a heavier suit. I do mine b/w 18-20'. I am also a believer in safety stops longer than 3 min.
You may want to try this. In an upright position (as you would be on ascent), hold your inflation hose at a 90 degree angle away from your BC and keep the deflation button mashed. Any excess air is automatically released as you ascend. This will help you maintain neutral buoyancy throughout the ascent.
1. There is a fair amount of wetsuit compression as we make our descents and subsequently substantial expansion during the last 3/4 to 1/2 atm on the ascent. This is particularly noticeable if you are wearing more than a 3/2 wetsuit. Maintaining neutral buoyancy at exactly 15' can be a challenge in a hearvier suit given the rapid expansion of the wetsuit and changes created by waves passing overhead if there are big seas. I would suggest focusing on your depth quage/computer closely on ascent with your other hand on the dump. Control your bouyancy throughout the ascent. Begin your stop at 20' make sure that you are able to hold this comfortably for a minute or two before ascending further - keep watching your depth guage. Then ease up a couple of feet to finish the stop. You do not have to do the safety stop at exactly 15' - in a open water situation in a heavier suit. I do mine b/w 18-20'. I am also a believer in safety stops longer than 3 min.
You may want to try this. In an upright position (as you would be on ascent), hold your inflation hose at a 90 degree angle away from your BC and keep the deflation button mashed. Any excess air is automatically released as you ascend. This will help you maintain neutral buoyancy throughout the ascent.
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I just got back from Mexico, on my first dive I looked like a cork after I reached 1000 psi, and my last two dives a month later I sucked air and couldn't get a good stop. First one was getting used to it and last two I was fighting a cold and didn't controll my breathing. Other than that my other 15 dives were oicture oerfect. I have taken the line from my safety saysage and marked the string with indelible ink from 15-17 feet that gives me a reference point. Try that.
dumpsterDiver
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Wow, I no longer teach diving, but I'm working on it with my 10 yr old. He has extremely good control of his bouyancy, but he did get a little distracted when I tasked him with deploying a smb and line while drift diving with no reference in 60 feet of water. the kid has learned ascents easily.
I worked very hard with my students and every single student that I certified could do the slightly negative swimming ascent! (or i would not have certified them). My advice is from experience and is not BS or some perfect world.
I'm not sure why you think it should take a long time for a new diver to get the idea that you should not be positively bouyant on the ascent, but rather kick up ever so gently????
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Relax ... give yourself some time. Your buoyancy will improve, your breathing will improve, your situational awareness will improve, you'll sense the delay between your actions (breathing, finning, BC) and your body's reactions, and it will just come. You're in a place no different than any other diver who learned this skill.
fnfalman
Contributor
If you're properly weighed, safety stop hovers are easy to achieve. If you're not properly weighed then it's going to be a real pain in the ass unless you have something to hold onto (like an anchor line).
Reading this thread gives me a wry grin.
I told you -- A lot of people are going to say they don't understand why you are having any problems with this. But I do.
Keep at it. It will come. There are a lot of good ideas in this thread. Do not let anybody make you feel bad about not having grasped this already. For some people, buoyancy comes easily, and for the rest of us, it takes work. The good news is that that work involves going DIVING!
I told you -- A lot of people are going to say they don't understand why you are having any problems with this. But I do.
Keep at it. It will come. There are a lot of good ideas in this thread. Do not let anybody make you feel bad about not having grasped this already. For some people, buoyancy comes easily, and for the rest of us, it takes work. The good news is that that work involves going DIVING!
ArcticDiver
Contributor
More generic and applicable to just about everything else you do underwater:
-Go S L O W. When you think you are going slow enough; slow down some more. Practicing taking a full minute or more to go from my safety stop to the surface did more for my overall bouyancy control than anything else I did.
-Go slow especially very deep and very shallow. What is slow for you now may seem like a snail to someone else. So what? As you get experience your concept of slow and fast will change.
-If you feel yourself getting tense relax. To relax first deliberately tense you muscles and then conciously relax them. Amazing what that does in a wide variety of situations.
-Learn to analyze sea conditions and decide what depth you will use for your Safety Stop. Depending on sea conditions I'll use anything from 15' - 20'.
-Go S L O W. When you think you are going slow enough; slow down some more. Practicing taking a full minute or more to go from my safety stop to the surface did more for my overall bouyancy control than anything else I did.
-Go slow especially very deep and very shallow. What is slow for you now may seem like a snail to someone else. So what? As you get experience your concept of slow and fast will change.
-If you feel yourself getting tense relax. To relax first deliberately tense you muscles and then conciously relax them. Amazing what that does in a wide variety of situations.
-Learn to analyze sea conditions and decide what depth you will use for your Safety Stop. Depending on sea conditions I'll use anything from 15' - 20'.
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