Hey Hoover ~ Did you ruin someone's dive?

[kidspot]

now look what you started U.P. This has been a great conversation thread, so to add to the mix . . .

I was not the greatest with air after my OW finished, so when I met a new dive partner (those of you at the Maui bbq got to meet him) I explained to him that I was a gas guzzler (by the end of OW I could only get 45min. out of an AL80) he gave me some pointers, made suggestions about what to do with my hands, not to move quickly, etc. the usual suggestions as made here. We did a 72 min. dive that day (and 950 psi left). I was pleasantly surprised. I've kept track of my sac since my first dive. At the end of BOW I had a sac of .7-.9 . . . 30dives later it's down to .42 - .55 (still can't seem to break into that .3 realm though so I'm excercising, dropping a few pounds, eating better, etc..) Now I call the dive when I get cold (as soon as my new wetsuit arrives I want to do my first 2 hr. dive). Not to tell anyone else what to do, but being up front with him at the beginning he was able to work with me and we saw immediate sucess.

Aloha, Tim

btw mempilot - I'm 270, 6ft and NOT a football player but I understand what you're saying...

 

[Buoyant1]

I'm 6' 290-300 DECENT shape (gym 3-5 nights per week with 30min of good cardio and weight training) (add this...down from 375 and a no shape smoker)

Currently under 10 dives ...I'm hitting 30-35 minutes on an al80. The difference is I'm paying extra for the guided dives because I personally DON'T think someone else should have to suffer because I'm learning. And as I said in the other thread similar to this, there's going to be a point where I'm NOT the newbie anymore and feeling the same way. As a larger guy, I see that in the future when I'm hitting close to 50-60 minutes on an 80 (normal dive time on most of the boats I've experienced) I'll be paired with someone of similar stature who gets 30 tops and be PO'd about it!

I just think it's in your best interest to monitor your OWN profile, and make sure that everyone is getting the best benefit of their hard earned money.

 

[TwoTanks]

I'm 6' 290-300 DECENT shape (gym 3-5 nights per week with 30min of good cardio and weight training) (add this...down from 375 and a no shape smoker)

Currently under 10 dives ...I'm hitting 30-35 minutes on an al80. The difference is I'm paying extra for the guided dives because I personally DON'T think someone else should have to suffer because I'm learning. And as I said in the other thread similar to this, there's going to be a point where I'm NOT the newbie anymore and feeling the same way. As a larger guy, I see that in the future when I'm hitting close to 50-60 minutes on an 80 (normal dive time on most of the boats I've experienced) I'll be paired with someone of similar stature who gets 30 tops and be PO'd about it!

I just think it's in your best interest to monitor your OWN profile, and make sure that everyone is getting the best benefit of their hard earned money.

I don't think that it is suffering to be buddy with a new diver, watching a new diver brings back memories of the first time I did and saw all those things too.

and maybe I would get to point out something cool that you would miss otherwise.

TT

 

[lamont]

Hey I resemble that. I've been known to have a sac at or just below .4

Not all of us are 170 lb buffed single studs.

talking about me again? =)

seriously, i do 0.60 on a good day. with an E8-130, though, i'm still limited mostly by deco below 60 fsw and cold above 60 fsw...

(i'll bring my 4 E8-130s on the 19th, too)

 

[Dive-aholic]

I'm pretty much of a hoover in compared to the Pugster. He will have a 104 at 2600 psi and I'll have a 130 at 3500. We'll finish the dive with him at 1800 and me at 16 -1800. It's a good thing he gets cold quickly otherwise he wouldn't want to come up before me...

You get cold easily. You don't wear enough thinsulate under your dry suit. You start to get cold 15 minutes into the dive and only then bother to inform the poor person assigned as your *buddy* that your lips are blue. You thumb the dive and expect them to accompany you to the surface. They do but still have 2/3 of their gas left. They paid $$$ for the dive trip but you've ruined it for them.

Do you feel any responsibility to recompense them?

 

[Snowbear]

You get cold easily. You don't wear enough thinsulate under your dry suit. You start to get cold 15 minutes into the dive and only then bother to inform the poor person assigned as your *buddy* that your lips are blue. You thumb the dive and expect them to accompany you to the surface. They do but still have 2/3 of their gas left. They paid $$$ for the dive trip but you've ruined it for them.

Do you feel any responsibility to recompense them?

Pug doesn't do that - he'll stay wet from a leaky drysuit, cold and miserable for an entire 60 minute dive so he doesn't cut his buddy's dive short. He lays it on pretty thick after the dive, though - even to the point of embellishing with uncontrollable shivering, blue lips and wet undergarments

 

[Dive-aholic]

Pug doesn't do that - he'll stay wet from a leaky drysuit, cold and miserable for an entire 60 minute dive so he doesn't cut his buddy's dive short. He lays it on pretty thick after the dive, though - even to the point of embellishing with uncontrollable shivering, blue lips and wet undergarments

Are the undergarments wet from the leaky drysuit or from trying to warm up?

 

[nshon]

But still air consumption will only improve with time and experience. You can teach gas planning all you want, it won't change the fact that new divers will consume more air than experienced divers mostly because of nerves (whether they realise it or not).

I thought 80% of hoovering is caused by bad buoyancy? You stop having to fin to stay up/down and you can breath easier -> low consumption.

 

[wedivebc]

I thought 80% of hoovering is caused by bad buoyancy? You stop having to fin to stay up/down and you can breath easier -> low consumption.

Certainly a very big part of it

 

[SeanQ]

I thought 80% of hoovering is caused by bad buoyancy? You stop having to fin to stay up/down and you can breath easier -> low consumption.

That is definately a factor. Some divers with bad bouyancy control also tend to add more air to their BC than needed causing them to drift upwards. They compensate by dumping a lot of air, causing them to sink again. To slow their descent, they'll add a ton of air and start the cycle anew. At greater depth the air is denser so the diver uses even more air in their BC. In my (limited) experiance, this does not play as big of a role as increased breathing rate but is still fairly important. I can't confirm that bad bouyancy contributes to 80%.


Off topic: Is a young/slight hoover called a dust buster?