how to ascend/ descend

[String]

I'm in the descend vertically crowd... then again, my average dive depth is 20-30 meters so far, and when I hit 6m, I have to do a quick stop and clear my sinus (it's just finicky and takes a head up position to get air into the sinus and cleared very slowly... )... after that, I go horizontal and downplanes to my dive depth... when ascending, normally we swim up most of the way, and then "sit" at the safety stop... last 3m is head up always.

---------- Post added July 14th, 2014 at 09:27 AM ----------



Do you have the page and reference for the information we are taught about reading tide charts? surge reports and wind charts?

Completely irrelevant - you can add that info if you want with no issue at all. However there are course standards that MUST be taught. This is the core course not optional extras. In the course you're taught several types of descent and are assessed on ascent technique. It's also covered in the theory and the exams.

How a diver descends/ascends is all about how they feel most comfortable,

But they have to be taught safe and effective techniques in the first place to make their own mind up.

My point is I don't understand why you are concerned at basic questions when there is so much that is 'fundamental' that isn't even taught in OW training. (and can't be prepared for in a pool).

Because without the basics that are essential to all diving, everywhere (ie the core skills like ascents) there is no point at all adding optional extras.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

PADI recommend vertical descends for reasons of it's easier to equalise head up and if someone hasnt got the hang of a controlled descent yet they can slow it by kicking. The also recommend vertical ascents and safety stops which i find utterly ridiculous.

Personally i do horizontal ascents and descents. I've got a larger surface area so more drag making fine control far easier and i can hold position in a current far easier. The only times i might switch to a vertical descent is in very poor visibility and a strong current where i dont want to risk skewering myself on something metal OR if i need to get down exceedingly quickly (then its head down swim vertical anyway). I cant think of a single situation where i'd ever want to do a vertical ascent or safety stop.

---------- Post added July 13th, 2014 at 07:52 PM ----------



i use the rear dump, stick my backside in the air, pull the dump and duck dive to start a descent then horizontal after a metre or so. You will need to add as you go down. Remember a descent should be near neutral. Ascending just fin up slightly and assuming you're neutral expansion will take care of the rest, you need to dump as you ascend.

Im a bit concerned with all these absolutely basic questions though - all of this is/should be taught on day 1 of confined water training long before you ever get near an open water dive site. We're talking first 20 mins of discover scuba briefing here.

How about if you are being surrounded by aggressive sharks? Staying vertical for the hang and facing each other allows you to watch each others backs for sneak attacks from behind. You can spin around and respond to an incoming shark much faster if vertical.. That is one important reason for me to stay close to vertical.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Tatiana,

I prefer horizontal for ascents and descents; but an advantage of a vertical position in the water column is the ease of rapidly rotating to scan 360 degrees, and unrestricted up / down scanning. In a horizontal position you will rotate more slowly, and looking "up" is restricted by neck mobility. If I am looking for something (other divers, boat traffic, aggressive animals, or a stray submarine) I can more quickly complete a scan in 3 dimensions from the vertical position.... then I'm back to a horizontal position again.

Do what works best in situation you find yourself in. Just because I prefer horizontal does not mean I will never "break trim" and go vertical if the situation calls for it.

Best wishes.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Personal to each diver for sure, although final ascent should be vertical with the diver looking up to make sure there is nothing overhead constituting a hazard. That could be a boat, a drifting log, another diver, a snorkeler or swimmer, or something else. As far as descents go, that is a matter of individual preference and comfort. I have descended feet first, head first, horizontal face down, and also in a "sitting" position. On a recreational dive, I like the horizontal descent.
DivemasterDennis

 

[rivers]

horizontal

 

[SamRobertshaw1]

Agree with most people on here with the horizontal method.

In my eyes a perfect dive is a dive where you don't get out of that horizontal trimmed position at all until you're on the surface. Being that way is perfect for control and a very good parameter of how your diving has come along if you can stay like that for an entire dive.

I teach open water students that method rather in depth in the pool so by the time we're into OW dive 1 they're ascending and descending that way rather than obliterating nemos home on the way down.

Obviously ascending and descending exceptionally slowly and keeping an eye by tilting your body left and right for boat traffic above are very good practices

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Agree with most people on here with the horizontal method.

In my eyes a perfect dive is a dive where you don't get out of that horizontal trimmed position at all until you're on the surface. Being that way is perfect for control and a very good parameter of how your diving has come along if you can stay like that for an entire dive.

I teach open water students that method rather in depth in the pool so by the time we're into OW dive 1 they're ascending and descending that way rather than obliterating nemos home on the way down.

Obviously ascending and descending exceptionally slowly and keeping an eye by tilting your body left and right for boat traffic above are very good practices

Why is descending exceptionally slowly (regardless of position) a "very good practice"? A rapid, head first, kicking descent maximizes bottom time and makes the diver streamlined. If a diver can equalize and handle that type of descent, I might say that is "very good practice".

 

[CryHavoc]

When I feel I am properly weighted, I start my descent vertical and naturally start to rotate horizontal around 10 to 15 feet. I like a horizontal descent because it allows me to see the bottom as I descend and stop my descent at the depth I want. My descent method was a pretty significant source of criticism by my instructor during my buoyancy class when I threw silt during a 50 foot descent in a quarry. I ascend vertical with no air in my BCD while monitoring my computer for ascent rate. Maybe I need to rethink the method I use to ascend? Now I'm truly excited - something new to work on at the lake this weekend! I kind of feel sorry for whoever is my buddy on the shop's trip this weekend since I also want to practice navigation and deploying my SMB.

 

[mrdre]

Why is descending exceptionally slowly (regardless of position) a "very good practice"? A rapid, head first, kicking descent maximizes bottom time and makes the diver streamlined. If a diver can equalize and handle that type of descent, I might say that is "very good practice".

Mmmm.. I'd think of a few reasons:

1. In bad vis and/or night dive separation if one diver has equalization problems and requires a little more time at certain depth. In drift dives separation at different depth could lead to pretty messy ascends, finding each other on the surface, etc.

2. The descend without kicking is quick enough. In 2 minutes you can be at 120 ft easily. I don't see how saving 1 minutes by kicking is important. Moreover extra kicking is some work which will consume some extra oxygen. 60 ft per minute is a slow and quick enough descend at the same time.

3. These couple of minutes of descend is a good time to check buddy's tank for bubbling. It's time when I turn my camera on, check the lights, do some other checks.

I just don't see where the kicking gives any benefits, yet I can see some disadvantages.

 

[TSandM]

I don't think one always has to descend slowly, and too slow an ascent can be deleterious, when your decompression model is depending on you to get shallower in an expeditious fashion. What is important is to have the CONTROL to descend or ascend at a rate you choose, rather than whatever gravity or your buoyancy compensator throws at you.

A lot of people never master control of descents, and this is one of the ways buddy teams get separated almost instantly. The importance of controlled ASCENTS is made clear in OW class, and people do work on this skill. But all too many just dump the BC and fall, and hope to arrest that fall before hitting the bottom. The actual RATE of descent is not controlled as ascents are.