If you are a new diver, please read this

[Wizard1]

Ladies and Gentlemen;

One part of the ScubaBoard mission is to provide sound and safe counsel to not only new divers, but also to experienced ones.

The author of this thread, in my opinion, generated this thread with good intention and in the best interest of new divers.

The ability to manage one's gas consmption and be aware of that consumption is of paramount importance in our hobby; the failure to learn or to understand gas management can lead to a disastrous end.

The author seeks only to give good advice to new divers to broaden their knowledge about their ability to understand this vital concept.

This thread is being reopened because of it's critical aspect in scuba diving.

I encourage you to enter into the discussion of gas management and how you feel it should be taught and at what stage in a diver's education it should be taught.

I also encourage you to discuss this in a civil and intelligent manner. There is no room here for personal argument or bickering.

Thank you.

The Kraken

I agree with all of the above, based upon my cursory knowlege of the subject of diving in general.
Whilst that is minimal, I *DO* have direct, personal and professional experience with hypoxia.
While that doesn't go into the subject at hand directly, it DOES go into what the experience that generated the topic drives to.
I won't go into gas management or not, or flatulence management either.
I *WILL* go into hypoxia et al.
My personal experience is based upon a military one, wearing a chemical protective mask (aka gas mask) in a military environment. My basis for posting this is, experience in hypoxic environments.
I'm QUITE interested in diving and consider it highly on my top ten list of things to do in the next year or so (depends on economy and all).
First experience, ask for a few others if you have a driving, overwhelming need to be bored, is direct.
We were in training, in a military environment where we were tasked to take custody of an area of uncertain lineage. Hence, we had to assume an environment of nuclear, chemical or biological compromise.
We went into said environment equipped with our masks and appropriate attire (chemical suits and full gear).
I had an acute attack of intellectual flatulence (brain fart) and nobody to correct my gear check.
I had a primary blockage on my outlet valve: it was seized. Hence, full recirculation of my outgasses.
Not a good thing, we all can realize.
When the leader, who was 50 meters ahead of me went down, I was called to respond.
I had noted earlier, a bit of condensation on my lenses. No idea why, but continue on. First warning sign that was ignored. Bad idea.
I ran to respond to the situation. Worst idea, considering, with perfect 20/20 hindsight the first point...
I started at the 25 meter point or so, with gray out. It rapidly progressed to thumbnail and arms length vision when I figured out something was wrong. I also had a massive panic attack feeling.
Somehow, two or three working brain cells communicated to the pea we call my brain that it's hypoxia:
Tunnel vision in advanced stages. Panic. Confused thoughts and processes.

I literally tore an M-17 protective mask in half getting air to my starved lungs.
Think a DIVER would do less in an O2 starved environment? Frankly, I suspect one would try to breath water at that point.

Worst part: It was MY fault. Bad equipment check on my part.

Under water is FAR more hostile. Better to be better educated and drilled to exhaustion, than to have a burst of intra-cranial flatulence!
Or at least, pick out a good coffin first!

 

[janssenjames]

good looking out

 

[Bobby Demosthenis]

I've been reading the replies and thought I'd put my two cents out there. At Open Water level, giving someone more technical stuff to worry about is off putting.

However, that being said, diving is one of the most dangerous sports in the world maybe some gas management would be benefical to the Open Water course, however, that being said the Open Water (PADI) does over some of the basics. I am a DMIT (Divemaster in training) and my girlfriend was a watching the Open Water DVD in prep for her OW course and asked me that question 2 days ago. She said 'The deeper you go, you use more air. But why?'.

Having heard my instructor answer the same question so many times, I repeated it and she still didn't understand, however 2 minutes with my instructor she was helping me with my workbook questions! lol.

And in the long run, maybe the workbook should be built up over the courses, for PADI that is, I don't know enough about the other agencies to comment, but through the PADI system, maybe certain areas of the workbook should be requried for new certs and then as they move up, they should be requried to do more....?

Bobby

 

[NorthWoodsDiver]

I've been reading the replies and thought I'd put my two cents out there. At Open Water level, giving someone more technical stuff to worry about is off putting.
Bobby

IMO there is nothing technical about learning gas management, its simple math that anyone over 14 should understand from math class. If you wanted to get into something technical pick up Bruce's book on understanding RGBM...

 

[eponym]

The ability to manage one's gas consmption and be aware of that consumption is of paramount importance in our hobby; the failure to learn or to understand gas management can lead to a disastrous end. I encourage you to enter into the discussion of gas management and how you feel it should be taught and at what stage in a diver's education it should be taught.

Agreed.

Here are two rules of thumb which ought to be discussed and elaborated in every open water diver course:

1. When planning a dive, don't plan to go deeper than the number of cubic feet you're taking with you. For example, 80 feet for a full AL80.

2. If you're using an Aluminum 80, thumb the dive (begin your ascent to the surface) before your pressure in psi is ten times your depth. For example, when cruising at sixty feet, start up with no less than 600 psi.

-Bryan

PS. The details can be debated, and should be in class (AL80 = 77.4 cu ft, 10xdepth might not be enough for a full safety stop). But the point is that new divers can and should include gas in their dive plan topside, and can and should be able to evaluate remaining gas during a dive and know when to start up.

 

[Soakedlontra]

And in the long run, maybe the workbook should be built up over the courses, for PADI that is, I don't know enough about the other agencies to comment, but through the PADI system, maybe certain areas of the workbook should be requried for new certs and then as they move up, they should be requried to do more....?

Bobby

I did my OW certification with SSI and I have recently finished my AOW with NAUI.

One thing that really bugs me and it is very frustrating about the books and DVDs that I read and watched during the these classes is that no matter which is the agency that publishes this material, 80% of the stuff printed or recorded in them is pretty useless to me.

I dive in cold water with crap visibility and I actually want to UNDERSTAND why the deeper I go more gas I use or how can I manage my gas in a rational and controlled way rather than just being guess work no matter how much math I have to deal with etc...

I don't dive with a diver master who tells me how deep to go and when to surface and I don't consider my dive buddy my 'dive master' either and I don't care about what kind of bag I have to buy to pack my gear in etc...

As long as these agencies cater exclusively for the recreational divers who dive in the tropics where they are spoon fed in every single aspect of diving (I believe the majority if divers fall in this category) nothing is going to change.

The only consolation is that I am glad I did my AOW with NAUI for the simple reason that this agency gives more freedom to its instructors to 'tailor' the class to the students' needs.

 

[boulderjohn]

I dive in cold water with crap visibility and I actually want to UNDERSTAND why the deeper I go more gas I use ...

Was this not covered in your classes? It should have been. I read the SSI open water book a number of years ago, and I got a pretty good sense of it then. It is part of the PADI OW class, and it is on the PADI OW final exam. I don't know about NAUI, but I am pretty sure it is part of their curriculum as well.

If you did not get enough of an explanation, then ask your instructor for more.

In our program, we give students an evaluation form at the end of the course. One of the questions asks students to rate the degree to which the instructor covered the materials. At the beginning of the course, I tell them that when they get to that evaluation, any less-then-perfect score they want to give me will also reflect on them, since if I did not cover it enough for them, then they did not communicate their lack of understanding to me.

 

[Soakedlontra]

Was this not covered in your classes? It should have been. I read the SSI open water book a number of years ago, and I got a pretty good sense of it then. It is part of the PADI OW class, and it is on the PADI OW final exam. I don't know about NAUI, but I am pretty sure it is part of their curriculum as well.

If you did not get enough of an explanation, then ask your instructor for more.

In our program, we give students an evaluation form at the end of the course. One of the questions asks students to rate the degree to which the instructor covered the materials. At the beginning of the course, I tell them that when they get to that evaluation, any less-then-perfect score they want to give me will also reflect on them, since if I did not cover it enough for them, then they did not communicate their lack of understanding to me.

I didn't mean to point a finger at anybody in particular with my comment.

Of course the books covered the basics but I would rather see a chapter dedicated to gas management than about "Your Scuba Diving Experiences and Beyond" in my SSI OW book, for instance.

After my AOW class I mailed to NAUI the evaluation sheet that you talk about and I wrote that the class was excellent not because of the book but because the instructor took the trouble to add info in the curriculum that was fundamental for safer diving.

(I also sent back to NAUI the gigantic plastic box that the book and a DVD and other bits and pieces came with in the hope that the agency is going to recycle it or re-think how to package its products without so much waste and with more environmentally friendly material, but this is another story)

The fact that the class was small (just two students) made a hell of a difference. During my OW class time was our enemy because the curriculum had to be covered within a specific number of days and there were far more students etc. I wished we had an extra day to learn more info about the different tanks specifications and discuss about how far I could go with an Aluminum 80, for example, what actually meant to go back to the surface with 500PSI in my tank and what was the relationship between thinking about air in terms of Cubic Ft and PSI and how I could convert Cubic Ft into PSI etc.

In an ideal world the scuba diving agencies should 'take the plunge' and re-write their OW and AOW class material adding info about gas management. Regarding the OW students in particular, they need to understand fully why with their certification is not a good idea to dive below 60 ftSW instead of giving them wishy- washy warnings that, personally, have made me more confused.

The instructors should take the responsibility to not take short cuts and give superficial information just for the sake of saving time.

The student should take the responsibility to become a safer diver by taking the time and making the effort to learn about gas management and deal with the math!

In short everybody has to play a part in making scuba diving a safer activity!

Cheers

 

[wiseguy1]

below

 

[wiseguy1]

I dove the Flower Gardens this weekend, which is located 120 mile offshore Galveston, Texas in 100' of water. There was strong current and waves in the upper 15' of water colum. Ascent and decent is accomplished using a line to the mooring cable which you drag yourself down below the surface hand over hand. Dealing with the waves, current, guideline to the boat, and then the secondary line for approaching the rear ladder was challenging for everyone.

It was a good lesson in air consumption and planning adequate reserves. Normally, I am headed back up when I hit around 850 psi to do my safety stop and asent. After which I would normally have approx. 500 psi left at the surface. Due to the extra exersion and amount of time to drag yourself along the return line through waves and current, plus any time spent waiting my turn to jump on the boarding rope and get up the stairs I was burning through another 200 - 300 psi. It took everyone a while to get used to the procedure. Quite a few divers got really close to bingo from not having factored into the equation enough reserves for any surface delays (current, waves, waiting in rotation, etc). One diver was forced to buddy breath at the surface while on the boarding line that was only 20' from the boat.

I am a new diver and from my own experience and preference, I believe that certain fundamental skills need to more focus and drills/training, especially emergency situations. Oral inflation of BC or inflation of safety sausage...the first time you are doing this shouldn't be an emergency. Dive computers are a wonderful asset...understanding the fundamentals of the math behind the calculations is essential. Just as important is understanding what the data means that your computer is displaying and how to use it. This seems to be a huge deficit in the owners manuals and training for computers. I shouldn't need to do 50 dives before I start to figure out what all my computer is telling me...I showed already know where the data is before I ever start my first dive using a new computer.

Things I learned and observed from this weekend:
1) Plan for the Unexpected - air is vital.
- "Thirds Rule" is a good standard....1/3 of air for descent, 1/3 air for sight seeing, and 1/3 for ascent/safety stop.

2) Snorkels are part of your life support equipment
- May not look cool and may only be useful at surface, but if you are out of air and stranded an inflated BC and Snorkel will save you. At least have a collapsable snorkel in your BC pocket.

3) Safety Sausage - know how to inflate and use it before your really need it

4) So long as you have air you have time to work through any problems

5) Your safety strategy shouldn't hinge on your partner saving you

6) Know your abilities and voice your concerns

7) Use your compass...upon entering water make a mental note of direction / orientation of boat and dive plan so that don't

8) Computer on Wrist is best
- I have a console unit which I look at frequently. I realized this weekend just how much easier and more frequently I would be checking my data if it were strapped on my wrist. I plan to buy an integrated wrist unit as a primary and use my console as a backup going forward.

Bartimo,
Good for you for continuing your education with every dive. Excellent lessons you took away from your trip to the Flower Gardens. I especially agree with #5. I have a comment (or suppliment) to #7 however: simply taking a note of the boats position using your compass, while good, is not enough; it is far superior to take note of the anchor/mooring position. If a boat is moored in 60ft of water with a 40ft line, this could easily equal a line of 125ft or more. should the current or the wind change during your dive, then the boat could rotate 250 ft away from where you jumped in. Your navigation back to the location of the start of your dive could be perfect, but the boat may not be there. The anchor/mooring pin isn't going to change. Just an addition to already good practices.