It's just a drill, or is it?

[wb416]

Arnaud once bubbled...


It's (part of) what I'm looking for. Thanks for the explanation.

I'm still not clear on the blind ascent. Do you close your eyes or just remove the mask? What do you mean by "reading the ears"?

You got several good answers on reading ears. For the 'blind' ascent, general mask off and eyes closed. Is that overkill? Not for me, I have contacts, unless I'm in a situation where loosing a contact is the lesser of my problems, then I keep my eyes closed. This isn't something we do extensively, nor something that I'd say I was good at. However, focus is on trust and buddy communication. This came in handy in a recent cave class I took. I trust my buddy because we practiced so much together, so whatever he tried to tell me in touch contact drills, I was comfortable with, as well as his and my state of mind (not uneasy or paniced). Striving for even breathing here.

One of the other thing that I'm trying to work into my ascents are the Principles from the "Center of Gravity" drill used in DIR-F. I rely too heavily on a "deep" breath to begin my ascent while horizontal. I'm trying to breathe in "some" and lift the head slightly to get the ascent going more smoothly and predictably.

Again, my disclaimer is that I'm not necessarily smooth at any of this, just trying to target a few of the things I need to work on and continually practice.

HTH, wb

 

[scuberd]

I do OOA, diver rescue, etc with classes all the time, so I don't do it a lot on my own, but we do talk about it before and after the dive =-)

 

[Waterborne]

Well, we have a pretty consistent group that we dive with. I'm referring to our recreational diving. On each dive, we try to practice one major emergency skill. Usually two or three people on the team will decide on what drill we are going to do. The other members of the team (their respective buddies) do not know what drill it is until it happens. Kind of like a pop quiz in school. We like this system and it works very well for us.

I have a primary buddy that I dive with. I consider myself very fortunate for that. Our skill levels and style are almost a perfect match. It shows that we've been friends since first grade! We both have the same equipment and configuration so our rigs are pretty much interchangable. He and I practice skills very often. Sometimes we do a 20ft puddle jump for that sole purpose. We practice everything from OOA, emegency accents, and we make sure that the others equipment is where it's supposed to be. Other drills include mask removal, loss of the mask, line navigation and valve drills. Topside, we reaffirm our hand signals and light signals in a verbal quizz type fashion. As well as the usual equipment checks, contingency plans and the general dive plan.

We are to the point where our drills are unannounced and treated like an actual emergency. The best part of all of this is the trust that we have built for each other (not to be confused with complacency.) I do consider myself truely fortunate to have such an excellent dive partner. I can only hope that everyone can dive with a partner on that level.

 

[DiverBuoy]

... from an instructor who teaches all the time. When are you not practicing skills? I'll tell you when ... when you finally get a chance to dive for pleasure. The VERY LAST THING on my mind is further drill practice. Now for anyone who is not practicing regularly - try performing every scuba skill at demonstration quality level it takes a whole lot of practice.

 

[Arnaud]

One of the areas where I would like to hear about others' experience is the way the drills are performed.

For instance, I've never have any problem taking off my mask or sharing air, but I always perform the drill in a quiet environment. I've always wondered how I would actually react in a real emergency situation.

The unannounced drill mentioned by Score is the kind of ideas that I'm looking for in that regard. The list of drills given by CWB was also really helpful.

 

[DiverBuoy]

Arnaud take along another instructor buddy sometime and have him create emergencies for you - discuss in advance, however, do not get specific. For example you agree about contingencies and set limits on what is considered "going too far" or what is unreasonable.

But beyond that you don't discuss the specifics like whether it will be an out of air scenario, a loss of mask or regulator, disconnected LPI hose, or other. They could come up and yank your mask off your face when you least expect it. A pro friend of mine and I did this kind of thing regularly as DMs. For example he came up to me and yanked my mask and regulator off simultaneously. I just recovered the reg cleared it and swam over to him (fuzzy view of course) and indicated my need for assistance with my mask. We locked arms he recovered my mask and handed it to me, I cleared and we continued the dive. We did these excercises for a few dives in a row. He was really good at waiting patiently for me to relax and "forget" like one dive he waited until we were 45 minutes into the dive. Another dive he did it right when we got to the bottom of our descent.

I tell you one thing it gets your heart racing to say the least. I'll say this for other readers here, make sure you only perform drills within your comfort level, work your way up to prepare for most reasonable emergencies. DO NOT attempt something beyond your skills or training, it would be tragic to have a serious accident during "drills".

 

[divedude]

I practice on every dive
One thing I do on ever dive is go to my octo. so if a emergency ever came up it will be second nature to go for it.
On safety stops I see people just hanging on doing nothing
On a safety stop
1 If there is no current let go of the line, practice buoyancy.
2 remove and switch reg's
3 remove and replace mask.
I like to think up scenario's and possible solutions to situations.
It's all part of the Fun...........Diving is still supposed to be fun? Sometimes I wonder when I read some post's if they really like diving or if they do it to be macho, and deep down {no pun intended} they are scared silly down there.
I personally like to get in a wreck take off my gear and when I see lights coming down a hallway, float out with no mask or reg and watch the light start weaving around as divers bolt for the exits.
At that point I'm trying not to choke laughing as I put my mask back on and go for my reg.
Yes I am a sick puppy.....But I always follow the poor buggers out to make sure that they don't panic and hurt themselves.

Another fun thing is go diving with my 13 cube pony.
Down at 90 feet and pass a couple of diver's DIR with all the latest "configuration" set up just right.
Then I give them the OK sign and swim by with just a mask, fin's,wetsuit and my little pony bottle.
I then head back to my buddy {out of sight of the others} and breath off his double 120's for about 5 minutes and then go past the same guy's! Get another OK sign and head back up with my accomplice. Then sit back and listen to the other diver's talk about "some nut diving to 90' on a pony bottle, by himself."

 

[Arnaud]

DiverBuoy, thanks for the advice. Good tips.

Big Jim, though I'm not planning to try it anytime soon, the pony bottle thing is pretty funny.

 

[Hooked4Life]

These posts are really helpfull. Being a newbie diver suggestions like these are just what I am looking for .

Thanks..

 

[wetvet]

I hate the idea of drills for anyone except newbies....by all means, doing the same clearing and OOA ascent practices are crucial, and I am more than happy to assist them as much as I can, especially on cert weekends. When I dive with friends, or my wife, I end up trying different stuff because it teaches you how to deal with different problems, rather than just do things by rote. Drills and protocols never seem to work without a hitch when you really need em.....next time you knock your buddys mask off...fill it with mud , or steal his weight pouches, and make him become neutral by finding the right sized rocks....etc, etc.....you absolutely DO get points for creativity. Only rule is to be safe.

FWIW

Wetvet