Just received the Fundamentals book

[JustJoe]

A SS Backplate is going to add about 6lb negative to your boyancy. It will probably also drop another 2-4lbs because the wing and harness are not positive like most BCDs.

For instance I dive an AL80, in a 3mm full suit with my SS Backplate and no other weight and I am too heavy. With a steel tank I sink like a stone.

What do you do in that situation? If you are heavy without any other weights, do you change out to a lighter bp (like plastic or AL)?

Joe

 

[MASS-Diver]

It's a steel 80 right? Trust me you are overweighted, espically if the 3mm is broken in. And yup, you can just go to Al plate if needed - they are cheap ($40-50 new). Lots of people have air trapped in their wing/bcd - which makes them think they need more weight - make sure you dumping all it.

 

[JustJoe]

It's a steel 80 right? Trust me you are overweighted, espically if the 3mm is broken in. And yup, you can just go to Al plate if needed - they are cheap ($40-50 new). Lots of people have air trapped in their wing/bcd - which makes them think they need more weight - make sure you dumping all it.

Steel HP95's. Also, all the gear is brand new, less than 15 dives. I gave all my old gear to my nephew a few years ago and just started diving again after a 6 year layoff. I will retest my bouyancy this weekend. I will admit that I am still working on bouyancy and I may be way off. But it feels right.

Joe

 

[JustJoe]

Okay, so I just finished the book. I will probably wait until next week to re-read the book. But here are my thoughts to this point.

1. I am out of shape and fitness will be an issue with taking the course. I have lost 38lbs but still need to lose some more. I also do not work out and that appears to be a major thread through the whole book. So, how many folks are really in very good shape?

2. Skills practice. Is there a good place to go to get the skills training that I need outside of GUE training? Can I get a video that will show me the skills that I can practice on my own?

3. I don't have the cash to buy a $600 bp/w. Where can I find a step by step guide to building my own? Or are there cheaper ways to get one besides buying from a manufacturer? I notice MASS-Diver mentioned a bp for $50, where?

4. Is there a place to go and witness someone with highly developed DIR skills? Do they allow spectators without buying something?

Joe

 

[PatH]

Skills practice. Is there a good place to go to get the skills training that I need outside of GUE training? Can I get a video that will show me the skills that I can practice on my own?

There are some good DIR websites that host reasonable video clips of the fundamental skills. Quite frankly though, you really need to find a mentor or take a course. I don't think I've ever met someone who successfully learned these skills "online".

I don't have the cash to buy a $600 bp/w. Where can I find a step by step guide to building my own? Or are there cheaper ways to get one besides buying from a manufacturer? I notice MASS-Diver mentioned a bp for $50, where?

Try the Halcyon, GUE, and WKPP websites. Most of the info is there to build one. Don't expect to save too much money, though, most of the cost is sunk into the wing, the backplate, and the hardware.

 

[Wendy]

Okay, so I just finished the book. I will probably wait until next week to re-read the book. But here are my thoughts to this point.

1. I am out of shape and fitness will be an issue with taking the course. I have lost 38lbs but still need to lose some more. I also do not work out and that appears to be a major thread through the whole book. So, how many folks are really in very good shape?

2. Skills practice. Is there a good place to go to get the skills training that I need outside of GUE training? Can I get a video that will show me the skills that I can practice on my own?

3. I don't have the cash to buy a $600 bp/w. Where can I find a step by step guide to building my own? Or are there cheaper ways to get one besides buying from a manufacturer? I notice MASS-Diver mentioned a bp for $50, where?

4. Is there a place to go and witness someone with highly developed DIR skills? Do they allow spectators without buying something?

Joe

1. Get in the pool and start swimming. Its great exercise and will help you in the long run when you do your surface swim. Congrats on the weight loss.

2. Find someone that is DIR that won't mind going over skills with you, like a mentor. You don't want to practice skills on your own and not know if you are doing them correct, and developing bad habits.

3. Look on ebay for a wing. the harness is just a single piece of webbing with some hardware. Extreme Exposure may just sell the harness and hardware for $45 or so. I know they did at one time. Now the bp's come already rigged, you just need to do the adjustments. FredT here on the board also makes and sells bp's and they may already be rigged as well.

4. See answer #2.

 

[detroit diver]

Hey DD,

I might have to go back and rethink my current gear and the rest of the DIR rig to fully get the magnitude of the problem. I dive exclusively in South Florida. Never been to a spring, only ocean or Gulf. I have a back inflate bc and usually a 3mm shorty (or a 3mm 1pc jumpsuit if it is winter). With a steel tank I still need 12 to 14lbs.

So I guess I would be overweighted in a bp/w? Sound right?

Joe

ps> I don't know if this matters but I have heard other people mention height and weight. I am 75" and 250.

Just to give you an example, when I dive in WPB or Ft Lauderdale, I use a 3mm shorty, SS backplate, and sometimes 2lb trim weight (if I'm not using my cannister light). This is with an AL80 tank. The SS BP is about 6 lb negative as previously stated.

I can keep a stop at 10fsw with an almost empty tank.

So, basically, I'm using 8 lbs of weight (the SS BP + 2lb trim (or cannister), plus the weight of the tank with gas. I have no problem descending or holding my stops.

The weight of the HP95 is considerably more than the AL80, and the swing weight characteristics are not helping you either.

 

[JustJoe]

I was led to believe that the DIR/F class taught techniques for calculating NDL during the dive. This method would eliminate the only advantage a computer has over the tables by allowing you to have a non-square (couldn't think of a better descriptor)dive profile. But the book did not mention anything about recalculating during the dive.

Is this taught in the class or something that I misunderstood?

Joe

 

[detroit diver]

I was led to believe that the DIR/F class taught techniques for calculating NDL during the dive. This method would eliminate the only advantage a computer has over the tables by allowing you to have a non-square (couldn't think of a better descriptor)dive profile. But the book did not mention anything about recalculating during the dive.

Is this taught in the class or something that I misunderstood?

Joe

Any deco info is taught in later classes, not in the DIR-F. And it's not in the book.

 

[JustJoe]

1. Get in the pool and start swimming. Its great exercise and will help you in the long run when you do your surface swim. Congrats on the weight loss.

2. Find someone that is DIR that won't mind going over skills with you, like a mentor. You don't want to practice skills on your own and not know if you are doing them correct, and developing bad habits.

3. Look on ebay for a wing. the harness is just a single piece of webbing with some hardware. Extreme Exposure may just sell the harness and hardware for $45 or so. I know they did at one time. Now the bp's come already rigged, you just need to do the adjustments. FredT here on the board also makes and sells bp's and they may already be rigged as well.

4. See answer #2.

Thanks for the kind words. I finally made up my mind to lose the weight and it has been going very well. My original goal was to lose 50lbs but I am not going to stop the way that I am eating now so hopefully I can eventually get back to pre-military weight. Getting in the pool is a great idea and never crossed my mind.

Now my question. Where does one go to find a DIR experienced diver? They just don't hang out at the lds that I frequent, and I have only seen one guy diving a rig that looked DIR (maybe a HOG diver because he dove solo) off a boat. Does this mean that I need to go and hang out at the caves like a groupie (I hope not). Where do you find these mythical divers?

Joe