Post your best diving tips!

[TSandM]

Trying to think of the things people have shared with me . . .

1) Spring straps. They rock. Neoprene mask straps with nylon attachments that can't break are pretty good, too.

2) Use Seal Saver to lubricate your wrist and neck seals before getting into your dry suit. Better lubrication, and much less messy than talc.

3) If you have trouble getting your fins off at the end of a dive, stand on one foot, bend the other knee bringing the foot BEHIND the leg you're standing on (making a figure 4) and grab the fin with the other hand (right fin, left hand). Then use your leg to pull the fin off.

4) If you have trouble reaching your valves, then at the beginning of the dive, put a little extra air in your drysuit (at the surface), lie in the water a little head down with your arms over your head, and wriggle a bit. This lets your rig pull your suit up a little, and increases the slack you have in the arm and shoulder area. (Known locally as the Raul maneuver, but I've seen it referred to on SB as the Beto maneuver, too.)

5) A large, plastic juice bottle full of hot water to pour over your head is a very civilized thing at the end of a dive.

 

[Walter]

Has "dive safely" been stated yet?

Michael

Not exactly a tip.

3) If you have trouble getting your fins off at the end of a dive, stand on one foot, bend the other knee bringing the foot BEHIND the leg you're standing on (making a figure 4) and grab the fin with the other hand (right fin, left hand). Then use your leg to pull the fin off.

I'm not a contortionist; I'll stick with crossing in front.

 

[TheRedHead]

I'm not a contortionist; I'll stick with crossing in front.

Yep. Wouldn't work very well for a boat diver either...

 

[Noviz]

Here's one I plucked off a thread a few weeks ago and it's already helped...

When breathing a reg (or snorkle) that may be breathing wet, press your tongue to the roof of your mouth. The air goes around the tongue, but the water puddles up in the bottom of your mouth, behind you teeth. Keeps the plankton out of the lungs.

 

[Ann Marie]

A good time to practice skills is during a safety stop.

 

[TSandM]

Contortionist? It's not hard at all. And I've done it easily on a boat. In fact, I think you take up less space that way than with your leg in front of you!

 

[TheRedHead]

Contortionist? It's not hard at all. And I've done it easily on a boat. In fact, I think you take up less space that way than with your leg in front of you!

Lynne, sometimes you have to take your fins off before you get back on the boat so you can't put your foot down. But I agree that pulling with your leg is a lot easier than pulling the strap with the hand. With Jetfins, my booties get drilled into the fin so I have to give it a good yank after I have removed the strap. Crossing leg in the front is easier for me on a tag line.

 

[TSandM]

Oh, I do it the same way in the water, too. Maybe I just bend differently . . . Sometimes getting those Jets off is a real pain.

 

[dlndavid]

baby powder in the wrist seals of a dry suit makes for easy donning.

 

[avpro4]

To protect the silky lining of your wetsuit, buy a small piece of cotton felt at a fabric store and cut it to fit over the velcro hooks on the neck seal. Stays put well enough to prevent the velcro from scuffing up the silk while dressing; yet easy to remove and small enough to tuck into your sleeve from where it can be retrieved for reapplication before you take off the suit.