Questions about DCS and a new diver

[Wildcard]

Just becouse your shallow does NOT mean your not going to get hurt. That first/last ATA is the fastest expanding. Thats 33 feet/10meters. Sounds like it might be worth reading through your manual again.

 

[mobster75]

tropicaledit:

I'm a newly certified OW diver myself and I just signed up with DAN a few nights ago just for the peace of mind, in case anything ever happens.

But, didn't your instructors teach you to ascend with your arms pointing up and the BC inflator firmly in your left hand so you can dump out the air as you ascend??

Or did you just glaze over that part of the book/video/CD-ROM?


Laser:

This stuff was well covered, recovered and stressed during my OW classes. I thought all classes were similar...

 

[Airborne!]

I second or third the DAN thing. Also, I would go ahead and seek out another instructor at another shop for a refresher. Ask around the boards here for advice on a good instructor in your area to use. Tell the new instructor that you are concerned with the quality of your last instruction and he or she can have a look see at your basic knowledge and skills. Don’t feel bad or insulted by anyone’s comments here. I am constantly amazed at the varying levels of Scuba Instruction students get from place to place.
When I was training to be a Pilot I had a bad initial instructor and did not even know it until later when I had a really good one. My good instructor would see me do something and say “so did your last instructor teach you that…yea that’s the easy way, but not the right way.” I find there are some Scuba Instructors that are the same way.

 

[SNorman]

This is something that comes with practice.
Once you have buoyancy control you'll see that a mere big breathe and pulling your head up ( assuming you are in good trim ) a bit will SLOWLY start you ascending. Then you need to pay attention to the gas in the BC and vent it appropriately to maintain a smooth SLOW ascent.

This should be covered in basic class damn it.

Hey, I saw you replied to me so maybe I wasn't so clear - I was asking the original poster how he was handling monitoring his ascend speed and whether he was venting his BCD, because not doing either one would cause problems

My class definitely covered it (well, or vent your drysuit ), just got certified today!!! Yeah!

Tropicaledit: You said you have 15-20 dives, are you not sure? What kind of dives are they? I can't imagine someone would do 20 dives and not know to vent their BCD.