When does it "click"?

[Diving Dubai]

You'll notice how things have clicked when you look back.

For instance,

Deploying a DSMB without conscious effort and no significant change in depth,
On my rescue course (pre briefed) when the instructor took off my mask and removed my reg (at different times) without warning, and I calmly just sorted myself out and carried on (while still neutral)
Or you have a minor incident like your LP inflator hose disconnecting and you re attach it without any effort.
Or you can take a picture of something underwater without having to hold on to steady yourself

These things just happen, I can't remember when they did, but I can remember when they all seemed like a challenge.

Sometimes if the dive is a bit dull I'll give myself little challenges for my own amusement, perhaps I'll glide over the sand at less than 0.5m without touching the bottom or disturbing the silt. Sometimes on a safety stop I'll hold the stop (with effort) to within +/- 0.1m

With currents you'll find you no longer need to link arms, that you enjoy them and are comfortable playing hide and seek. And so on and so forth.

It's always nice to look back and remember when you thought something was hard and now you wonder why you thought so because you find it easy

 

[Frontpointer1000]

I'm lucky with air - hubby and I are pretty similar, he uses just a bit more than me - he'll come up with 50psi, I'll be 60-90.

She means BAR

kSheep....
Work should be fun too!

 

[Dan]

Yes, the remaining air pressure is off by 1 digit (1 significance figure, 10x too low). Getting back to the surface at 500 psig is more likely the case.

My first thing to set when I hit the bottom is to get my buoyancy. Once I get down & stay down for 5 second, then start doing something else without worrying about my body slowly ascending & keep adjusting the buoyancy.

 

[billt4sf]

You'll notice how things have clicked when you look back.

For instance,

Deploying a DSMB without conscious effort and no significant change in depth,
On my rescue course (pre briefed) when the instructor took off my mask and removed my reg (at different times) without warning, and I calmly just sorted myself out and carried on (while still neutral)
Or you have a minor incident like your LP inflator hose disconnecting and you re attach it without any effort.
Or you can take a picture of something underwater without having to hold on to steady yourself

These things just happen, I can't remember when they did, but I can remember when they all seemed like a challenge.

Sometimes if the dive is a bit dull I'll give myself little challenges for my own amusement, perhaps I'll glide over the sand at less than 0.5m without touching the bottom or disturbing the silt. Sometimes on a safety stop I'll hold the stop (with effort) to within +/- 0.1m

With currents you'll find you no longer need to link arms, that you enjoy them and are comfortable playing hide and seek. And so on and so forth.

It's always nice to look back and remember when you thought something was hard and now you wonder why you thought so because you find it easy

Right. It's 80% about buoyancy. Esp. while doing something else.

 

[Neilwood]

Wow thank you for all the replies. What I'm hearing is relax p), take it slow, maybe do a rescue diver/other course, and just keep plugging along Sounds Good

Frontpointer1000, I've done some time as an anaesthetics resident which is probably similar to what I'm doing in diving! (What's the sats, how's the BP, temp okay, are they CO2 retaining, rinse and repeat!). The difference is work is work and diving should be fun! Correct. You shouldn't need to monitor everything all the time when diving - just casually float along watching the scenery with an occasional glance at tank pressure, buddy, depth, NDL etc. Unless you are doing a difficult dive, these things will not change very quickly.

I'm lucky with air - hubby and I are pretty similar, he uses just a bit more than me - he'll come up with 50psi, I'll be 60-90. And yes, in proper current we link at the elbows, and are pretty good at ducking behind somewhere for a breather and reevaulate the dive.

Sounds like I should stop reading the Accidents and Incidents board too The incidents on that board are relatively few and given the number of dives worldwide, the chances are pretty minor.

My rationale with buying my own gear is that I didn't want to be responsible for maintaining it ... but I guess that largely means taking it to the LDS for servicing, which is probably not too taxing. I chose the opposite as I want to make sure I know exactly where my regs etc have been and how well they have been treated

Comments in red.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Right. It's 80% about buoyancy. Esp. while doing something else.

Reminds me of a favorite quote about differences between what a course like Intro To Tech typically instills in a student and what GUE Fundamentals does.

In my experience they weren't even in the same universe despite having been designed to achieve same goals. There are no teamwork components in ITT. The theory module is a bit of a joke.

The biggest difference is that ITT informed me that I was expected to donate my long hose whereas Fundies beat me into actually doing it, thirty times, halfway through shooting an SMB, upside down while swimming backwards in sulphuric acid.

 

[hammet]

30 years ago back in college, i got into the whole the whole zen meditation thing. (Cut me some slack.... it was a phase. ). I realized diving was very similar because you focus on your breathing to reach a certain state of mind. Diving is all about controlling your breathing and movements to conserve air and maintain buoyancy. When I made that connection, I realized diving is all about relaxation - relaxing your body and your mind and letting your senses become heightened. At that point, you stop kicking up the bottom, gulping air, and generally flapping around like a drowning victim.
The buoyancy class i took in my AOW class (30 years after my OW) just confirmed what I learned many years ago.

 

[Frontpointer1000]

Reminds me of a favorite quote about differences between what a course like Intro To Tech typically instills in a student and what GUE Fundamentals does.

Sounds like I need to do GUE fundies.

I love sulphuric acid

 

[Lorenzoid]

Sounds like I need to do GUE fundies.

I love sulphuric acid

I have no idea what prompted the author of that quote to come up with that wonderful bit of hyperbole, but I sure get the sentiment behind it.

On a recent dive trip in Cozumel, my wife and I got separated from the divemaster and the rest of the group. So we shot our SMB during our safety stop, ascended, and were promptly picked up by the boat. No big deal. The DM remarked to us that she was never worried because she was confident we "knew what to do." I replied that shooting an SMB feels easy if you've had to do an out-of-air drill in the middle of shooting an SMB. That's the kind of practice that builds confidence, and is what @billt4sf was alluding to.

 

[Frontpointer1000]

I have no idea what prompted the author of that quote to come up with that wonderful bit of hyperbole, but I sure get the sentiment behind it.

On a recent dive trip in Cozumel, my wife and I got separated from the divemaster and the rest of the group. So we shot our SMB during our safety stop, ascended, and were promptly picked up by the boat. No big deal. The DM remarked to us that she was never worried because she was confident we "knew what to do." I replied that shooting an SMB feels easy if you've had to do an out-of-air drill in the middle of shooting an SMB. That's the kind of practice that builds confidence, and is what @billt4sf was alluding to.

Agree 100%

We test and drill, and add levels to the tests/drills to complicate things, to reflect potential scenarios, to instill a calm confidence and ability to decomplicate issues. Shooting up a DSMB seems like an easy thing in theory, but the first few times I did it, I certainly made a few mistakes and it was significant task loading. Now it's normal. I'm doing ITT now - and have been very impressed with the instructor. He doesn't like my buoyancy control (and I agree with him, it needs work) and won't certify me. That is the kind of instruction I want, not a c-card. I want to know what I am doing. I'm looking into GUE instructors locally now.