When does it "click"?

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Great question, great thread, and some great responses.

This is something I could talk at enormous length on, but my very shortest response would be this:
Sooner or later.

Just keep with it. Dive a lot. I'll disagree with some of the earlier posters by saying I DON'T believe you're overthinking it. It sounds like you are working very hard at becoming a conscientious and safety-minded diver and buddy. This is to be very much applauded. And many of the things you are "worrying" about will become second-nature at some point. There's no rush and there's no reason to really stress about it, though.

One thing you did twig onto: get your own gear. That will make a huge difference towards developing the muscle memory that will allow your hands to just tend to things while your mind can go on to learning and refining others. After a whole lot of diving you'll be able to strap pretty much anything on up to and including stuff that doesn't even fit you and be able to make it work passably. But when I say a whole lot I mean a WHOLE LOT. Start by getting a couple of hundred dives with your own gear before trying that.
 
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.

As the saying goes, "it's the instructor, not the agency" that makes the difference. If your ITT instructor is doing a great job, maybe GUE Fundies is superfluous?
 
As the saying goes, "it's the instructor, not the agency" that makes the difference. If your ITT instructor is doing a great job, maybe GUE Fundies is superfluous?

I'm only familiar with the GUE comments on SB, I have never been diving with a GUE diver. This ITT instructor has impressed me enough that I've had my son begin training with him - doing nitrox, the SDI equivalent of AOW, then dry suit.

Watching him (the instructor) dive is beautiful. Flawless. He beats me up and I like it.
 
I'm a late start to diving, did my OW at 31yo, AOW a year later.
A decade younger than me or my instructor when we started. And some people start diving when they are 50+

Am I overthinking?
- It's good to be aware of the situation - but one must also be able to relax
- 30 or 60 feet is a relatively short distance.
- lung overexpansion must be taken seriously though
 
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K_sheep, are you a physician?

I ask because I have found many professionals seem to want more data, not less, when it comes to diving. I don't know if this is "over-thinking" or over-analyzing or whatever. I suppose everyone needs to have the data and the information that they need. I have found I've become more relaxed, but it has been because I've become more self-reliant. I was more anxious when I was depending on someone else because they were always an unknown. Collecting more data about the dive, about myself, understanding the dive plan and the dive operation - all have helped me relax. I'm relying on me and not someone else. There are fewer unknowns. I collect a lot of personal data for self-analysis. Just me.

AND - I found a GUE trainer in Las Vegas, about 5 hours away from me. Close enough. I've been looking at doing some work down there so I might be diving in Lake Mead with these guys.
 

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