Neat Little Tricks Are Good to Know

[InTheDrink]

I learnt a few tips along my short journey, many of which have been repeated here already.

But a major tip for me has to be to get kitted up early. Or said another way, get kitted up in a timeframe that puts no pressure on you. By this I also include breathing from my reg for a few minutes before getting in the water. Rushing getting ready for a dive I think is really a significant risk. I'm not usually early for anything - but with diving I make a big exception and am always ready first. It's stood me in good stead so far.

J

[cloudflint]

Not sure about the others, but if your "legs are too light", chances are really good that you're overweighted and the suit contains too much air, which is being used to offset the extra weight.

It's much better to be properly weighted than to "fix" a problem that doesn't really need to exist.

Also socks are mostly air space and won't actually make your feet more negative.

flots.

We've found putting on an extra pair of socks helps as it stops the air from migrating quite as much into the feet. I dont do it myself but my drysuit boots fit quite tightly and some suits are looser than others in the boots. We had a trainee in the water last weekend who said their feet felt a bit floaty even though they where not putting any air into the suit. Putting on a second pair of socks meant there was less airspace in their feet so they didnt have quite as much buoyancy and they found they where getting pushed forwards less.

We figure that this way its harder for the air to migrate into your feet and there is less of it once its in there. Also it keeps your feet warmer too!

[aquaregia]

Warning: I'm from the UK and as such some of the terminology I use will likely confuse the hell out of you.

Since we're talking about tricks... one of my car's manuals instructed me to "use a torch to check the gas tank for leaks". My American mates were pretty shocked.

[Rhone Man]

I nearly forgot one crucial piece of diving wisdom that I passed onto my son:

• If you do a PADI DPV specialty course, and your instructor is wearing a two piece, watch carefully when she hits the accelerator, as anything could happen. I still have a smile when I think about it to this day.

[princessaprilia]

Since we're talking about tricks... one of my car's manuals instructed me to "use a torch to check the gas tank for leaks". My American mates were pretty shocked.

Woooo, I had to read that a couple times before I totally understood.

Funny, very funny.

[Rhone Man]

Since we're talking about tricks... one of my car's manuals instructed me to "use a torch to check the gas tank for leaks". My American mates were pretty shocked.

Not half as shocked as some girl working in a stationary store in Arizona when my brother came in and asked her for a "rubber". (That is what Brits call "erasers" for our US friends).

[idocsteve]

I learnt a few tips along my short journey, many of which have been repeated here already.

But a major tip for me has to be to get kitted up early. Or said another way, get kitted up in a timeframe that puts no pressure on you. By this I also include breathing from my reg for a few minutes before getting in the water. Rushing getting ready for a dive I think is really a significant risk. I'm not usually early for anything - but with diving I make a big exception and am always ready first. It's stood me in good stead so far.

J

4 other reasons to get suited up fast

If you're on a boat and you put your rig together before you leave the dock, you can probably save the dive by replacing either a missing or defective piece of gear should you discover the problem before you're 5 miles out at the dive site.

It's a lot easier to put everything together and get into your suit when the boat is at the dock as compared to when it's rolling along the waves at 25 knots or more. If it's a bit of a trek out to the site, then leave your wetsuit "half on". Most of the work is done.

You won't be all exerted from squeezing into that wetsuit so you won't be breathing heavy during that surface swim / hand over hand line pull to get to the anchor in strong current and you wont exhaust a good chunk of your breathing gas before you even start your descent.

Suit up first, be the first one in to the water to see the creatures before they get scared away or the visibility becomes so bad that you get a crappy dive. Then be one of the first back on the boat so you have the boat to yourself and you can get your tanks switched over before the place becomes a post dive mad house. Being the first out, you'll be the first one to get to the necessary surface interval time and be the first back in the water for dive #2.

[Lobzilla]

This is so simple that it is embarrassing how long it took me to realize that while I like to have my regulator in the mouth over water (beach entry, waiting for buddy to jump off boat) I still can breathe surface air by putting on a "big smile".

[Splitlip]

if your one of us that learned to purge a second stage while pressurizing the scuba unit, press the inflate button of your BC instead until the OPV pops.

For that matter inflate the BC orally then open the valve.

Something I was just reminded in another post. If you send up a DSMB from depth..

Remove or secure the built in bungees and Velcro straps used to roll it up. They WILL eventually catch on something.

[ptyx]

More tips:

• Some drysuit wax on your doubles bolt threads will prevent galling - so far, I'm hesitant to apply that trick to DIN screws
• Having your drysuit boots laced really tight makes your feet less floaty
• Having your drysuit boots laced really tights lead to cramps and cold
• If you know your buddy(*) will be low on air at the end of the dive, it's easier to pass him some air now and let him do the ascent on his own regulator
• The best way to carry a tank to the dive site is a cart

(*) That would never happen to you of course... Right?