What do we need to be safe divers?

[billt4sf]

What do we need to be safe divers?
What skills, equipment, and habits do we need to be safe divers? I am assuming that we (a) dive with a buddy; (b) stay within the recreational limits; (c) do not engage in deco-required diving (d) do not enter overhead environments.

Obviously some environments are more challenging than others (cold, dark waters being more challenging than warm, tropical waters). So my proposal is that we need these skills for whichever environment we are attempting to dive in.

Are all these necessary to be a safe diver ? Are these sufficient? What if we have most of them but want to try a new environment?

Here’s my list. I personally think that the most important skill is the last two – also the hardest to learn.

Thanks to Lamont.

Skills
1) Clear mask

2) Remove and switch regs

3) Maintain buoyancy
a) near bottom
b) at safety stop – with / without line to hold or for visual reference

4) Horizontal trim as much as possible

5) Oral inflation at surface while maintaining buoyancy

6) Ability to share gas at bottom or during an ascent

7) Controlled ascent from various depths, also while sharing gas
a) using line or anchor chain
b) with line as a reference
c) no line

8) Ability to launch SMB
a) at surface
b) at depth

9) Ability to assess whether your weighting is appropriate

10) Ability to manage your gas during a dive. Ability to asses what your / your buddy’s gas usage would be before the dive.

11) Remove and replace all hose connections underwater

12) Doff and don rig underwater and at surface

13) Ability to assess if we or a buddy are impaired due to depth (nitrogen narcosis) or other reason

14) Navigation skills commensurate to the environment we plan to dive

15) Ability to assess situation to determine if it’s safe for us to dive with the skill set we possess at the time of our dive
a) gas usage
b) expected depth
c) visibility
d) current
e) boat lines

16) Ability to know when to thumb the dive


Equipment
1) A light appropriate for the environment
2) An SMB
3) Whistle, mirror
4) Air alert
5) Buddy communication (wet notes, slate)
6) Computer
7) Compass


Habits
1) Stay within a few feet of your buddy
2) Good buddy checks: tug all hoses, air on?, tank straps OK?
3) Horizontal trim
4) Don’t disturb underwater environment
5) Continually check the compass or other underwater bearings
6) Breathe a few breaths from each reg shortly after entering the water
7) Breathe a few breaths from the primary while looking at the SPG to ensure air is on

 

[letterboy]

Why do you need to know how to remove and replace hoses, underwater?

Or are you referring to disconnecting the power inflator?

To be a safe diver you need to be able to use your brain. That means engaging it before doing something that will get you killed.

 

[TSandM]

I think you can simplify the way you think about this.

Safe diving begins with attitude. Prioritizing safety is where you start, and the fact that you are asking these questions says you are thinking the right way.

The first step to a safe dive is having enough information to decide whether this is a dive you ought to be doing. That means taking the time to learn about the site, listening to the briefing if you are on a boat, asking other divers at the site what THEY think about conditions, and otherwise gaining as much information as possible to make a solid plan. Dive planning is every bit as important as buoyancy, air-sharing or bag shooting, and it isn't generally taught in classes. There are lots of dives that are forgiving of less than solid skills, but fewer that will forgive totally inadequate planning.

One needs a basic level of control in the water to do even the simplest dive. It's pretty necessary to avoid corking, and fairly desirable to avoid crawling on the bottom. It's also necessary to have a level of comfort with a variety of common problems. You shouldn't panic with a regulator out of your mouth, or a flooded mask, or a free-flowing regulator. It's highly desirable to be able to maintain buoyancy control and some degree of awareness while solving those problems, and to be able to control an air-sharing ascent. You should have been asked to do these things in your OW class, and to demonstrate that you could in fact do them calmly.

The other skill that is really key from the very beginning is situational awareness, and that's a skill most novice divers really don't have. Staying on top of depth, time, gas, location, and buddy requires a fair bit of bandwidth. Rather than practicing donning and doffing gear at depth (something I regard as a dubious skill for anyone who dives with a buddy) practice developing a habitual scan of depth, time, and buddy, and a regular checking schedule for gas. Building that as a routine that requires little or no thought is a strong foundation.

If you can meet those standards, there are any number of dives you can do without any major risk of mishap, which I think a lot of people would consider "safe".

As the dives become more challenging, you need more skills. If the exit is restricted, you need navigation skills (whether that's to get back to an anchor line, or to get back to the small piece of shoreline where you can get out). If there is a chance of being blown off, or of having to surface where there is boat traffic, you may need to be able to shoot a bag from depth. (Deploying a marker at the surface is sufficiently simple that I wouldn't really term it a skill.) Deeper dives require more awareness of gas consumption and planning. Overall, the more challenging the diving you are doing, the better your tolerance for task-loading needs to be, and practicing some of the skills you list will help build your tolerance for task-loading.

No matter how exhaustive a list of "skills" you come up with, somebody will always be able to posit a situation where you need to do something you haven't practiced. If, however, you have a strong basic platform and can keep it when distracted or stressed, you will be able to do things you haven't had to do before.

 

[Chet_Chet]

Subscribed.

 

[TMHeimer]

TS&M sums it up in detail. I will add that in my opinion it makes sense for a new diver to try to buddy with someone who is a Rescue Diver, or at least has a fair bit more experience, maybe be less prone to panic, and possibly has some good ideas on what to do in a real emergency.

 

[DevonDiver]

When I teaches classes for A.N.D.I. we use an acronym called "ATKEE"...



Attitude - Training - Knowledge - Equipment - Experience.

It represents the 5 fundamental factors that dictate a safe, superior diver. I particularly like it... and it is relevant to any certification level or activity.

The diver has to not only possess these attributes, appropriate to their diving, but also has to apply them. The diver is only as strong as their weakest link - so compromises and shortfalls reduces the whole.

I use this as a way to assess divers in training. I suggest students use it for self-analysis too. Each of the factors relative to the level of diving and activity being taught. I also use it during accident/mishap analysis.

Try it out

 

[lamont]

Heh, this is amusing, I think you may be overthinking this a bit...

But I recognize the symptoms from me and all my dive buddies as we were all learning...

For equipment, primarily you just need this:

- computer / depth gauge
- compass (learn to use it)
- wetnotes
- appropriate lights
- SMB

For habits:

- gas checks, reg check and wing check before entering water
- full equipment check on either land/boat/surface ( GUE EDGE and Efficiency | Spherical Chicken )
- learn neutral buoyancy
- situational awareness (periodically scan equipment, environment, team)

For skills:

- mask clearing
- s-drills
- free ascents without an upline
- SMB shooting and ascents under a bag

Prediving:

- weight checks
- gas planning
- gear maintenance (****ty breathing or dribbling regs, sticky LP inflators, frayed and bubbling hoses)

A lot of what you wrote I would not bother focusing at all, like:

- don and doff rig underwater
- remove and replace hoses (just maintain your LP inflator)
- whistle, mirror, air alert for equipment (sure if you need one, but nav and awareness mitigates a lot of this need unless you are significantly offshore in which case I'd suggest a PLB)

I wouldn't even necessarily focus on horizontal trim and frog kicks. I do think those make everything better, but if you can shoot a bag and ascend safely then you're miles ahead of the average rec diver even if your trim is 60 degrees when you're doing it. Mostly just focus on buoyancy control and being still to start with.

 

[NAM001]

Real pretty shoppinglist for sure, but wht should a new diver get from this? At what point according to this list can he say he is a safe diver? I think it is too much for the new diver.
TS&M in post 3 has a much better approach to this problem. I think the list just finely defines the complexity of the process. I think that the list can not be acomplished is any short period of time. So must the newby lable themself as unsafe for 1, 2 or more years till the list is complete. I think TS&M s approach is a guide to inprovement and the list is defining banner of shortcomings.

 

[Diver0001]

What do we need to be safe divers?
What skills, equipment, and habits do we need to be safe divers? I am assuming that we (a) dive with a buddy; (b) stay within the recreational limits; (c) do not engage in deco-required diving (d) do not enter overhead environments.

What I'm interested in is what prompted this post.

To me, skills really fall out into three broad categories:

1) basic diving competence
2) assisting buddy (or being assisted by buddy) in various non-SOP scenarios
3) self rescue

Aside from the discussion if #2 and #3 shouldn't be described as basic skills, your list seems to cover most of what I would think are basic skills, some skills for assisting your buddy and no skills for self rescue.

R..

 

[Foxfish]

Most divers do an open water course and survive so you could infer the courses are by and large adequate. Those that get into trouble often lack confidence in the water and competence in the basic diving and water skills or are cavalier and complacent. Once you've finished your course, no one is going to nurse you out in the deep blue. You are responsible for your safety. If you screw up you can die! You need to evaluate your skills and attitude and decide if you fit into any of the risk categories. The fact that you are asking these questions suggests you at least have a healthy regard for diving in a safe manner. That attitude needs to be maintained at all times. A lapse in concentration or even a short period of stupidity can quickly result in serious injury or death.