Greeting from fabulous Las Vegas

[giefu]

Hello everyone! Just wanted to drop a quick note and say Howdy! I am new to the board and relatively new to diving. I got my PADI OW certification in December, and my AOW in Feburary, and am working on getting a few specialties and completing my Rescue Diver. Before last October I knew little or nothing about scuba diving and now I am finding that it is rather addicting. My husband and I made a trip to Cozumel and Grand Cayman in Feburary. It was the first time I dove anything outside of Lake Mead here in Las Vegas, NV. Lake Mead is cold, murky, and desolate, but it is close so at least I get to practice and have found that almost anywhere else I go is a breeze. It amazed me how much easier it was to dive without a wetsuit, in clear, warm water.

I joined the board specifically to find out what is happening in the scuba community. Get recommendations on equipment, locations, maybe get some tips and tricks that will not make me look so naive when I go out. I have received some advice from my instructors on hthings like from how to pack my dive bag to proper etiquette on a dive boat, but I need more. I look forward to browsing around the board and seeing what I can find, how opinions differ, and finding some of the gems that you wondered how you got along without before.

I would like to know what piece of equipment (besides the must haves - BCD, Reg, Computer, SPG, Compass, Tank, Octo, Lights, and Weights) that you find indespensable. Is it your knife? A reel? A slate? Something unusual? What do you use it for that makes it valuable to you?

I have never used my knife. I just bought a reel because it looked handy to connect to the float for navigation. I use my slate seldom, since my husband is my dive buddy and we communicate pretty well. I have to have my camera. It is small and I never know when there will be a picture I must have, even in the murky water of Lake Mead.

 

[300bar]

Welcome to :sblogo:

 

[dwaters]

Welcome to the 'board!!!!!!

Yes, you will find alot of good input here...enjoy!
Check out your local dive forum here and if you ever want to travel few miles west of you, drop on down to http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/socal/ and we promise to get you and hubby wet
in cool salt water. Hope to see you in the water someday soon.

 

[birdwrasse]

hi, there... welcome!

as for your questions: depending where you're diving, the dive tool (knife) can really come in handy... don't forget the alternatives, z-knife (for lines), and scissors/shears (for items that won't cut with a straight edge -- steel leaders). wrist slates are important to get our thoughts across to the other diver and they can help pass the time on the deco line! it's my opinion that a small SMB and reel should always be carried for emergency ascents, but also to identify something really important that you might have to, or want to come back to, later. bring the tools that will be used. don't bring the kitchen sink... if you can learn to dive in silt, 120 degree summer temps / 50 degree bottom temps, occassional low visibility, then you'll be a better diver in those clear and tropical waters! we really are lucky that we have such a large body of water in our backyard to work on bouyancy, drills, skills, as well as do wall diving, trimix diving, cave diving, wreck diving, and see two vintage aircraft (b-29 and pby)... good luck on completing the rescue diver.




--c


p.s. don't forget drift diving in the river in june and july!!!

 

[Mel-OBT]

Welcome to the Board!

 

[giefu]

p.s. don't forget drift diving in the river in june and july!!!

I actually overheard discussions on drift diving in the river. Sounds like an interesting experience. Problem is I am unavailable from June 14 through July 12. I hope something comes up outside of that schedule.

if you can learn to dive in silt, 120 degree summer temps / 50 degree bottom temps, occassional low visibility, then you'll be a better diver in those clear and tropical waters! we really are lucky that we have such a large body of water in our backyard to work on bouyancy, drills, skills, as well as do wall diving, trimix diving, cave diving, wreck diving, and see two vintage aircraft (b-29 and pby)...

I went back in the water for the first time in two months yesterday at Lake Mead. Last time I was in any water was drift diving in Cozumel. I was glad to be back in the water but was surprised to be reminded at how much more difficult the dives are in Lake Mead. I think you are spot on. I keep diving the Lake, and when I get those rare opportunities to dive in warm, high visibility conditions, I am going to be much more confident of my skills. We even concentrated on specific skills such as bouyancy, navigation, and sharing air.

What is trimix diving? I don't think I will be seeing the b-29 or the pby in the near future. Getting enough skills and confidence to go that deep in those conditions seems a long way off for me. So I will be happy with the school bus and van in Lake Mojave for now.

 

[birdwrasse]

the drift dives are not set in stone yet, so when they become available, i'll let everyone know!

trimix is a gas mixture comprised of oxygen, nitrogen, and HELIUM... the helium helps to offset the narcotic effects of the nitrogen and sometimes, when the oxygen percentage is lower than air (hypoxic <21%), a greater depth can be achieved... there is a lot more too it than that, but in a nutshell, anyway... used by technical divers, often...

keep diving!




--c