new kansas diver

[dastuck]

Hi everyone. Just a little bit about myself. My father, uncles, and grandpa have been diving for many years. Most of my family live in Illinois and dove bull shoals lake on the missouri/arkansas border when they were growing up. My dad moved to kansas when he got out of the navy and hasnt dove in many years so i did not grow up around it although i have spent all of my life on the water (i live 1 mile from a 8,000 acre lake). A few years back the family decided to take a trip down to bull shoals and my unlce brought all of his scuba gear and i tried out freediving and spearfishing and was hooked. I bought my own snorkel gear and spearguns and for the past few years have been going down with the family at least once a year. I took my open water pool and classroom portions of my open water cert. with a budy last year and planned on the open water dives a month later but my body ended up getting a job in florida and i didnt have anyone interested in going with me to get certified so have not been able to get the open water cert. done. I believe there is a deadline on how long you can go between the pool/classroom and open water portions and im probably past that now. I have scuba dove with my uncle a few times since then and am heading back to bull shoals in a little over a week to have some more fun. I have wanted to get certified but havent had the time or found anyone near me interested in going with me but im working on changing a few friends minds. I think once they try it they to will be hooked.

 

[Scubadaddy]

Welcome to SB

 

[woodsandwatertoo]

Welcome

 

[DandyDon]

Howdy and Welcome to SB.com!

Click Forums at the top to start checking all the choices, and try our feature. Hope you enjoy your time here. Click my Username to PM me if I can help? Helpful Hint: I have UserCP bookmarked as the page I go to first when I come onto SB.

don
[c]

[/c]

 

[montanamd]

Welcome,

I fairly new here, great bunch of people. Done a lot of lurking, not too much posting.
Montanamd

 

[dastuck]

thanks for all the welcomes. Ive been to this site many times but have never posted. I figured it was about time i got my feet wet.

 

[CJM]

oh oh oh.. dont forget me.. Welcome

 

[Bob Vincent]

Hi ...

& Welcome to ...
:sblogo::colouredsmilies::colouredsmilies:

Why do you need to have a "friend" go with you, are be there? If you had a friend that completed everything with you, would he have to be with you after that for you to go diving? I guess I don't understand that part.

And the part about diving without having your cert. is plain stupid. Let me tell you why. Even if your diving with a cert'ed diver he/she is not trained (unless they are an AI or an Instructor) if a problem occurred, what would you are he do? Say your inflator stuck open all at once, you start heading to the surface really fast what do you do? Sitting here you may have heard what to do ... but, in a real situation ... things happen really fast ... in as little as 4 ft you can blow your lungs or embolise. If you didn't think fast can he are does he know how to stop you from hurting yourself? Does he know the proper way to make sure you vent? There's just alot than can bite you.

Poo does hit the fan when you least expect it. Go finnish whatever it takes ... and yes if you don't have anyone of your friends to go with you so what? You have family to dive with and you'll make friends with other divers. Heck, join a Scuba Club!

 

[dastuck]

i understand your concern on not being certified. I have completed the pool and classroom where this stuff was covered. I also due to my occupation can think on my feet under pressure. I havent nor plan on diving deeper then the thermocline which averages 25 feet. I have been free diving to that depth for a few years. I have all intentions of finishing my cert. As for getting a budy to get certified with me, it will give me someone that works the same schedule i do (shift work) to go diving with.

 

[John_B]

Remember, the OW checkout dives were supposed to give you the opportunity to demonstrate the basics when something goes south on a dive (your mask floods or is kicked off your face, your reg gets knocked out of your mouth, you get entangled, etc.). You'll also find it a lot easier to rent tanks or get fills with an OW card.

BTW, check in with the Mid-West Muck Divers subforum here on SB, if Melvern is where I think it is (just off the I-35) you'll find there are a fair number of Muck Divers within about an hour of you near KC and certainly within driving distance to lake dives at Beaver Lake, Table Rock, Bull Shoals, etc.