Line skills

[Dive-aholic]

I don't know of any agency that allows more than 3 students in a course at the cave level. Does the CDAA allow four students?

 

[Sas]

I don't know of any agency that allows more than 3 students in a course at the cave level. Does the CDAA allow four students?

At Cave, only two per instructor during in water training. More for theory and land drills.

 

[InTheDrink]

to diverge a little from the original question...

seems like we're getting settled on Mexico in September. buddy wants to do zero to hero, me less sure. Any recommendations on instructors down there?

also discussion on whether to go RB rather than waste time on twins. buddy already rb trained and got a new inspo. I've never dived either but intend to get RB training over the summer.

But cenotes being warm and shallow seem to be a fairly gentle introduction. And whether rb or twins seems hard to turn down the opportunity to do the whole gig in one go. But this wasn't my plan to start off with which is what makes me question it.

Anyhow - any recommendations on Cavern/Cave Instructors in Mehico would be great.

J

 

[Dive-aholic]

I wouldn't recommend doing it in a rebreather if you're only going to get your training this summer. In September you'll still likely be working on improving your skills and learning to cave dive along with that isn't going to be easy.

As for instructors, check out Dennis Weeks, Diablo Divers. Looks like his website is having issues right now, but his e-mail is info@diablodivers.com

 

[ucfdiver]

to diverge a little from the original question...

seems like we're getting settled on Mexico in September. buddy wants to do zero to hero, me less sure. Any recommendations on instructors down there?

also discussion on whether to go RB rather than waste time on twins. buddy already rb trained and got a new inspo. I've never dived either but intend to get RB training over the summer.

But cenotes being warm and shallow seem to be a fairly gentle introduction. And whether rb or twins seems hard to turn down the opportunity to do the whole gig in one go. But this wasn't my plan to start off with which is what makes me question it.

Anyhow - any recommendations on Cavern/Cave Instructors in Mehico would be great.

J

I don't understand why anyone would want to accept the risks of a re-breather for only 3 hours of bottom time (like that unit is rated for), let alone right out of full cave.

Open circuit, then add stages, then scooter, then tow scooters, and then if logistics just get too complicated, a re-breather is the route I'm taking. Frankly I doubt I'll ever make it to a breather, even one scooter and 2 stages can easily put you a mile from your next breath of fresh air, which takes a fair amount of experience to avoid that little voice in the back of your head playing mind games with you.

 

[boulderjohn]

A good friend of mine is full cave certified, including certs for DPV and stages. Hehas more than 100 post certification cave dives.

He got a rebreather in January. He had intensive training with it, and has probably at least 30 rebreather dives since that training.

He does not believe he is ready to take it into a cave yet.

 

[dbulmer]

IntheDrink,
From what I understand you don't dive dry yet?
If that is the case you have the following:

Learning drysuit
Learning Rebreather
Learning zero to hero in caves

I know bugger all about caving but I think if I were an instructor my reaction would end up in a phrase ending with off- sorry to be so blunt but the scale of what you are thinking of would have me worrying about your safety.

 

[TSandM]

You can cave dive wet in MX -- a lot of people do.

There are a number of good cave instructors that I know (and probably quite a few more that I don't). I would also recommend Dennis, who taught my Full Cave class. He's thorough and safety-minded, but he's also a heck of a nice guy and a fun person to spend four or five days with.

Another good instructor is Steve Bogaerts, who trained some of my friends. I think he may be a bit more stern than Dennis, just from socializing with him, but I haven't dived with him, so I could be wrong.

I have well-trained and knowledgeable friends who dive with Bil Phillips, so I would assume he also has a good attitude toward safety and teaches a good class.

There are many more choices than that, but those are the people I know and know of.

 

[InTheDrink]

I don't understand why anyone would want to accept the risks of a re-breather for only 3 hours of bottom time (like that unit is rated for), let alone right out of full cave.

Well to be honest I haven't worked it out fully myself and I'd say odds on RB training won't happen this summer, simply because of time restrictions (2 young kids, company to run, etc.) but it does seem like a reasonable argument (and this is probably not the thread for it) - if you're looking at extended range, whether depth, time or both then a RB is a good tool and IMO better than doubles, especially if deep is in the mix. And if one is going to end up on a rebreather then there is the valid argument that skipping the doubles 'interval' makes sense. Doubles seem like a stepping stone from my point of view, albeit a pretty novice one. I fully intend to keep diving with my buddy, he is fully intending to dive on his Inspiration mostly so whether you agree with it or not, this provides reasonable motivation for me to get trained on this too. I has other advantages for me also - I could go diving on the same rig without fills for a few days in a row. For me this would mean being able to get an hour dive in at lunchtime most days. That's a pretty big plus in my book. However, I think with my schedule I'm unlikely be able to find 6 days for the training this summer but depending on what the instructor says, this may be surmountable.

Open circuit, then add stages, then scooter, then tow scooters, and then if logistics just get too complicated, a re-breather is the route I'm taking. Frankly I doubt I'll ever make it to a breather, even one scooter and 2 stages can easily put you a mile from your next breath of fresh air, which takes a fair amount of experience to avoid that little voice in the back of your head playing mind games with you.

As per above, I haven't fully worked out at all what my objectives are. My thinking is to get a little bit of a tasting of the different tech activities and see which, if any, float my boat. I used to see a rebreather as a tool to achieve a particular type of job. But I'm less certain that I view it that way anymore. It may just be a tool to use on lots of jobs even if it's not strictly required for some. I know the primary arguments against this point and like I say, I'm not yet sold either way. But if I need extended range then RB seems certainly worth considering.

Cheers,
J

 

[InTheDrink]

A good friend of mine is full cave certified, including certs for DPV and stages. Hehas more than 100 post certification cave dives.

He got a rebreather in January. He had intensive training with it, and has probably at least 30 rebreather dives since that training.

He does not believe he is ready to take it into a cave yet.

The variables I'm looking at are:
Cave Vs Cavern
Single Vs Doubles Vs RB
Wet Vs Dry

At the moment I'm only doing singles and wet (dry suit course this week) so everything else I need to evaluate. My original thoughts were to do Cavern only, and that is still by far the most likely outcome. I definitely do not see myself doing a Cave course on a rebreather this summer. But I might do a rebreather course and I might do a cave course independently. Well kind of, I guess I can't do the cave course without doubles and the whole idea behind the rebreather is skipping using doubles. Logistically and cost-wise that's a pain in the butt. So perhaps cavern and rb but separately will be the best way. Assuming I've a very flexible RB trainer here. I can't manage two significant courses in one summer without losing wife, job or both

And if I seem like I'm rushing I probably am. My intention was only to consider looking at Cavern training this summer. But events, dear boy, events, are catching up and some current opportunities for this training are unlikely to come up again anytime soon.

J