Tips and Techniques for the aspiring cave diver

[uberdude]

I have lurked here for a long time and am totally fascinated by cave diving. Alas I live a long way from anywhere I can learn and complete the courses which one day I WILL do. I watched the DVD trailer on you tube about the Mexican cave dive DVD, and it raised some interesting question.

Where can I see (does it exist) info/video on techniques to develop correct anti silt kicks I can practice while diving normal.

Can you recommend anything apart from practice for perfecting buoyancy while normally diving, in order to prepare for cave diving.

Is it possible to buy quality gear that will be suitable for both cave diving and OW diving, reg's, bcd, particular fins etc. I do understand there will be some personal opinion involved here but there must be preferred gear.

My point here is I'm a relatively new open water diver who wants to develop health skills prior to getting to the point of doing a course and I'd love to pick your brains on how best to prepare. I'd rather not be learning the basic skills while on course but at least have tried to mastered things like kick, profile and buoyancy before I arrrive.

I know this is a broad subject but I'm all ears and look forward to your opinions.

 

[danvolker]

I have lurked here for a long time and am totally fascinated by cave diving. Alas I live a long way from anywhere I can learn and complete the courses which one day I WILL do. I watched the DVD trailer on you tube about the Mexican cave dive DVD, and it raised some interesting question.

Where can I see (does it exist) info/video on techniques to develop correct anti silt kicks I can practice while diving normal.

Can you recommend anything apart from practice for perfecting buoyancy while normally diving, in order to prepare for cave diving.

Is it possible to buy quality gear that will be suitable for both cave diving and OW diving, reg's, bcd, particular fins etc. I do understand there will be some personal opinion involved here but there must be preferred gear.

My point here is I'm a relatively new open water diver who wants to develop health skills prior to getting to the point of doing a course and I'd love to pick your brains on how best to prepare. I'd rather not be learning the basic skills while on course but at least have tried to mastered things like kick, profile and buoyancy before I arrrive.

I know this is a broad subject but I'm all ears and look forward to your opinions.

Halcyon backplate and wing, Jetfins wristmount for your compass and depthguage/timer( or wrist computer)

Watch DIR 3 and DIR 1 and 2 videos. DIR 3 on Vimeo for DIR 3
DIR 2 you may have to pay for from GUE - Global Underwater Explorers ( GUE.com).

GUE has a course called Fundamentals you could take now or at any time in the future, that would create spectacular foundational skills for any form of advanced diving, including cave, technical, shipwreck, anything. I do not know where the closest GUE instructor is to your area, but one option is a killer dive vacation to Palm Beach Florida to take the fundamentals course, and to spend 3 or 4 more days diving.....Obviously you need to see if you can find one near you first.


The gear used for DIR diving, is essentially the same for cave as for ocean, with the exception of the tanks and size of wing( to be paired with the tank)....We use the same harness, and in ocean for recreational dives a single 80 cu ft tank with a 28 pound lift wing is the way to go. In cave, you would want a drysuit, which is also awesome in the ocean for cooler water, or to protect you from sea wasps and other jellyfish your part of the world has to deal with. For cave or technical, you use doubles with a manifold and two regulators....ocean tech uses twin 80 aluminum, but cave more likly twin steel 104's.....Double tanks need larger wings than diving a single tank, so while a 19 pound lift wing to 30 pound lift wing is optimal for single tank diving, wings with from 40 pound lift to 55 pound lift are required for the extra lift needed for doubles. All other gear remains the same. Configuration--the way you wear and use the gear, remains the same. So your diving recreationally in the single tank set up actually prepares you for double tank use.

The jet fins alow extreme detail in your control correction, and are spectacular in low exertion zero silt kicked up tyoes of diving. This is great in both ocean and cave settings, or wrecks. When and if you need to go fast, the jet fins have tremendous burst power, this being exagerated if you are highly fit ( as in a cyclist).

You could also visit the DIR forum and read the sticky posts on top about DIR.

 

[Kevin Carlisle]

I have lurked here for a long time and am totally fascinated by cave diving. Alas I live a long way from anywhere I can learn and complete the courses which one day I WILL do. I watched the DVD trailer on you tube about the Mexican cave dive DVD, and it raised some interesting question.

Where can I see (does it exist) info/video on techniques to develop correct anti silt kicks I can practice while diving normal.

Can you recommend anything apart from practice for perfecting buoyancy while normally diving, in order to prepare for cave diving.

Is it possible to buy quality gear that will be suitable for both cave diving and OW diving, reg's, bcd, particular fins etc. I do understand there will be some personal opinion involved here but there must be preferred gear.

My point here is I'm a relatively new open water diver who wants to develop health skills prior to getting to the point of doing a course and I'd love to pick your brains on how best to prepare. I'd rather not be learning the basic skills while on course but at least have tried to mastered things like kick, profile and buoyancy before I arrrive.

I know this is a broad subject but I'm all ears and look forward to your opinions.

Why dont you look at www.AgnesMilowka.com and check her out. Great pics and stuff from caves in Australia and in the States. Most of us arent DIR like Dan so there are many other avenues to go and gear just as good as halycon without paying for a name. Interview your instructors and and pick one you click with. Most important thing is to have fun with it. The cave agencies in australia are a bit different there than over here too. Might ask some local cavers how they picked an instructor.

 

[giles45shop]

To a less brand/agency specific post, I would use the following guidance, assuming you want to buy gear now which will serve you as you progress:

1. DIN tanks and regs. primary on a 7' hose, bungeed back up. Get a good performing reg like Apeks, Scubapro, HOG, etc.
2. Back plate, simple harness and wing. ~30# wing will work for most single tank diving. If you dive more cold water than warm, go with a stainless plate for the extra weight.
3. Light - if budget limited, start by buying what will become your back up lights. Scouts, Photon Torpedos, UKSL3, Intova's are all good choices. These are all decent to use a basic primary light for OW dives. As you get a few more $$, get a good can light. 10W works fine in general, 21W might be prefered if you dive murky waters. Minimum 4 hr burn time. You can always buy used if you don't have a big budget.
4. Fins - paddle type fins such as Jets, Turtles, OMS Slipstreams, Hollis or Dive Rite are all good choices.
5. Computer. Get a wrist mounted one which does at two gasses such as a DR Duo, Trio, Aladin Tech 2G, Cressi Archimedes2, etc. That will work well for you until you go to trimis (if you do). Look for computers which also can function as a bottom timer. You can also just buy a bottom timer and use tables or things like ratio deco, but you'll find that bottom timers cost as much as some computers.

Good luck on your journey.

John

 

[danvolker]

GUE instructors in your area:

Australia

Liam Allen - NSW​

Primer, Doubles, Drysuit
Rec 1,3, Fund. (IE), DPV 1

Tech 1,2

Steve Trewavas - VIC​

Primer, Doubles, Drysuit
Fund., DPV 1

Nick Schoeffler - VIC​

Primer, Doubles, Drysuit
Rec 1, Fund.

Pieter Truter - QLD​

Primer, Doubles, Drysuit
Rec 1, Fund.

Simon Tapply - NSW​

Primer, Doubles, Drysuit
Rec 1, Fund.







New Zealand

Jamie Obern - Auckland​

 

[Kevin Carlisle]

Cave Diver Training

Australian Speleolgical Federation Cave Diving Group (ASF-CDG)
The ASF does not conduct any cave diver training as such. Potential members must be trained prior by another organisation. Assessment of Cave Diving competency is conducted by the ASF-CDG Commissioner and dry caving skill level is assessed by each individual’s caving club or by the Cave Diving Commissioner for those members with individual ASF membership. Individual members of the ASF are unable to lead trips and must go caving or cave diving with an ASF Trip Leader in order to utilise the ASF Insurance coverage. More information here.
Members of the of the ASF-CDG follow the ASF Cave Diving Code Of Practice.

Technical Diving International (TDI)

TDI is an international technical diver training organisation whose qualifications are recognised throughout the world. TDI offers four levels of caver diver certification:

• Cavern Diver: this course takes a serious look at the skills needed to conduct safe and enjoyable cavern dives. Although the cavern course is conducted in the light zone you will still be in an overhead environment. More information here
• Intro to Cave: the course takes a serious look at the skills needed to conduct safe and enjoyable cave dives. During the cave course your TDI Instructor will teach you the proper techniques for diving in a cave environment while staying on the main line. More information here
• Full Cave: this course is the highest overhead environment rating offered by TDI. This course is for the serious adventure wanting to explore further into the overhead environment, make jumps off of main lines to adjoining passages. During the cave course your TDI Instructor will teach you the proper techniques for diving in a cave environment while maintaining a constant guideline. More information here
• Sump: currently under review

Cave Divers Association of Australia (CDAA)
The CDAA is a local cave diver traing organisation. While there are a number of cave sites in Australia where access requires a CDAA certification, divers with alternative qualifications can cross over to a CDAA qualification to gain access. The CDAA offers three levels of cave diver certification:

• Deep Cavern: this certification is the amalgamation of skills and knowledge necessary to safely dive in Cavern and Sinkhole rated sites. Training covers areas that may have zero visibility and the potential for unlimited visibility. A maximum training depth of 40m is recommended. More information here
• Cave: trains a diver to dive in an enclosed body of water containing overhangs, silt, darkness zones, and passages that are at all times large enough for two divers to swim adjacent to each other and turn around together. Cave sites allow a maximum penetration of 1/3 of a twin cylinder gas supply. More information here
• Advanced Cave: trains a diver to dive in an enclosed body of water containing silt, darkness zones, and passages that at times are not large enough for two divers to buddy alongside. Advanced Cave sites are of unlimited penetration distance. More information here

Global Underwater Explorers (GUE)
GUE is an international technical diver traing organisation. GUE offers three levels of cave diver training:

• Cave Diver Level 1: this program introduces divers to the underwater cave environment and to an appreciation of its subtle dangers. The course covers the basic principles of cave diving and is designed to introduce divers to the skills and knowledge required for limited penetration into the underwater cave environment. More information here
• Cave Diver Level 2: this is the second in a series of three courses designed to develop cave-diving proficiency. This very demanding course seeks to refine the cave-diving techniques of divers who have mastered the requirements of Cave 1. To succeed in this course, students must be practiced in the fundamental aspects of cave diving and comfortable in the use of double tanks/cylinders. More information here
• Cave Diver Level 3: this course is the culmination of a series of three courses designed to establish cave-diving excellence. Cave 3 schools divers in the techniques necessary to sustain longer-range cave dives. More information here

Note: While there are active GUE instructors in Australia, none at this time teach cave diver courses.



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[Sas]

uberdude, this is what I have done (Aussie too):

As far as gear goes, I borrowed heaps of gear off friends to decide what gear I wanted. I tried the most common types of twins here, as well as different BP/Ws (and Transpac), lights and various other things. Borrow gear off friends who are cave divers, I have found most people more than generous. I can give you the type of gear I ended up with and why if you want, but I think gear is a personal preference so hard to recommend. giles45shop has summed up gear pretty well

Skills videos, there's some here: YouTube - sduadivers's Channel Not sure what else to recommend sorry! I read this good book, Doing It Right: Fundamentals of Better Diving by Jarrod Jablonski, lot of good stuff in there as well!

For training, if you want to get into cave diving in Australia, CDAA (Cave Divers Association of Australia) is most common option as they control access to many caves in Nullabor and Mt Gambier. There are other caves that are not under CDAA access but CDAA training (not GUE unless you fly an instructor out) appears to be the path of least resistance and so that is what I picked (I am only six hours from Mt Gambier though so not sure if you have other options in Darwin, do you have a local forum to ask?) I have met divers from Darwin in Mt Gambier... so know there are some cave divers around your way though

Deep Cavern is the first cave diving course for CDAA. You learn how to use twins, trim and buoyancy, run line and do different propulsion techniques. I did my course with a recent Fundies graduate, and he said the course was very similar to Fundies actually but went beyond that.... but perhaps that was because of the instructor I had. You can do this after you have 25 dives beyond AOW, where 5 are below 25m and 2 night dives but I'd REALLY recommend more than this as most people struggle with that experience. Learn linework in advance off friends if you can, have solid buoyancy and trim, be very comfortable with your mask and/or reg being unexpectedly removed and so on. I learned this just by diving regularly and practicing skills now and then (linework, valve drills, airsharing, mask removal), nothing special. Valve drills are done as per GUE method. If you use independents you are still expected to know how manifolded twins work and the nine failures so you know how to help a manifolded buddy out (at least, this was strongly emphasised in my class). The course is catered to deal with people new to twins and these kinds of skills though so if you didn't learn in advance, you should get through it but won't be easy. If you have not done your deep course yet, I'd forget about doing the deep course and just do cavern as it will certify you to 40m depth (and 60m penetration) and will teach you a lot more than a deep course.

Cave is an extension of Deep Cavern in a lot of ways. You can do it after you have 15 sinkhole dives, or 30 cavern dives and I think that is about right skills wise if you are doing other diving in the mean time. Same skills but you have to be a lot better at them Like linework in particular as you learn about gaps, jumps, using cookies and markers, so more complicated navigation stuff, and line entanglement and lost line stuff. Buoyancy and trim has to be REALLY solid. You also have to be ok with maskless buddy breathing, it's ok if you practice but some people don't and don't do well at this.

Cave certifies you to diving thirds, no navigational restrictions other than you can't go through restrictions that you can't fit two people through, no viz restrictions, you can do deco and use gases based on other certifications you have (such as Nitrox, Trimix courses), you can use CCR if you have CCR training elsewhere. When I did the course, it did not teach the use of stages but I was told that it will be changed to include this training.

There is Advanced Cave after that, I have not done that yet (end of next year I hope), but that is unlimited penetration, scooter use, stages, stuff like that.

I would consider also doing Accelerated Decompression/Advanced Nitrox course quite useful as well, as the sinkhole sites can be quite deep (40m+). The cave sites are not particularly deep however, so it is more relevant at sinkhole level.

Anyway, that is how I went about things!

 

[DevonDiver]

Have a look for the 5thDX series of videos. There are clips available on Youtube, or you can buy the DVDs online. If you are naughty and use a torrent site for downloading......

 

[TSandM]

I would second the recommendation for having a look at the 5thD-X videos. They're quite good. But nothing replaces having someone in the water to watch you -- or someone to video, which would be a second choice. It is quite possible to get into very bad habits, trying to learn the kicks by yourself. When I took my Fundamentals class, I was trying to do the frog kick entirely backwards -- and I couldn't figure it out, until the instructor got underwater with me and patterned my feet through the kick. Then the light bulb went on!

The good news is that the answer to your question, "Is there gear that's good for recreational diving AND for cave diving?" is a resounding YES! As a new diver, you can begin with a single tank backplate and wing setup, and a single tank regulator with a long hose. Although you may get some odd looks from other divers who haven't seen such a setup, you'll find it works very well. Paddle fins are my preference in ALL diving environments, but you don't necessarily have to start with very stiff ones. I'm assuming that the water where you are diving is fairly warm, and you are using light exposure protection. In that case, fins lighter than Jets might be better for good balance. You might enjoy reading THIS essay -- although this is from the GUE website, most of the equipment recommendations are pretty standard throughout backmount cave divers. THIS page has some good images of the equipment setup for a single tank diver. (Sorry, I don't have the same kind of resource for a diver in a wetsuit!)

Although it is a long trip for you, I would strongly second Dan's recommendation for taking a GUE Fundamentals class. It doesn't obligate you to do any of your further training with GUE. But it is a fantastic opportunity for a relatively novice diver, still in a single tank, to get some excellent instruction on proper balancing of equipment, good buoyancy and trim, good communication, and good situational awareness. You can spend a lot of time polishing these skills to cave standard, and it will do nothing but serve you well, when you present for your cave instruction. (I know, because this is exactly what I did.) A wonderful side effect is that you become more efficient, more stable, and more confident as an open water diver, as you build these skills. I can't imagine how I dove walls, before I could back kick!

Like you, I conceived a passion for cave diving, long before I had ever set fin in a cave. I planned out a several year process for training, based on the idea that my time in actual caves was always going to be limited, but my time in open water was much more available. So I decided to learn in open water everything that COULD be learned there, and save cave time for the things you really can't learn outside of a cave. I think that's a very good strategy for someone who doesn't live in cave country.

Please feel free to PM me, if you have any specific questions I can help you with. (Disclosure: Yes, I am a GUE-trained cave diver, and yes, I think it's superb training. But I'm also NACD and TDI, and recognize that there ARE other options out there )

 

[uberdude]

Guys & Gals,
Thank you for the info and the time you have all taken to reply (and provided links as well). Great info, please don't stop!

I am considering doing a CDAA (Aussie) course and have the basic prerequisites (although that means little ). I only have 54 dives, but do feel comfortable in the recreational environment. I know how lame that could sound!

Without replying "do it when your comfortable" is that too early to consider a Cave course? My questions should be -

1. At this early stage can ones confidence out weigh there abilities (answer I know is a resounding yes) and should I just build experience.

2. While minimum course requirements exist, they are exactly that - MINIMUM requirement. Is there a recommended average number of dives I (a competent responsible, self aware diver) should do before doing a cave course? Have the experienced amongst you noticed a correlation between number of dives and competence on courses and in the water.

3. How do our (Australian) training and methods compare to the rest of the world ie do they mesh cleanly with US methods (I'm aware the British do things differently).

SAS work has prevented me getting to the the local Darwin dive club so far but I will be shortly rectifying that and hope to meet the guys you speak of!
Thanks again all.
Damian