What Did You Self-Teach Yourself?

[Walter]

I shouldn't be surprised. Is there a class that teaches one how to fart underwater?

 

[Steve50]

I shouldn't be surprised. Is there a class that teaches one how to fart underwater?

Could probably do on your own.....although possibly incorrectly.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Could probably do on your own.....although possibly incorrectly.

It gets too complicated with all the agencies clammoring for their share of divers' money. You have the PADI Farting specialty, GUE's Fundamentals of Farting and TDI's Advanced Mixed Gas Farting. You need to swim 400 yards after consuming chili and beer. Then you get the internet arguments about which is better, two beers or a single 40 once. My cousin isn't a certified diver, yet he holds a FoF card.

 

[Monkey_Gland]

The funny thing is I always thought I could swim. My wife (who swam competitively) took one look at me swimming and told me I didn't. A few hours later, I really could swim. A lot of technique and theory I was oblivious to.

Nice to have a mentor, be that someone you pay or someone you know.

 

[divechk]

drysuit without drysuit certification by playing in the pool.
night diving after OW by diving at night with dive buddies and good light.
frog kick, modified frog kick, back kick, and helicopter turns- by watching divers and youtube.

 

[divad]

I shouldn't be surprised. Is there a class that teaches one how to fart underwater?

He said fart.

 

[Hoomi]

Yeah, even though I'm still a rank noob, even I thought the scooter class seemed like a diving equivalent of Elementary Nose Picking 101. Um; you read the instruction book on how to turn on and control the throttle on the scooter, and then just point it where you want to go. My guess is, the biggest part of the class is stressing things like, "Watch your depth gage so you don't go too deep or surface too fast" and "pay attention to your air and your scooter charge so you don't end up OOA and with a dead battery far, far away from the boat".

You know; stuff that should be common sense.

W8less, I also like the hydration bladder idea. It makes sense; I love my camelback when I'm bike riding (so much easier than futzing with a water bottle), and it doesn't take a long dive before my mouth gets pretty darned dry.

I will probably take some of the specialty classes, not so much because I couldn't learn the skills on my own, but mostly because I just enjoy a classroom environment. Like a number of other people have mentioned, though, I'm finding that I'm learning a heck of a lot more right here on Scubaboard than I would anywhere else besides actual dives.

 

[JLambus]

there's a solo diving cert.... oh, no. I'd better get that cert quick before sommeone figures me out.

 

[b1gcountry]

I taught myself most things, up to tech level courses.

I learned buoyancy by just practicing, and lots of diving.

I did around 20 night dives before taking the class so I could do it with my wife.

I learned a lot about Reef Fish on my own, but Jerry Ligon doubled my understanding in three days of class.

Like Bob said, I taught myself to take pictures underwater. I've seen his pictures, and they're better than mine.

I service some of my own regs. Learned that from Vance Harlow's book.



Long story short, experience and practice help more than anything, and in the end, you need to learn for yourself. Even if you are taking a class, the instructor doesn't teach you a whole lot, they just put you in a situation that helps you figure things out yourself. A good instructor will also provide feedback that you can't get on your own.

Tom

 

[mts0628]

I learned scuba regulator maintenance out of necessity- warranties gone because of a missed year and no one is gonna' teach an individual how to service Apeks regulators. That, and LDS service charges and parts are through the roof! I have no regrets, I had most tools, I made some, I have a strong mechanical inclination, I can read, and who can you trust more than you? Hearing and reading horror stories, and then the someone talking about a nice bath of muriatic acid to clean parts? No thanks. I'll do it myself.

Other things, I'll take classes if I haven't already.

Kind regards,
Thomas