What do Open water divers struggle with the most?

[Firebar]

As an Ocean Diver trainee you should be using the drysuit only for buoyancy, as should the casualty.

With constant volume valves (usually at the shoulder) the suits should vent off as you ascend so you only have the casualty’s BC to control. It’s a similar situation with cuff dumps providing the casualty’s arm is placed on your shoulder.

Even if the casualty is using just their suit for buoyancy and you are too you still have 3 buoyancy sources to manage, my feeling is that the complexity changes very little.

In an ideal world you would be able to ignore the drysuits but you can’t really, especially with the variability of the dump valve position (physically, not open/closed) and their relative stiffness.

 

[TMHeimer]

I've got a new one from this weekend. Doing confined water with three and they breezed through everything except one had trouble with deep water entry. The individual could dive off and step off the side of the pool with no gear but add gear and it became a problem. Don't know why, but it was. Had never seen that before.

The Giant Stride has to be done just right. You have to look straight ahead and just step out. It can be more difficult at first than you'd think. You don't want to face plant.

 

[Graeme Fraser]

The Giant Stride has to be done just right. You have to look straight ahead and just step out. It can be more difficult at first than you'd think. You don't want to face plant.

Spot on. When teaching this during CW, we emphasize to students that it is giant stride, not a skip, hop, or jump. I make sure my DM is positioned to follow through with a push in the event that the student hops, potentially hitting the cylinder and hurting themself on the drop edge. Seen this happen with another group and it wasn't pretty.

 

[The Chairman]

The Giant Stride has to be done just right.

It's why I stress the back roll/sit. Get to the back of the boat, present your butt to the ocean, hold easily lost bits in place (esp mask and reg), breath twice, make a glance behind you and sit down. Gravity will do the rest.

 

[D_Fresh]

It's why I stress the back roll/sit. Get to the back of the boat, present your butt to the ocean, hold easily lost bits in place (esp mask and reg), breath twice, make a glance behind you and sit down. Gravity will do the rest.

I'm not an instructor, but I totally agree. I prefer back roll myself, I think it's more fun .

One of the dive ops/resorts here has a high bench that overhangs their pool for teaching back roll. I thought it was cool. (Plus, I got to teach my non-diver gf how to back roll on it)

 

[KenGordon]

It's why I stress the back roll/sit. Get to the back of the boat, present your butt to the ocean, hold easily lost bits in place (esp mask and reg), breath twice, make a glance behind you and sit down. Gravity will do the rest.

LOL. I will pay you £100 if you come on a UK hardboat and do that. £200 if we can video it and the conversation with the skipper later.

Rolling in backwards is appropriate for some boats, but for a boat with a gate your buddy will be following close behind and if there is a shot you prefer to be able to see where it is as you jump.

I have had students that take coaxing to actually jump into a pool at all. Eventually you get past that until it is time to do it as a backwards roll, then they get all flustered again as they can’t see what is behind.

These same students are the ones who let go of the mask and other bits likely to smash their faces and attempt to slow the entry into the water by flapping their arms in the air.

When I were a lad all this was prevented by telling people that they had to swim 250 yards with and 8lb weight belt and then tread water for 15 minutes, plus an extra minute with their arms out of the water before they could be in the same room as a snorkel.

 

[Graeme Fraser]

LOL. I will pay you £100 if you come on a UK hardboat and do that. £200 if we can video it and the conversation with the skipper later.

Rolling in backwards is appropriate for some boats, but for a boat with a gate your buddy will be following close behind and if there is a shot you prefer to be able to see where it is as you jump.

I have had students that take coaxing to actually jump into a pool at all. Eventually you get past that until it is time to do it as a backwards roll, then they get all flustered again as they can’t see what is behind.

These same students are the ones who let go of the mask and other bits likely to smash their faces and attempt to slow the entry into the water by flapping their arms in the air.

When I were a lad all this was prevented by telling people that they had to swim 250 yards with and 8lb weight belt and then tread water for 15 minutes, plus an extra minute with their arms out of the water before they could be in the same room as a snorkel.

You were lucky. We had to do 15 minute treading water with our arms and legs tied together, an 8lb weight belt and a plastic bag over our head for the last two minutes. Only then could we do a one month snorkel orientation in a car park in Weston Super Mare in January.

 

[The Chairman]

LOL. I will pay you £100 if you come on a UK hardboat and do that. £200 if we can video it and the conversation with the skipper later.

No need to pay... just fly me out! I've never seen one, but I've done the "sit" from a 12 ft drop off the side of a liveaboard with no problems. Off a fantail, it's great and if you go in neutral, you never need to surface.

 

[KenGordon]

You were lucky. We had to do 15 minute treading water with our arms and legs tied together, an 8lb weight belt and a plastic bag over our head for the last two minutes. Only then could we do a one month snorkel orientation in a car park in Weston Super Mare in January.

Weston Super Mare, sea temperature s - luxury, and a plastic bag to keep the water out of your eyes - that would have been cheating.

 

[Graeme Fraser]

Weston Super Mare, sea temperature s - luxury, and a plastic bag to keep the water out of your eyes - that would have been cheating.

Cheating! I had to hold my breath so I didn't drown in my own tears.

Happy days though, happy days.