Don't know what happened

[David Novo]

Yes. What I meant is doing a check after the dive as opposed to before did not make sense. If I always have the same gear, it might only be useful for the next dive.

That is why you should write it down afterwards for future dives in that configuration.
For example. the first dive on a liveaboard is usually easy. It is a great opportunity for you to fine tune your weight for the following dives.

 

[ginti]

Yes. What I meant is doing a check after the dive as opposed to before did not make sense. If I always have the same gear, it might only be useful for the next dive.

You are absolutely right. But there are no other possibilities, unfortunately

Usually, people test appropriately different configurations and write down the weighting, the water density and the configuration.

Also, when a person starts diving, she often has only one configuration, so there is not much to write down. It becomes a bit more complicated later on, but experience makes it easier to manage the changes of configuration and environment - especially because you can use the previous check(s) as a reference for further adjustments.

If I were you, I would focus on one single weight check, properly done. Write down the configuration and the density of the water. This test can be a reference to adjust future weights when in need to change equipment/environment. And, in the future, I would make some other tests, just to refine the weighting, in different conditions.

 

[Edward3c]

You are absolutely right. But there are no other possibilities, unfortunately

Usually, people test appropriately different configurations and write down the weighting, the water density and the configuration.

Also, when a person starts diving, she often has only one configuration, so there is not much to write down. It becomes a bit more complicated later on, but experience makes it easier to manage the changes of configuration and environment - especially because you can use the previous check(s) as a reference for further adjustments.

If I were you, I would focus on one single weight check, properly done. Write down the configuration and the density of the water. This test can be a reference to adjust future weights when in need to change equipment/environment. And, in the future, I would make some other tests, just to refine the weighting, in different conditions.

@Dody as an example this is the record for my cylinders:

 

[ginti]

@Dody as an example this is the record for my cylinders:

View attachment 658523

Hi @Edward3c, great table! I have some questions, probably a bit silly What does TAR stand for? I assume it is the weight of the cylinder, am I right? While the size displacement is the cylinder volume, in litres, correct?

 

[Edward3c]

Hi @Edward3c, great table! I have some questions, probably a bit silly What does TAR stand for? I assume it is the weight of the cylinder, am I right? While the size displacement is the cylinder volume, in litres, correct?

I miss-spelt it, it should be TARE. It’s the empty weight of an object, usually a vehicle.

 

[Blackcrusader]

I have changed my mind. I will do solo one day .

You already have

 

[poseident]

On reflection... revisiting the possible role of trim in the OP.... Given the amount of gear you mentioned carrying, my gut feeling is that you might not have had a great profile in the water. I've never been in the water with either you or your instructor, but have seen lots of instances in the past where an instructor's poor skills were mirrored by the student, at all levels of instruction. You may have never been corrected. I'll repeat my previous advice (and those of others) to go out with a different dive professional for the sole purpose of "getting feedback."

I thought twice about deleting the next paragraph, and decided to leave it in. If you feel like giving up part way through it, please skip to the next paragraph so you don't miss that....

(The comment about not having logged all your training dives, and in general all the skill-related comments in the thread have me seriously doubting how diligent your instructor was. I'm positive he or she really likes you, or at the very least really likes getting more course fees from you. But I'm not sure he or she has served you very well here. None of that is your fault. I have seen dozens of DMs and Instructors who had terrible dive skills because they all had the same terrible Instructor/CD from OW to Pro. I'm sure those who have voiced strong opinions on the thread have had similar experiences, and that contributed to the "energy" in this debate.)

On the other hand, the exact OPPOSITE of the above could be true. Your trim might have been PERFECT, and if the current was indeed heavy if the rest of the group was NOT in trim, they would have been pushed far more by said current than you would have been as a trimmed diver. An instructor swimming on his back trying to watch two novice divers and figure out where his DM had gone isn't going to be trimmed, and the novice divers likely weren't either.

The fact that I have to completely contradictory theories here points to my last thought. Beware of "analysis paralysis." You clearly take a very scientific approach. Diving is a realm where that has benefits as well as risks. Knowing and trusting where the science says "you should be safe" will serve you well right up until it doesn't. That point of inflection is where the experience that many on this thread have been referring to might save you.

 

[Dody]

On reflection... revisiting the possible role of trim in the OP.... Given the amount of gear you mentioned carrying, my gut feeling is that you might not have had a great profile in the water. I've never been in the water with either you or your instructor, but have seen lots of instances in the past where an instructor's poor skills were mirrored by the student, at all levels of instruction. You may have never been corrected. I'll repeat my previous advice (and those of others) to go out with a different dive professional for the sole purpose of "getting feedback."

I thought twice about deleting the next paragraph, and decided to leave it in. If you feel like giving up part way through it, please skip to the next paragraph so you don't miss that....

(The comment about not having logged all your training dives, and in general all the skill-related comments in the thread have me seriously doubting how diligent your instructor was. I'm positive he or she really likes you, or at the very least really likes getting more course fees from you. But I'm not sure he or she has served you very well here. None of that is your fault. I have seen dozens of DMs and Instructors who had terrible dive skills because they all had the same terrible Instructor/CD from OW to Pro. I'm sure those who have voiced strong opinions on the thread have had similar experiences, and that contributed to the "energy" in this debate.)

On the other hand, the exact OPPOSITE of the above could be true. Your trim might have been PERFECT, and if the current was indeed heavy if the rest of the group was NOT in trim, they would have been pushed far more by said current than you would have been as a trimmed diver. An instructor swimming on his back trying to watch two novice divers and figure out where his DM had gone isn't going to be trimmed, and the novice divers likely weren't either.

The fact that I have to completely contradictory theories here points to my last thought. Beware of "analysis paralysis." You clearly take a very scientific approach. Diving is a realm where that has benefits as well as risks. Knowing and trusting where the science says "you should be safe" will serve you well right up until it doesn't. That point of inflection is where the experience that many on this thread have been referring to might save you.

Thanks for your comments. However, my instructor told me not at the time of this incident but when we parted ways several months and dozen of dives after that I had very good trim and buoyancy. I think that he was sincere but as you said he might have his own flaws and as I very rarely get filmed how can I judge? That’s why I will do a fundies like training but not from GUE in the next months.

 

[poseident]

Thanks for your comments. However, my instructor told me not at the time of this incident but when we parted ways several months and dozen of dives after that I had very good trim and buoyancy. I think that he was sincere but as you said he might have his own flaws and as I very rarely get filmed how can I judge? That’s why I will do a fundies like training but not from GUE in the next months.

I think that is a good idea. The best course experience of my life was a "Peak Performance Buoyancy" clinic that I took from someone that had been diving for decades longer than me. I'd been diving for probably 10 years and thought I didn't have anything new to learn about buoyancy. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Good luck, and happy bubbles.

 

[stadevene]

I recently witnessed a similar example to the OP. We were on a wall dive on a day with a reasonable amount of current against us along with waves and surge. The dive site started on one side of the wall, went out to a bit of a point, and then we turned and went along the other side of the wall. At the point you could feel a bit more current against but after a few kicks you could drop a little bit and get some protection from a rock face.

One of our group was trailing the rest of us. This diver is very experienced with one of the best tech profiles I’ve seen. We had learned through the week this diver had experience in all sorts of environments and some heavy current situations. As the group was protected from the current we looked back and watched as this diver was kicking to reach us. The diver was clearly struggling and not going forward easily while the rest of us had no real issues.

After the dive we think the diver may have been slightly higher than the rest of the group and may have gotten slightly further out to the point. It’s an interesting comparison because the dive and the rest of the group had such different experiences.