Deep Dives

[TMHeimer]

Yes! Getting away from the DM-guided dives was, for me, a very important growing step as a diver! Without leaning on a guide, suddenly you're forced to familiarize yourself with the dive site, plan your turning point gas, navigate from and to your entry point, and set your own limits regarding depth and water conditions.

Good point, but you should be doing that stuff yourself from the get go. In many places you are forced to because there are no DM-led dives (well, unless you hire one just for you).

 

[Russoft]

Good point, but you should be doing that stuff yourself from the get go. In many places you are forced to because there are no DM-led dives (well, unless you hire one just for you).

Especially for those who start out vacation diving, it's easy to go from training dives (instructor led) to guided dives (DM / guide led) without thinking about it much. The charter picks the dive site, informs you of the depth, and then everyone follows the dive master around because he knows the site and you won't get lost if you just follow him. In the back of your mind you think "well, if I lived here I'd do my OWN diving", then you return to your landlocked location until next year. Obviously it's not the ideal situation. But I'd bet it's fairly normal for most divers (at least for all the friends and family I know who dive).

 

[scubadada]

Good point, but you should be doing that stuff yourself from the get go. In many places you are forced to because there are no DM-led dives (well, unless you hire one just for you).

OW training really should teach you to be an independent diver. Not that you won't take advantage of a situation where a DM is supplied, but, under many situations, that is not the case. Examples that are obvious to me in include many boat dives in SE Florida and the Keys and many boat dives in So California. Of course, shore dives, almost anywhere, are also a good example. I have dived many places where it is painfully clear that most of the divers would never be able to dive independently. OK for them, but not for me.

 

[2airishuman]

Sorry if its off-topic, but if you read a lot on this forum it looks like everyone uses a pony bottle.
Is it a American thing? I never see them in real.
Is it for when you are short on air? Or are they used like a deco bottle?

They aren't really common here although I do see them on boats and occasionally among shore divers. Their use is somewhat controversial because there have been fatalities attributed to poorly thought out pony bottle setups, and because the tradition has always been to rely on a buddy as a backup air source.

A "pony" is a general term for a second smaller cylinder. It can either function as a bailout, for use in emergencies, or a stage, for planned use at a particular point in the dive.

OW training really should teach you to be an independent diver. [...] I have dived many places where it is painfully clear that most of the divers would never be able to dive independently. OK for them, but not for me.

I was an absolute mess right after OW training. It took maybe 20 dives after that to get my act together. I just went and did low-hazard shore dives by myself until I figured it out. I think it's a happy fiction that OW is enough to create independent divers. A better way to look at it is that OW produces divers that understand enough of the basics to be able to continue their training on their own.

 

[stuartv]

They aren't really common here

I went on a NJ boat to dive wrecks last Fall. It was a recreational charter. They required every diver to either have a pony bottle or doubles. There were a number of people with twinsets, but most had a pony. I think it must be somewhat of a regional thing.

 

[scubadada]

I was an absolute mess right after OW training. It took maybe 20 dives after that to get my act together. I just went and did low-hazard shore dives by myself until I figured it out. I think it's a happy fiction that OW is enough to create independent divers. A better way to look at it is that OW produces divers that understand enough of the basics to be able to continue their training on their own.

Hi 2 air,

My 1st training was in 1970 with the LA County Underwater Unit. After the classroom, pool and 6 dives (4 beach dives and 2 dives in Catalina), I was prepared to be an independent diver in my own diving conditions. I did so actively for 10 years before I moved up to Oregon to pursue other of life's challenges. Too bad it doesn't always work out that way today.I would imagine, for some, it does.

Good diving, Craig

 

[tarponchik]

In 26 years of diving with over 1000 dives I've never had a failure of any kind. I've been on a lot of trips with a lot of people and have never known them to have a failure as well. Just curious as to why you think it's reasonable to think a failure is going to occur or am I reading what you wrote wrong?

Well, this case got some publicity. Otherwise, I've never experienced any dangerous failure myself or witnessed such failure happening. My 2nd stage failed once, leaking air, but I just abandoned the dive.

The only case I've ever seen someone using an octopus was when DM gave his octopus to a newbie, but this was an act of charity rather than an emergency.

I guess, being separated or lost for a new diver can be dangerous because he can panic and/or do something really stupid, rather than because his equipment may fail.

 

[Bob DBF]

OW training really should teach you to be an independent diver

Actually PADI and others are members of the RSTC. "The World Recreational Scuba Training Council (WRSTC) is dedicated to the worldwide safety of the recreational diving public. As such, one of the WRSTC’s primary goals is the development of worldwide minimum training standards"

Below is part of the minimum standards for OW. If it is not being done, the minimum standards are not being met.

From RSTC OW Diver. http://wrstc.com/downloads/03 - Open Water Diver.pdf

Open water certification qualifies a certified diver to procure air, equipment, and other services and engage in recreational open water diving without supervision. It is the intent of this standard that certified open water divers shall have received training in the fundamentals of recreational diving from an instructor (see definition). A certified open water diver is qualified to apply the knowledge and skills outlined in this standard to plan, conduct, and log open-water, no-required decompression dives when properly equipped, and accompanied by another certified diver.

Bob

 

[Steve_C]

I have 460 dives
-I have had to share air with one diver
-I have seen one dive with reg shutdown and diver had to CESA from 60+ feet.
-I am aware of a diver who developed an equipment issues and came up with lung problem.s

 

[stuartv]

<3 years. 150 dives. A guy I knew personally, here locally, was diving an ordinary recreational dive down in Cozumel last May. He died, reportedly from getting bent. I never saw a final, definitive report. But, the theory at the time was that his low pressure inflator stuck open and he corked. What I recall reading was that he died from being bent, but it seems entirely possible that the actual reason was AGE (Arterial Gas Embolism - not being old) or complications from that. I don't know.

The point is, I think a stuck inflator is not THAT uncommon (I've had it happen to me - fortunately it only stuck for a second or so and I replaced the whole inflator after that dive). And a stuck inflator COULD result in someone dying, if they don't handle it quickly and correctly.