Dipping my toes into tech diving...

[pakman]

Well after months of browsing SB mainly on the "recreational" stuff and browsing topics such as "where to take my next vacation" and "how to improve my underwater photography skills", I found myself peaking over into that "tech" forum section, spending more and more time reading through the various subforums... doubles setups, reg recommendations, DIR, valve drills, long hoses, bpw, deco stops, etc... All seemed so foreign to me at first. Little did I know I was getting hooked...

Well after some deep thoughts into where I wanted to go with my diving, I've finally found a decent instructor out here and have put myself in an advance nitrox/ deep course to start things off and will be off next weekend to the Philippines to finish up my open water sessions. So far its been numerous pool sessions getting used to the doubles bpw setup, working on trim/ buoyancy, swimming around without a mask, and trying new finning techniques. Next thing you know, I'm buying my own bp/w, couple of Apeks w/ long hose configuration, jetfins with spring straps... I'm laughing (but my wallet is feeling thin) considering its only been about 4-5 months ago when I got back into diving after a 3 yr break and bought a full set of dive gear, I was telling a LDS clerk "naw, I won't need any tech related equipment..." How quickly things changed... Looking at the equipment I bought at first, I'm a poster child for not buying the right stuff from the start...!!

Anyways, thanks to SB as this forum is a wealth of info and amusement
now if I can just reach those darn valves... gotta go work on those stretches...

 

[The Natural]

now if I can just reach those darn valves... gotta go work on those stretches...

Position your backplate slightly higher just an inch will make a world of difference.

 

[matt_unique]

...now if I can just reach those darn valves... gotta go work on those stretches...

Don't be afraid to reposition your tank bands. I have never been a fan of mandatory flexibility training to reach valves. It's not a contest - position the bands as low on the tank as you need to be able to just reach back and get your valves now. If you increase your flexibility over time, and find a need to raise the bands, then go for it.

I have wondered if there are people who can't reach their valves every time and decide to wait until they are flexible enough to reach them instead of repositioning the bands...maybe it's just a few months they are diving and can't reach their valves because someone told them it's not cool to lower the bands

--Matt

 

[pakman]

thanks for the responses guys. actually it was partially a joke, but I do have to admit I am not very flexible in the arms/ shoulders... I did find one suggestion in some older threads about keeping the elbows in that has helps.

 

[pakman]

Well just got back from the Philippines and finished my open water portion of adv. nitrox/ deep courses. Had a blast despite being forced to lug all the gear (twins + deco bottle) to the shore, do some long surface swims, and hard swims underwater against currents. Even had my mask ripped off at 10m during an air share drill. Happy to say that I was able to REACH the valves and successfully do the valve drill. BTW, didn't do any stretches before hand... But found it helped to grab the manifold with the other hand. Looking forward to wrapping up the exam portion back in Hong Kong and start looking into the next courses to take...