diving the tanks in the gulf our style...!

[AstroDad]

They (unfortunatly) don't teach new classes about taking off and putting back on gear under water. In the early 80's when I was certified you had to do that. When my kids were certified in 2005 they didn't.

I found the same to be true. I was c'd in 86 and we had to do the full monty - the (PADI) instructor tossed all our gear in all different directions in the pool, then we all had to hop in (at the same time) and come back up with it all on. We also learned various methods of donning our gear underwater - one was the "over the head, swim into it" - the method I personally prefer as I find it easier to do than other methods.

My daughter got c'd last summer and she learned none of this. I asked the (SSI) instructor about the donning method change and he said it was dropped because too many students were banging their hear on the tanks as they swam into the bc harness. I'm just a dumb redneck, but it seems like if you're going to learn not to bang your head, in the pool with your instructor is the best place to do it. However, I declined the debate and simply taught Allison a few things she didn't learn in class in our own pool.

 

[K Mejean]

When I did open water ( NAUI ) a year or so ago I learned the different ways to put the gear on underwater. I believe we also had to take off the BC and put it back on. Then when I did my Advanced ( also NAUI ) a couple of months ago we had to do a ditch and don as well as a bail out. I don't know what the other agencies teach but I know that NAUI makes you do it. I'm sure the rest of their crazy antics will be covered in a wreck course. I just haven't gotten that far yet.

 

[427Dave]

I was certified in the mid 70's with NASDS, we did the dive into the pool and put all the gear on, everything was put on the bottom of the pool, Open water we did ditch and don's swap masks and everything else our instruction could figure out, even a regulator failure where we took the bc off and took the regulator off the tank and breathed from the bubbles directly from the tank. They use to teach you about any type of emergency you could have. OOA accends. Also the courses were a lot longer in length. More pool sessions, more classroom than today.

I guess there were too many problems and they just keep taking necessary things out of the courses to make them easier. My dad taught us to dive in the late fifties and he was a navy instructor, now that man had no mercy!!!!! I have had a few things happen through the years and have never paniced, I do give the training he gave me and NASDS the credit for this.

I find the video very interesting and it looks like they are very comfortable in the water and learning/practicing skills and having fun with it. Now if my dad were still alive he would take your mask or something to see how you handle that also.

 

[DiveBandit]

Now if my dad were still alive he would take your mask or something to see how you handle that also.

Thats what I do. My 2 sons will tell you I have a habit of flooding their masks and doing other such things to them (under the right circumstancec of course) to keep them and their skills sharp. that training came in real handy when my oldest son really did run OOA once due to a closed isolator valve. In fact, he was so cool about it I thought he was running a drill on me!

 

[Jim Lapenta]

The NAUI instructor I'm doing my crossover with has students remove all gear except boots in the pool, surface, and dive back down and put everything back on. I used to do it for fun when helping with PADI classes but it was not required.

 

[K Mejean]

The NAUI instructor I'm doing my crossover with has students remove all gear except boots in the pool, surface, and dive back down and put everything back on. I used to do it for fun when helping with PADI classes but it was not required.

That's a ditch and don. It is requireds in a NAUI Advanced Class. It's not in standard Open Water though. If he is making the students do it it is because he wants them to. Not because of NAUI Standards. They should though. While I thought the drill sucked ***** when I had to do it once it was done I was very proud of myself and felt more confident.

 

[GulfCoastdiver]

I was certified in the mid 70's with NASDS, we did the dive into the pool and put all the gear on, everything was put on the bottom of the pool, Open water we did ditch and don's swap masks and everything else our instruction could figure out, even a regulator failure where we took the bc off and took the regulator off the tank and breathed from the bubbles directly from the tank. They use to teach you about any type of emergency you could have. OOA accends. Also the courses were a lot longer in length. More pool sessions, more classroom than today.

I guess there were too many problems and they just keep taking necessary things out of the courses to make them easier. My dad taught us to dive in the late fifties and he was a navy instructor, now that man had no mercy!!!!! I have had a few things happen through the years and have never paniced, I do give the training he gave me and NASDS the credit for this.

I did the NASDS in the 82 and we did all that good stuff and it was fun, also my class was weeks long, not days.

 

[FL_DVLover]

When I did open water ( NAUI ) a year or so ago I learned the different ways to put the gear on underwater. I believe we also had to take off the BC and put it back on. Then when I did my Advanced ( also NAUI ) a couple of months ago we had to do a ditch and don as well as a bail out. I don't know what the other agencies teach but I know that NAUI makes you do it. I'm sure the rest of their crazy antics will be covered in a wreck course. I just haven't gotten that far yet.

In my NAUI openwater we took the BC and mask off and put it back on so many times I wanted to throttle my instructer. My son just finished his basic openwater with PADI and the instructor had them take off their gear, too. Maybe with PADI it is up to the instructor.

 

[K Mejean]

It could be. I am glad I have done it and am comfortable with it. I remember taking the BC off in open water as well as the mask. I know when I had to remove the mask my fat ***** flew out of the water like Shamu doing a jump at Sea World. It took a little getting used to for me but I can damn sure do it now!!!!!

As far as NAUI requirements go I'm pretty sure the instructor can make changes as he or she sees fit to. Just as long as the student is comfortable. I'm no instructor though so I could be dead wrong.

 

[jlwest63]

I am wondering how they could not teach this? What happens if you get tangled up at depth and need to get out of your BC in order to cut yourself free? I know you should have a close buddy but what if they did not notice?

We did this over and over and I consider that getting out of and into my BC a VERY important skill to master.