Finally worked up the nerve to sign up for Rescue :-)

[DukeAMO]

I just signed up for an hour of an instructor running me through each of my least-favorite skills several times, followed by a Rescue class later this month. Wish me luck!

My least-favorite skills? Mask-off and regulator-out skills (exchanges, recoveries, free-flows). I ended up choking on a lot of water while learning them. Better to drill them than to avoid them, though. I got lazy about drilling them during regular dives, so I'm going to force myself to do it with a modified Scuba Review.

Both of these make me a little nervous, but hopefully I'll be a safer and more confident diver at the end of the month!

 

[PhatD1ver]

just a thought, before I started diving, I had developed a pretty bad fear of being underwater due to a near drowning...

the thing that really made my OW class great was the use of visualization to get over my fears... any time I started to panic, I visualized the instructor who taught me my basic skills in the pool and his slow, almost octopus like arm movements that demonstrated the skill, then gave me this welcoming hand to 'try' the skill, which I performed perfectly.

I still use that picture to calm down and slow my breathing.. maybe a calm, peaceful thought would help you just as you begin...

On my AOW final dive last weekend, my instructor came over and then ask for me to give him my mask.. I obediently took it off and was prepared to swim back without it... he then gave it back, and I cleared and we moved on....

the regulator skills I don't find a problem for some reason.. even the OUT OF AIR when they shut off your tank air so you 'know the feeling' (thanks, got that feeling down now)...

You'll do fine, relax and enjoy it for what it is, a chance to sharpen your skills that someday, you might really need.

 

[DukeAMO]

I like the visualization idea. I'll definitely try it.

My own second stage free-flows very easily in "dive" mode, and it's hard to stop it from free-flowing once it gets started. It's difficult for me to get it out of my mouth without having to then resolve a free-flow, which often even requires turning my tank off and back on. So, instead of one skill, I have to do a few tricky ones in a row. What I want to be able to do is consistently do air-share drills without causing a free-flow in the first place! This wasn't a problem in OW because the stages were not so touchy; they never free-flowed on their own. I could de-tune my regulator for the practice dive, but that would be cheating. In theory, if I remove the second stage at the right angle, mouthpiece down, it shouldn't free-flow. Hopefully it's just a matter of practice. I want to know that I can consistently do it at 100' if I need to.

The other problem I had in OW is that I didn't understand how to breathe off of a free-flowing regulator at first, so I choked on water the first one or two times, but now I do have the hang of that. I still don't like it, though!

The mask-off skills ended with me choking on water several times, so they bring back bad memories. (The trick for me was learning how to not nose-breathe, and learning to not look up.) I've practiced mask-off skills quite a few times at the surface on my own, but I want to be more comfortable with doing them at depth.

So yeah, basically, drilling this stuff with an instructor around feels like a good idea at this point. Oh, and I also want to be able to do all of them while maintaining my position in the water.

 

[pdhenry]

Regulator recovery is a real-world skill, not just for demonstration time. I had my reg kicked out of my mouth just last weekend. My training kicked in and I blew bubbles while I recovered it. No big deal unless your regulator goes into free-flow when it happens. Maybe you ought to de-tune your regulator as a regular practice.

 

[jimbeeler]

Make sure you're comfortable with the skills you are uncomfortable with currently... Then take the rescue class. You'll find it's one of the best classes you'll ever take.

Jim

 

[DukeAMO]

The modified scuba review went just as I hoped it would. We did a little paper test, set up our gear, chose weights. We started with a giant stride and weight check. We talked about a few rescue scenarios and tired-diver (or unresponsive diver) tows. We went through the dive plan, descended, and ran through the skills I don't like a few times each: regulator recoveries, air-sharing drills, mask-off drills. The mask replacement was a pain because my beanie kept getting bunched up in the mask strap, but I worked it out. We also did a couple of new ones for me: trading masks with each other, and actually turning the air off and leaving it off for the out-of-air drill. There were a few other skills we went through too. I did have one unexpected free-flow during an air-share drill, but that wasn't hard to fix. I made a few minor mistakes that I corrected on the second go-around, but really, it all went well.

At the beginning of the class, I was quite nervous, but I felt much better and more confident with those skills by the end. The remedial stuff is out of the way, and now it's time for Rescue. Thanks to Jim at Dolphin Scuba!

 

[DeputyDan]

It you dive often, there will come a time when these skills will be used.
For me, going down an anchor line and the current shifted the boat where the anchor line hit me in the face effectively knocking off my mask and knocking out my regulator. I simply was not expecting it.
A second instance was looking back in a strong current for the location of my dive buddy and the current ripping off my mask and taking it for an adventure.
At some point something will happen.
the rescue class is so not fun and so worth it....

 

[Bob DBF]

My own second stage free-flows very easily in "dive" mode, and it's hard to stop it from free-flowing once it gets started. It's difficult for me to get it out of my mouth without having to then resolve a free-flow, which often even requires turning my tank off and back on. So, instead of one skill, I have to do a few tricky ones in a row. What I want to be able to do is consistently do air-share drills without causing a free-flow in the first place! This wasn't a problem in OW because the stages were not so touchy; they never free-flowed on their own. I could de-tune my regulator for the practice dive, but that would be cheating. In theory, if I remove the second stage at the right angle, mouthpiece down, it shouldn't free-flow. Hopefully it's just a matter of practice. I want to know that I can consistently do it at 100' if I need to.

Better have that reg looked at as that is not typical behavior of a properly tuned and operating reg.



Bob
-------------------------------
"the future is uncertain and the end is always near"
Jim Morrison

 

[ScubaRose]

I agree with Bob, a reg shouldn't easily freeflow when diving even when you take it out of your mouth. Another trick to prevent freeflowing when you take the reg out for a drill is to put it with the mouthpiece pointing down, so there will be less pressure on the purge button. You can use this same trick when your reg is freeflowing at the surface by the way.

(New on SB btw, hello! )

 

[EFX]

If you have a flow resistance adjustment on your second stage make sure it's not turned all the way + (least resistance to flow). I leave mine set to slightly (-) of center and have never experienced a free flow in 163 dives. I do have it serviced every year.