hijumpr
Registered
Something may go wrong the words that echoed through my head as Mike politely asked for my mask during an air-share drill. Mike Kane (known as MHK on most boards) uttered these words before we submerged on our 3rd dive of the class. They became the mantra for the class.
The Austin, TX DIR group that had not yet gone to the level of Tech 1, Cave 1 decided to bring Mike back into town for the Rec Triox class. To some in the class, this was a precursor to going on to Tech 1 and Cave 1. 2 students are planning on going to Akumal for Cave 1 in January and we all needed to get hammered on before moving up to technical training.
Let me put a few points in to help setup the report. First, this class is about how to dive safely at depths 0-120 and the GUE/DIR methodology used to support this. Triox is only a portion of the class with skills, experience and fitness (DIRs big three) being harped on as the most important aspect of diving in this range. Triox is only one tool used to accomplish safe diving below ~ 80ft. Secondly, practice is the word. We (all who took the class) practiced extensively on our fundamentals in the month leading up to the class. I cant over emphasize this enough. You need to have your fundamentals stuff together to get the most out of this class (and I suspect any other GUE class). So with that said, we went into this class with our minds open to the knowledge Mike was to bestow upon us.
Day one: We arrived Friday 8:45am at Lake Travis to begin the class. With this format, we dove in the morning, grabed lunch, and spent the afternoon in the classroom.. So we all setup for the mornings dive while Mike went over the class and objectives for the days dives. Since Im going to get a Drysuit soon, I asked Mike to go over this again so it is fresh in my mind. After that, we jumped in for the mornings festivities. The 1st dive, we went down to a platform at ~ 20ft and Mike ran a line to another platform at ~ 25ft. This allowed us to follow the line as a team with some tactical interruptions (like S-drills, light failures, ect.). This allowed Mike to evaluate us on our Fundamental skills. The 2nd dive was like the 1st with the exception of some simulated valve failures, and shooting a bag demonstration.
Once the dives were complete, we grabbed lunch and headed back to the shop. We received the day one lecture with a review of Fundamentals, and a thorough look at Nitrox, its applications and limitations. One the most compelling realizations we had in this lecture is that we all basically had $600 depth gauges on our wrist. Once we were all filled up with day ones knowledge, we went to fill our tanks for the next days fun. After that, we all went to dinner at one of the visiting GUE instructors favorite steakhouses
Day two: Another great day in Texas capital started with acouple more dives with the emphasis on shooting bags, rescuing both a unconscious and toxing diver, valve drills and more assorted (simulated) failures. On every dive of this class, we changed up the buddies to ensure that we all got familiar with each others strengths and weaknesses. Once in the crystal clear water of Lake Travis, we took our turns demonstrating our (well practiced) valve drills under the watchful eye of our instructor. Once that was done (not to say that we didnt touch our valves again ) we went on to shooting a bag, and rescuing a toxing diver. We took turns doing rescues from the platform and was a great experience for all. This is a skill that needs to be practiced often so that it also becomes second nature and is one of the key take a ways in the class. With that done, we ran a line out to ~40ft and shot a bag. Here we moved on to a deeper rescue and tried a ascent / descent drill. I say tried because we let a few things get to the point of a multiple failure situation. This included simulated valve failures, S-drills (with the knowledge of whos valves were failed) and a few masks being asked for. Once on the surface, it was evident that we needed our game faces on for the 4th dive of the class (2nd of the 2nd day). After getting out, Gatoraid/foodaiding, we got the after-action report from Mike. Basically our teamwork communication needed help and our situational awareness sucked. We should have stopped everything with a hold signal while we got sorted out. Into the water for the last dive of the day, we had a look of determination about us. This dive went much better. We did our descent / ascent drill much better, while ol something may go wrong reared its ugly head once again. We even had an actual single tank wing failure (turned out to be gunk/sand in the dump valve) and a couple of light failures, all of which was handled quickly. Once on the surface again, we decided to do a line drill with one of the prospective future cavers running a line. We pared off differently again and went down to run line. Once out about 50ft, a out of air with one team was compounded with a simulated toxing diver on the other team. Once on the surface, we all decided to go back down as a team to retrieve the line and got to see a demonstration on how to reel in with your secondary light.
Day 2 dives completed, we grabbed lunch and went back to the shop for the 2nd lecture. This lecture went into detail on C02 toxicity, Narcosis and Helium use. We also went into detail on Decompression theory. This does not mean that we learned about advanced decompression techniques, but with the base knowledge that all dives are decompression dives, we reviewed the use of recreational decompression including deepstops and how our ascent profile should look. Within this we went into detail on decompression history and the differences in the different algorithms that further illustrated the futility of computers. We talked about mixing techniques and labeling, then went and watched our tanks getting mixed with the golden mix, Triox 30/30 for Day 3s dives. Most of us went to dinner again and looked forward to our experience dives the next day.
Day 3 Experience dives in GUE classes are just that, the instructors are there to evaluate you on a actual dive. No simulated failures are introduced, but that doesnt mean that you just put gear on and get in the water. You are expected to apply what youve learned, plan your dive with the appropriate gas planning techniques, SADDDD and teamwork. We went on 2 dives with conditions limiting our depth to 85ft on both dives. Everything went smoothly with the only issue being our getting out of formation on the ascent on the 2nd dive. I want to add, wow what a difference He and proper techniques makes on these dives.
Back at the shop, we took the test (not easy), graded it and went over our answers to ensure that we understood our mistakes.
Take a ways from the class: This was an awesome recreational class. It works as both a proper kick in the ass advanced recreational class, and a great introduction to the more technical aspects of diving (this is not a proper technical class). One other thing, PRACTICE! Get your team together and practice before the class. This is not to say that you might be able to take the class without practice, but I believe that youll get much more out of the class if you are solid on fundamentals and team communication. Remember, something may go wrong
The Austin, TX DIR group that had not yet gone to the level of Tech 1, Cave 1 decided to bring Mike back into town for the Rec Triox class. To some in the class, this was a precursor to going on to Tech 1 and Cave 1. 2 students are planning on going to Akumal for Cave 1 in January and we all needed to get hammered on before moving up to technical training.
Let me put a few points in to help setup the report. First, this class is about how to dive safely at depths 0-120 and the GUE/DIR methodology used to support this. Triox is only a portion of the class with skills, experience and fitness (DIRs big three) being harped on as the most important aspect of diving in this range. Triox is only one tool used to accomplish safe diving below ~ 80ft. Secondly, practice is the word. We (all who took the class) practiced extensively on our fundamentals in the month leading up to the class. I cant over emphasize this enough. You need to have your fundamentals stuff together to get the most out of this class (and I suspect any other GUE class). So with that said, we went into this class with our minds open to the knowledge Mike was to bestow upon us.
Day one: We arrived Friday 8:45am at Lake Travis to begin the class. With this format, we dove in the morning, grabed lunch, and spent the afternoon in the classroom.. So we all setup for the mornings dive while Mike went over the class and objectives for the days dives. Since Im going to get a Drysuit soon, I asked Mike to go over this again so it is fresh in my mind. After that, we jumped in for the mornings festivities. The 1st dive, we went down to a platform at ~ 20ft and Mike ran a line to another platform at ~ 25ft. This allowed us to follow the line as a team with some tactical interruptions (like S-drills, light failures, ect.). This allowed Mike to evaluate us on our Fundamental skills. The 2nd dive was like the 1st with the exception of some simulated valve failures, and shooting a bag demonstration.
Once the dives were complete, we grabbed lunch and headed back to the shop. We received the day one lecture with a review of Fundamentals, and a thorough look at Nitrox, its applications and limitations. One the most compelling realizations we had in this lecture is that we all basically had $600 depth gauges on our wrist. Once we were all filled up with day ones knowledge, we went to fill our tanks for the next days fun. After that, we all went to dinner at one of the visiting GUE instructors favorite steakhouses
Day two: Another great day in Texas capital started with acouple more dives with the emphasis on shooting bags, rescuing both a unconscious and toxing diver, valve drills and more assorted (simulated) failures. On every dive of this class, we changed up the buddies to ensure that we all got familiar with each others strengths and weaknesses. Once in the crystal clear water of Lake Travis, we took our turns demonstrating our (well practiced) valve drills under the watchful eye of our instructor. Once that was done (not to say that we didnt touch our valves again ) we went on to shooting a bag, and rescuing a toxing diver. We took turns doing rescues from the platform and was a great experience for all. This is a skill that needs to be practiced often so that it also becomes second nature and is one of the key take a ways in the class. With that done, we ran a line out to ~40ft and shot a bag. Here we moved on to a deeper rescue and tried a ascent / descent drill. I say tried because we let a few things get to the point of a multiple failure situation. This included simulated valve failures, S-drills (with the knowledge of whos valves were failed) and a few masks being asked for. Once on the surface, it was evident that we needed our game faces on for the 4th dive of the class (2nd of the 2nd day). After getting out, Gatoraid/foodaiding, we got the after-action report from Mike. Basically our teamwork communication needed help and our situational awareness sucked. We should have stopped everything with a hold signal while we got sorted out. Into the water for the last dive of the day, we had a look of determination about us. This dive went much better. We did our descent / ascent drill much better, while ol something may go wrong reared its ugly head once again. We even had an actual single tank wing failure (turned out to be gunk/sand in the dump valve) and a couple of light failures, all of which was handled quickly. Once on the surface again, we decided to do a line drill with one of the prospective future cavers running a line. We pared off differently again and went down to run line. Once out about 50ft, a out of air with one team was compounded with a simulated toxing diver on the other team. Once on the surface, we all decided to go back down as a team to retrieve the line and got to see a demonstration on how to reel in with your secondary light.
Day 2 dives completed, we grabbed lunch and went back to the shop for the 2nd lecture. This lecture went into detail on C02 toxicity, Narcosis and Helium use. We also went into detail on Decompression theory. This does not mean that we learned about advanced decompression techniques, but with the base knowledge that all dives are decompression dives, we reviewed the use of recreational decompression including deepstops and how our ascent profile should look. Within this we went into detail on decompression history and the differences in the different algorithms that further illustrated the futility of computers. We talked about mixing techniques and labeling, then went and watched our tanks getting mixed with the golden mix, Triox 30/30 for Day 3s dives. Most of us went to dinner again and looked forward to our experience dives the next day.
Day 3 Experience dives in GUE classes are just that, the instructors are there to evaluate you on a actual dive. No simulated failures are introduced, but that doesnt mean that you just put gear on and get in the water. You are expected to apply what youve learned, plan your dive with the appropriate gas planning techniques, SADDDD and teamwork. We went on 2 dives with conditions limiting our depth to 85ft on both dives. Everything went smoothly with the only issue being our getting out of formation on the ascent on the 2nd dive. I want to add, wow what a difference He and proper techniques makes on these dives.
Back at the shop, we took the test (not easy), graded it and went over our answers to ensure that we understood our mistakes.
Take a ways from the class: This was an awesome recreational class. It works as both a proper kick in the ass advanced recreational class, and a great introduction to the more technical aspects of diving (this is not a proper technical class). One other thing, PRACTICE! Get your team together and practice before the class. This is not to say that you might be able to take the class without practice, but I believe that youll get much more out of the class if you are solid on fundamentals and team communication. Remember, something may go wrong
