How many cave divers are here?

[rjack321]

Lol.. well.. It was cleared with NAUI headquarters, having Tech 1, and already being certified to use 18/45.

What no 26/17?? You missed out

 

[gitterdun]

Chantelle, you thinking about doing C2 with Nick in April? There are SO many more systems to see!

Ohh.. it won't be this April... although... I wish.

Lol @ Richard

 

[Trace Malinowski]

Just for the sake of curiosity how many certified cave divers are here?

What year certified as a cave diver, how long certified as an O/W diver before you completed cave training, by what agency, how many cave dives logged, how many different caves have you been in, and what configuration you primarily dive caves in?

Are you stage cave certified, DPV cave certified, sidemount certified?

I was PDIC Jr OW in 1981, but did OW training for PDIC OW in 1983. I did Intro to Cave with NACD in January 2003 and TDI Intro to Cave in November 2003, so twenty years of diving experience before entering caves. Did NACD apprentice (instructor had me stage) in 2005 and PDIC Cave 2 in 2005. SDI/TDI instructor ran SDI Solo course in caves in 2005. It was highly educational and was probably one of the best "cave" courses I ever had. In 2006, I did NSS-CDS Cave and IANTD Cave. In 2007, I did NSS-CDS Recovery with a great buddy. You may have heard of him ... a guy named Jim Wyatt.

Recovery & Stage are my only specialties. My DPV cert is OW. I plan to do survey, sidemount, and Cave DPV in the near future. I wanted to get my understanding of swimming into various systems really dialed-in and build experience as a swimming cave diver before going to DPV. Friends did zero to hero cave, zero to hero trimix, and stage & DPV then couldn't swim to The Lips with any real knowledge of energy conservation in high flow. I didn't want to be like that. I think many divers, especially those not in cave country, are becoming too reliant upon scooters, bottles, and technology when much of the art of cave diving can be learned from improving one's ability to swim. Plus, I am not getting younger and swimming burns calories. I'm saving the scooter for last.

Cave dives ... logged ... 37 in a black log book, 89 in a white log book, 2 on a piece of paper, 12 in my briefcase from teaching last month, 44 on a notebook paper written, line by line, and several in my wetnotes out in the truck. Logged ... 184 + whatever is in my notes. Two chores I dislike: stretching in sports and logging dives. In the process of looking for logbooks, I discovered 2 photos I thought I'd lost and PDIC folding trimix tables for 28/20 and 21/35 based on V-Planner.

24 different caves in North Florida, Bahamas, Bermuda, and Turks & Caicos.

Configuration - Backmount Hogarthian.

 

[wedivebc]

We should talk. I've been talking to John Pollack who did some of the original exploration up there back in the 80's. We want to start doing some exploration in the Reappearing River area this August/Sept.

Wait till you get that CCR cert buddy, its a long hike in and you will not want to hump doubles in and out after every dive besides it gets quite deep further in.

 

[nadwidny]

Wait till you get that CCR cert buddy, its a long hike in and you will not want to hump doubles in and out after every dive besides it gets quite deep further in.

I've been talking to Jill Heinerth about doing the CCR Cave class but it won't happen this year, so it looks like I'll be doing the heavy hump for 2010. All part of the learning curve I suppose. Then in the future I can sit back in my rocking chair and in a grizzled fashion say "Well I remember when we used to haul in steel double 104's, and it was uphill both ways..."

 

[liuk3]

I think many divers, especially those not in cave country, are becoming too reliant upon scooters, bottles, and technology when much of the art of cave diving can be learned from improving one's ability to swim. Plus, I am not getting younger and swimming burns calories. I'm saving the scooter for last.

Thanks, Trace. I'm no dive instructor, but I've felt the same way about scooters. It's one reason why I've held off for so long in getting one. I've felt like people may cover up deficiencies in buoyancy and propulsion if using a scooter too soon, and I wanted to make sure that I would force myself to develop these skills. It's a lot of fun scootering, but I do feel like I'm still working on polishing my skills without one.

 

[sea2summit]

Thanks, Trace. I'm no dive instructor, but I've felt the same way about scooters. It's one reason why I've held off for so long in getting one. I've felt like people may cover up deficiencies in buoyancy and propulsion if using a scooter too soon, and I wanted to make sure that I would force myself to develop these skills. It's a lot of fun scootering, but I do feel like I'm still working on polishing my skills without one.

I can see that angle but I use mine to get back to the cool stuff (i.e. still pristine) where those good techniques are critical to ensuring a safe exit and that my next trip is just as cool.

My biggest fear with scooters is how they get you to some places so fast you don’t realize what kind of crap you could be in if you had a failure of any sort even with proper planning it could be a really long stressful swim.

 

[wedivebc]

I've been talking to Jill Heinerth about doing the CCR Cave class but it won't happen this year, so it looks like I'll be doing the heavy hump for 2010. All part of the learning curve I suppose. Then in the future I can sit back in my rocking chair and in a grizzled fashion say "Well I remember when we used to haul in steel double 104's, and it was uphill both ways..."

Yeah, that's the life

They're calling for a pretty dry summer so we expect to be setting up camp in that area. Let me know when you're coming.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I can see that angle but I use mine to get back to the cool stuff (i.e. still pristine) where those good techniques are critical to ensuring a safe exit and that my next trip is just as cool.

A small motor boat is cheaper than a scooter, and it'll get you to way more pristine passage.

 

[Doppler]

A small motor boat is cheaper than a scooter, and it'll get you to way more pristine passage.

Sounds like advice from someone who lives near the Mill Pond... Oh, look, Southern Alabama on the profile.