Legality Question

[Web Monkey]

On the same topic...what about discovery scuba?

On a trip to Cozumel 2 yrs ago I enrolled 2 of my girls in discovery scuba. There was 1 instructor 5 non-cert'd divers, myself and another parent (cert'd divers). The other parent and I dove with our children. The dive was and OW beach dive to a max depth of 20ft for 20min. The class time was @20n consisting of this is a mask, how to clear, this is a reg, how to breathe, don't hold breath, this is a gauge, how to read, we surface at 1000psi, this is a BCD, this is the low inflater hose, how to inflate/deflate, how to equalize. Walked to the beach and donned the gear. Once in the water we quickly reviewed everything and dove. During the dive we were spread out about 30-40 ft with the instructor in the lead.

From that experience, I felt that I could have covered that with my girls in our pool.

From 40' away, Superman couldn't have saved your girls from a panic attack, lost reg, OOA or anything else.

With non-certified divers and kids, anything that's farther away than the instructor can reach out and grab is too far.

Terry

 

[perdidochas]

I know a lot of people talk about teaching their kids and taking friends diving without being an instructor or without having proper certification, which is wicked dangerous. I was wondering if any states ticket people who dive without a cert card? I know that you can get arrested for risk of injury to a minor if you have a kid out with you who isn't certified, but is there anything else you can get ticketed for?

There's no laws that I know of.

 

[perdidochas]

one question that ihave been asked since recently being certified is how easy is it to breath under water through a regulator. this person is interested in diving . i told him to come to my house and try breathing with my regulator under water in the shallow end. would any of you with more experince than me see anything wrong with this.

Tell him about the risks of overexpansion injury--and not to hold his breath.

 

[perdidochas]

But the parent is not trained to teach diving. How many parents do you think would hold their kid underwater if they tried to bolt for the surface?

Most. That would be my first instinct.

How many can perform in water mouth-to-mouth at the level an instructor needs to?

Honestly, the main use of that is for older people who have a heart attack.

How many know the skills well enough themselves to spot when someone is performing it properly?

You'd be surprised. Most of us can tell when something is being done wrong. Now, correcting it would be the hard part.

 

[perdidochas]

I let my kid breathe from my reg at 10 ft once to let him get a taste of diving. He had to blow his air before I would let him surface. Letting a kid go do actual diving without training is stupid. My opinion. Unless you're trying to get rid of them.

IMHO, what you did is MUCH more dangerous than letting them do actual diving.

 

[captain]

On the same topic...what about discovery scuba?

On a trip to Cozumel 2 yrs ago I enrolled 2 of my girls in discovery scuba. There was 1 instructor 5 non-cert'd divers, myself and another parent (cert'd divers). The other parent and I dove with our children. The dive was and OW beach dive to a max depth of 20ft for 20min. The class time was @20n consisting of this is a mask, how to clear, this is a reg, how to breathe, don't hold breath, this is a gauge, how to read, we surface at 1000psi, this is a BCD, this is the low inflater hose, how to inflate/deflate, how to equalize. Walked to the beach and donned the gear. Once in the water we quickly reviewed everything and dove. During the dive we were spread out about 30-40 ft with the instructor in the lead.

From that experience, I felt that I could have covered that with my girls in our pool.

Other than the instructor having insurance, what is the difference, That is exactly my point and is what I have done with friends and relatives.

 

[perdidochas]

To that point - I really would like to know (just for the sake of knowing) if all the stuff that is spread around about getting bent from 3 feet of water is true, or just a scare tactic to keep people from doing exactly what this post is about.

Has nothing to do with bends.

I can understand the AGE from 3 feet of water, especially if your lungs were at cull capacity.

(AGAIN - Not that I intend to try this - just want a straight answer) How long would you have to stay under in 3 feet of water until you couldn't just stand straight up into open air without getting bent in some form or fashion, no matter how major or minor.

Forever

I know during my OW class, people were CONSTANTLY standing up in the shallow end when they had a problem. Myself not included - most of the students even made CESA 's from the 8 foot end of the pool when they couldn't get one of the skills to work.

During removal of the SCUBA unit underwater, one student shot to the surface without blowing any bubbles and with no gear on, which I am sure resulted in faster than 60ft/Min ascent rate.

For the sake of knowledge, there has to be some math behind the "bent at 3 feet" story. I am not suggesting I want to try it, or have anyone else try it, I just want to UNDERSTAND how it is possible.

It's not bends that occur at shallows. The problem is air embolism. I think the student that shot to the surface was lucky he/she didnt' embolize.

 

[bfw]

There is no law on how old a child has to be before he uses a firearm, fly an airplane (at the control I mean), scuba dive, drive a tractor, or ride an ATV.

Read the legislative reports in American Motorcyclist. Several states have age related ATV regs, especially when it comes to three wheelers, and MA has a particularly onerous law about kids and dirtbikes.

When the legislature is in session, no man's life, liberty, or property are safe.

 

[bfw]

All the certification agency does in the OW course is scare the piss out of you about lung over expansion and getting bent.

Actually, some don't even do THAT. At least one warns its members NOT to say anything about those things that could be construed as frightening.