Line skills

[SkimFisher]

OOA drills are a good high-level way to see how the control of your trim/buoyancy measures up. Get a buddy and just practice OOA drills until you can do them while maintaining your position in the water. You don't want to ping-pong around in a cavern or cave in the event you need to pass off a reg same as you wouldn't if you were running a line.

 

[boulderjohn]

OOA drills are a good high-level way to see how the control of your trim/buoyancy measures up. .

When I was doing my Full Cave class, on different days I dived with different student buddies who were evidently on a long term path to that certification. (I know each one made plans for future class sessions, anyway.) On each occasion I had to do an OOA donation in fairly cramped quarters. In each case I had to wait after the donation for them to get back down from the ceiling.

 

[SkimFisher]

J,

Talk about clumsy. In cavern class I was trying to switch hands with the reel and dropped it. Was expecting a lecture on that on and didn't get it. I did recover and just sunk slowly to the reel and continued.

Good luck,

Mike

I can relate to that. Only in my case I totally unscrewed the the catch screw and lost it. Free spooled my reel and totally jammed it. Got it under control, cleared the reel and was actually able to find the screw as well. A little embarrassing, but hey, that's why I was taking the class. Got it all worked out in the end.

 

[SkimFisher]

When I was doing my Full Cave class, on different days I dived with different student buddies who were evidently on a long term path to that certification. (I know each one made plans for future class sessions, anyway.) On each occasion I had to do an OOA donation in fairly cramped quarters. In each case I had to wait after the donation for them to get back down from the ceiling.

When I first started diving a long hose I of course wanted to practice donating/deploying/restowing. I grabbed a buddy (who was also new to the long hose) and we went into open water and just practiced OOA drills. It was almost comical when we first started. Whenever we swapped our depth would change in either direction by about 10'. Thus the reason we opted for OW to practice.

There's no substitute for practice.

 

[TSandM]

I absolutely agree that solid buoyancy control, within tolerances of inches, under significant task loading, is a critical skill for cavern/cave diving.

But I still empathize with the OP's desire to play with a reel before class. For some of us, getting just that little leg up on what's required makes the whole class less stressful, and playing with a reel is a great way to practice buoyancy control and precision anyway (and find out how much tunnel vision the person with the reel is likely to develop!)

 

[lamont]

Generally when divers first have a reel put in their hands underwater they're going to create a rats nest. IMO, its good to get some practice in before class to get over that hump, but its going to most useful with someone that has already been through cave to show you how to do the tie-offs, etc. If you don't have someone more experienced to help you out, however, then learning off the internet may be problematic.

 

[InTheDrink]

Ok, to put some other posters minds' at ease, I don't have issues with buoyancy or trim. Staying in one place in the column and going backwards or forwards with micro control is already within my grasp. With or without mask and reg and with or without doing additional tasks. I'm not moving much. A foot if I'm really screwing up but inches mostly. OOG drills would make nearly zero difference to my buoyancy. I'm not being complacent, I practise it every week, and I'm sure I can get better, much better, and that is my constant objective.

But that's not my primary concern in this thread. If it was I my thread title would have been - 'What do I need to do to prepare for Cavern class' rather than 'Line Skills'

But I do appreciate what people are saying. And indeed I agreed. It's just not probably the thing I'm most deficient in (there's a large selection in this range )

I won't lose control of my buoyancy trying to deal with a snagged line or having created a bird's nest - I just want to get some advance ideas on how I can prevent myself from making these mistakes in advance. But there's no point in not getting stressed about a situation you can't fix. At some point not being able to fix it will create stress, no matter how good your buoyancy and trim.

I've already gotten some great tips and pointers on this thread, blackwood's videos in particular and the great pointers towards different reels.

I'll get myself one of the cheaper reels to practise tying off and fumble around with different lanyards hanging off me to see just how much I can screw myself so I can work out best way to avoid these. I'll start this off at home and take it to the sea once I've had a longer thought about whether cave diving is something that I definitely want to engage with.

I'm at that funny point where I want more, but not sure what I want but don't think I'll know til I taste it. Whatever that might be. Coming from a rock climbing background I think caves may well be my thing. Maybe, maybe.

Thanks,
John

 

[boulderjohn]

Ok, to put some other posters minds' at ease, I don't have issues with buoyancy or trim. Staying in one place in the column and going backwards or forwards with micro control is already within my grasp. With or without mask and reg and with or without doing additional tasks. I'm not moving much. A foot if I'm really screwing up but inches mostly. OOG drills would make nearly zero difference to my buoyancy. I'm not being complacent, I practise it every week, and I'm sure I can get better, much better, and that is my constant objective.

Well, John, in that case, I am going to change my advice.

If you sign up for a typical 2 day cavern class, think about what you can find to do on the second day. (I'm serious.)

It sounds like you are coming into this with way more than is typical. You might want to consider doing a Cavern/Basic combination and let the instructor decide when to slide you from one to the other. I would guess you would be doing Basic skills early in the second day.

 

[InTheDrink]

InTheDrink - re what Rob (above) has to write -- good advice. IF you have a camera, you may want to go diving with it and practice taking macro shots (of nothing in particular, the shots don't matter) while being in absolute control of where you are. Want to move in three inches? Move in three inches BUT NO FURTHER -- move out four inches -- Move out but no further. Oh, and what is your depth at the moment and where is your buddy and what is he doing -- all while making sure your shot is framed!

Control of where you are in the water is the key -- the rest is easy.

Funnily enough, photography was what really taught my proper control. Aesthetics made me want to learn it but it was being able to get within a couple of inches of the subject - in current, surge, whatever, and being able to ensure shot or video didn't wobble is what self taught me micro control. Tiny frequent counteracting fin movements against surge or current to keep you absolutely still. Moving in, moving out. Considering using hands abject failure. Considering touching or hitting any reef abject failure. Considering being more than a couple of inches abject failure. Silting up anything a catastrophic failure.

Repeat, repeat, repeat. And suddenly you find that the diving part requires no thought.

Like I say I'm not perfect by a long shot and this thread was not meant to be about this, but photography was a wonderful way for me to get close to perfect buoyancy control (by my lowly standards at least).

J

 

[InTheDrink]

Well, John, in that case, I am going to change my advice.

If you sign up for a typical 2 day cavern class, think about what you can find to do on the second day. (I'm serious.)

It sounds like you are coming into this with way more than is typical. You might want to consider doing a Cavern/Basic combination and let the instructor decide when to slide you from one to the other. I would guess you would be doing Basic skills early in the second day.

Thanks John.

I'll see what the instructor thinks. I certainly don't want to make myself out to be more than I am, or looking to fast track anything. But I've gotten a lot of good advice and tips on this board and put them into practise and as a result I'm probably too relaxed in the water (I struggle to remember to put my reg back not infrequently). I try to load as many tasks as possible as often as possible and this is hindered only by not having a regular buddy to regularly jump me. This would be a dream of mine. I know, professional help is only a phone call away

But where I'm naturally pretty good with some things (buoyancy, trim, task loading, maskless, reg-less) I'm god awful with others: sense of direction being my worst and something of a worry to me. I'm also pretty good at being clumsy (even if calm clumsy) and could easily wrap myself up in line.

I'll see what the instructor says. I've no idea how I'll be with even a Cavern course. Wrecks tend to freak me out a little, embarrassing as it is to say. I get something, don't know whether it's vertigo or narced or what but I'm not drawn to wrecks in the same way I am to sharks, macro-life, or just possibly caves. I love rock formations so I reckon I've got to a least give it a shot. If it's not for me then I'll be happy knowing I tried and go back to the other types of diving I already love.

J