My husband's certifying in OW today!

[Pitchblack70]

Well, actually today and tomorrow...! Not sure yet if I'm diving with him in this cold weather, but this is going to be fun...! (We're going to Turks and Caicos for the first time in May, so we have to get him up to speed.)

 

[j yaeger]

good luck to him!!!!!!
...now you'll "HAVE" to go diving with him all the time!!!!!
awwwww
have fun!
Yaeg

 

[spectrum]

Good for him! Actually both of you. My wife took up diving with me and it's been a nice addition to our marriage. Also when we want something its easier when were both pulling on the purse strings together.

If NY is anything is Maine this weekend he will have seen the low end of conditions. That's a great training experience. We're going to a museum.

After this weekend you'll both be primed for along summer season of diving.

Pete

 

[Pitchblack70]

Hey thanks...! Actually, today went pretty bad... Two people were certifying. The other guy had a panic attack and had to be rescued. Hubbie fared better, but had problems with weighting (ended up with 41 lbs to get him down) and then couldn't equalize. Can still get it done tomorrow, though it'll be a tougher haul. Fortunately, he's still very eager to do it, so no problem there...

 

[JBert]

41 pounds?! Holy crap!!

Hope tomorrow goes smoother. I just did my OW last week, and the temps weren't that bad.

 

[DeputyDan]

41 lbs.

Are you sure those aren't Mafia cement shoes ?????

 

[spectrum]

If hubbie is a man of size in a new wetsuit with 2X on the core, an aluminum 80 and normal new diver breathing then 41 is in the realm of possibility. All in all the scenario of a new diver is worst case in many ways. I'm not saying he's not over weighted but the conclusion cannot be drawn from what we have here. If he certifies over weight I don't see a problem, he has Pitchblack70 as a mentor to help deal with those details.

Tell him that all experience is good experience and to just work through it.

Pete

 

[dogglebe]

I'm Pitch's husband, Phil, but until this weight matter is resolved you can call me Bob...

I actually had 43 pounds of weights on me and that got me underwater. I started with 20 and my instructor had you yank me under only to have me float back up as soon as he released me. The weights slowly went up. My BCD is weight integrated and we maxed that out, as well as belt. Let's see what today brings.

FWIW, I'm 6'2" and weigh about 195.


Phil (or Bob)

 

[spectrum]

HI Bob,

You sound reasonably lean to me. Is he making sure that all of the air is getting out of the BC?

Did he do a weight check at the end of day 1? It's possible that you have trapped air in a number of places as well as big excited lungs before going down. All of that dissipates at the end of the dive for an objective check. It's possible that you end up with less weight and can then focus on getting down initially.

Initial descent can be aided by when and how you exhale. Try to arch down and put your legs up (jack knife). This gets your legs out of the water where they become weight instead of nearly neutral and will drive your upper body down. Just as this starts to happen exhale as much as possible, then exhale some more. Make your first breaths quick and exhale soon to limit your average buoyancy. That may be enough to get things wet and manipulate bubbles to escape.

What is very important is that you do not remove so much weight that you cannot naturally stay down at the end of the dive. You should ALWAYS be able to control you buoyancy unaided all the way back to the surface even with a near empty (500 PSI) cylinder.

I have assumed this all in salt water, is that correct?

In the end you need what you need and once correctly placed it's a neutral issue, pun intended.

Pete

 

[Jim Lapenta]

What specturm said and I'm curious as to how many weight checks you did in the pool with all your checkout gear on. I do at least one and better two before getting into OW. What procedures are you using for your intial weight checks before going under? You do sound on the lean side and 43 lbs is a lot of weight even in a 7 mil. Are you able to relax and how are you doing buoyancy and trim wise once you are under?