Neutral Bouyancy?????????????

[SueMermaid]

I had a great OW instructor way back when, and an exercise he had us do was very valuable to my "getting" buoyancy. It is now one of my best skills.
After a short demonstration of weights and trim, he had us swim through a series of rings which were placed at different depths, which is an AOW exercise. (I guess he thought we were good enough students to give it a try). We were instructed to adjust our depth with our lungs only in order to get through the rings. That forced us to RELAX, and to establish truly neutral buoyancy before we were able to do this skill.
I hope he is still teaching, the sport could use more instructors like him. I can't tell you how many dive boobs I have encountered in my travels who have no buoyancy skills.

Edit: I just realized that I sound pretty pompous and judgemental here. That was certainly not my intent! Everyone has a learning curve, and I am by no means a veteran diver myself! I certainly have a lot of room for improvement too.
By "boobs", I meant people who have no interest in improving buoyancy skills, and who habitually drop down on other divers, kick up silt, bang tanks into caves and stand on and/or break and destroy corals or other delicate sea creatures.

 

[O-ring]

...is to take a DIRF or dive with people who have and who have practiced. See how you compare to them..

 

[Vixyswillie]

O-ring once bubbled...
...is to take a DIRF...

Yup - heard that. Already on my list of "future offerings."

 

[O-ring]

Vixyswillie once bubbled...


Yup - heard that. Already on my list of "future offerings."

Unfortunately, as MikeF pointed out, buoyancy is neglected in a lot of classes. I thought mine was spot on until I took DIRF and I realized it was terrible. However, the instructors were really cool guys and showed us what we needed to work on so we were able to spend a few weeks at a local quarry practicing. Best thing I ever did for my diving...

I don't know of any other way, other than a good mentor, that you can get exposure to people/training like that without a DIRF. I think the potential to teach those skills is there in other programs (PADI PPB), but I have never seen it taught. Usually it is a tour around the platforms, some fin pivots, that cross-legged fin tip grabbing hover or trying to swim through some submerged hula hoops..

 

[double125's]

I agree that upon completion of basic course your buoyancy should be above average. If you are still yo-yoing or getting uncontrol ascents or descents then you are a liabilty to yourself and other divers. You would probably learn a lot from a dirf class but for most recreational divers there is no need to hover at a specified depth for a given time frame. For most divers you need to apply the rule of enough. If you are not silting the bottom, banging into cave walls and you only have minor changes in depth due to buoyancy then that is good enough. If you are silting things up, destroying the underwater environment or having major depth changes then that is not good enough. Everyone has room for improvement and you should practice a couple skill on every dive. Just this morning I was practicing hovering, and valve drills. If you find during practice that one of your skills is lacking that is a major clue you are not "good enough" and need to seek out further instruction or as a minimum more pool time.

 

[Braunbehrens]

Far be it from me to discourage anyone from taking a DIR-F class. However, there are some things you can do to improve your buoyancy in the meantime.

1) Make sure you don't have to much weight. The more weight you have, the more gas you need to put in your BC to compensate. If you go up or down slightly in the water column this gas expands or contracts, exxagerating your movement. The bigger the gas bubble, the bigger the exageration.

2) Watch the tiny stuff. If you are in open water look right in front of your mask. There are usually tiny particles floating in the water, that are basically neutral. Use them as a reference. If they start going up, you are going down.

3) Predict what will happen. Try to get a feel for which way your buoyancy is going and adjust for it BEFORE you start moving in the water column.

4) Are you Horizontal? A horizontal trim (as opposed to vertical) in the water column will minimize up and down movement. Your body provides more resistance to going up or down by exposing more surface in that direction.

5) Froggy. Once you are horizontal, use the frog kick. By bending your legs at the knees with the fins up above your legs it's easy to adjust up or down.

6) Use your lungs. If you find yourself sinking slightly, but think your buoyancy is basically on, don't change the amount of air in your BC. It may be too much, and you'll go up. Instead, take a few deep breaths, making them longer when your lungs are full and shorter when they are empty. If you are going up slightly breathe shallow for a few breaths pausing slightly when your lungs are empty. Once you get the hang of this, it can be a powerful tool.

WARNING. Never hold your breath. Do not take a full breath and pause when your lungs are full, you could injure yourself.

7) Keep the drysuit as empty as possible. If you are diving a drysuit, keep it as empty as possible. Before starting your ascent, vent the suit completely, and keep it vented first, before you touch the BC. Use the BC for buoyancy control, not the suit.

8) Practice it on every dive. The shallower you are, the harder it is to maintain neutral buoyancy, due to the rapid changes in pressure. On every dive try to stop for 1 mn at 20 ft, 1 mn at 15 ft, 1mn at 10 ft, and then try to do 2 ft per minute (1mn at 8, 1 mn at 6 etc.) You'll more than likely fail miserably at first, and that's fine, don't even worry about it. You will get better at it though, and you'll find that holding a safety stop becomes easier and easier.



That's all I can think of for now...hopefully some of this stuff will be helpful to you. Even after many more dives, buoyancy is still something I work on constantly.

 

[Vixyswillie]

Tremendous post, Braunbehrens. Definitely going to study that one! =-)

 

[Cave Diver]

O-ring once bubbled...
...is to take a DIRF or dive with people who have and who have practiced. See how you compare to them..

And just remember, no one is perfect all the time. During my DIRF class I saw both instructors lose thier bouyancy once.

The difference is that when those that are really good at bouyancy control lose it, they will only do so by a matter of inches and recover it very quickly.

Situational awareness helps tremendously so that you realize when you start to lose control and make the appropriate adjustments.

It's an art that you should get a solid basis for in your BOW class and continue to refine everytime you get in the water.

 

[The Iceni]

Vixyswillie once bubbled...
"An easy check for neutral buoyancy is to stop all movement, inhale fully and see if you float up a little. Then, exhale fully and you should feel yourself sink."

Is this what you're referring to, Dr. Paul?

Hi Vixyswillie,

That about sums it up. Any good instructor will ensure that correct weighting and trim become a part of your skill-mix. Sadly few are as professional as Mike Ferrarar, who quite rightly sets very high standards we all should follow.

As for "breathing underwater" rather than "diving" after certification, is this not like driving a car? Passing the test does not make one a safe driver as there is so much to learn and most of this is done after passing the test.

To my mind initial certification is not a qualification, it is the entry requirement for a very long and arduous apprenticeship.

 

[Vixyswillie]

Thanks, Doc! Appreciate your response.