Practicing Skills on Land

[John C. Ratliff]

I'm probably going to take a scuba set to my local school to tell them about scuba's influence in getting me into diving projects, USAF pararescue, and ultimately into the safety field and industrial hygiene. It's a great way to learn physics, physiology (effects of heat, cold, pressure, etc. on the human body), and biology, which allowed me to get into multiple careers.

I'm also in the pool, and may get into the river again if it clears up and the current lessens (probably about February). In the pool, I test old gear that I've picked up (yesterday it was a Dacor Nautilus CVS), different fins, and my own skills by doing weight belt releases, ditch and donn exercises, etc. I may dive in Puget Sound with a local dive club too.

SeaRat

 

[kafkaland]

I put on the drysuit and thick thermos and suck it up... And Count the days to the holidays to go to Yucatan.

 

[FinnMom]

Anyone who can arrange a drysuit brief course should arrange to go take a peek under the ice. You will never believe how good the visibility can be when the wind, waves and rain haven't been able to stir things up in weeks or months. It's beautiful, and you too could have a local diving season Jan 1 - Dec 31.

 

[Triker]

While I dive dry, I've yet to make it out diving past November 1 (and, after all this is only my second winter after certification). It is just a little too cool for me and especially my dive buddies who dive wet. I've considered ice diving and think an introductory course would be really interesting. I think I could put up with the cold long enough for that!

Between December and May I make bi-weekly trips to the local YMCA pool to run through skills and just spend some time underwater. I also try to keep to my running regimen, though the treadmill doesn't make it as attractive as the outdoors.

 

[hhjames]

For on land compass skills go to a hilly area with a map. You can still do map study, hold a bearing, and if the area is near where you dive in a lake you can get an idea of where finger ridges are and get used to the layout especially if you don't have easy access to a chart for that lake.

For finning, you can look up techniques on youtube and practice on your coffee table.

You can also work on dive planning. Using your sac rate you can play around with different tank volumes and depths and keep the mind fresh for the approximate times you will have at depth when you get back into diving.

If you have a dive computer, practice dive planning with it. It will keep you familiar with the functions so when you get back to the water you dont have to struggle through the first few dives using as a bottom timer, unless that is what you want.

Henry James

 

[Michael Guerrero]

USAF pararescue

Go Air Force!

---------- Post added November 4th, 2014 at 10:10 PM ----------

For finning, you can look up techniques on youtube and practice on your coffee table.

The wife hates when I splash the magazines around.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

For on land compass skills go to a hilly area with a map. You can still do map study, hold a bearing, and if the area is near where you dive in a lake you can get an idea of where finger ridges are and get used to the layout especially if you don't have easy access to a chart for that lake...

Henry James

If you go into the hills with a map and a compass, be sure that you know the magnetic declination in your area, and orient the map to the declination. In Oregon, that magnetic declination is about 19.5 degrees east, so if we did not do that, we could be way off over a few miles. My Dad, Donald E. Ratliff, Sr., wrote a book titled Map, Compass and Campfire, and if you need a more detailed explanation I think you can still get some used copies of his book. For diving, usually we simply need a bearing on an object, and the magnetic declination is not a factor. But if you are trying to go by a map, which is almost always oriented so that true north is at the top, then you need to make the orientation of the map to the land, translating magnetic north to true north. For most topographic maps, the magnetic declination is in the legend of the map. The magnetic declination in the legend of the Mount Marcy 1892 map used in the above link has a magnetic declination of 12.5 degrees west, showing how important this is to direction-finding outdoors (these measurements can vary over time, so use a current map too).

SeaRat

 

[OtherHalf]

I put on my doubles, lay on the floor, and practice valve drills on the living room floor. I also use the tanks to stretch my shoulders. Lifting weights limits my mobility and the stretching makes drills much easier. I'm in the gym 5 days a week all year so no extra gym time for me in the winter...

Coffee table won't support me. Practice kicks on the floor, keeps me from dropping my knees.

I'm currently shopping for a drysuit. I'll dive wet in icewater, I just get cold.

 

[jboneng]

The best way to practice diving skills during the winter, is to dive during the winter
Going months without diving, because the water is to cold, would drive me nuts, and it is during the winter the water is clearest and the dives nicest, but I can see that buying a DS can be expensive.
I also go to the pool once a week during the winter months, to play UW rugby, practice skills and test new equipment.