Question for newer divers...

[emttim]

More supervised diving is a very good thing - good on you! As I've mentioned before, try to hook up with Instructors who go logically & reasonably beyond the minimum requirements of their agency. It is a sad fact that some agency courses are lacking in what many experienced divers consider fundamental knowledge, like, perhaps, GAS MANAGEMENT!!

Regards,
DSD

Yeah, tell me about it...I downloaded Bob's article on Gas Management...man that's a good read. My instructor is one of those who goes beyond PADI's minimum requirements, that fact and the fact he's been diving for decades since he's ex-Special Forces (Air Force Parajumper), is why I've stayed with the same instructor for OW all the way up to the Divemaster program that I'm doing now.

For U/W Naturalist, we got several homemade college-level papers that he wrote specifically for that specialty...not because he had to or it was required by PADI, but because he's a marine biologist and he has the information so he wants to share it.

For Equipment Specialty....I'm finding out as I go through the knowledge modules for the DM program that we were taught the same level of knowledge as far as decompression theory and equipment goes.

Hell, he even gave us the PADI Medic First Aid handout for the hell of it during the Rescue class even though it could have been taught as a separate specialty. I just wish he was a Course Director so he could do the IDC, but on the other hand, I'm not sure I want to progress beyond the level of Divemaster anyway since DM has all the knowledge anyway; OWSI and beyond is pure teaching which I may or may not do later in life.

DSD,

I am probably exactly in that category you described. I have about 45 dives under my belt and have just finished rescue diver course. BTW, I think that is an amazing course and everyone should take it. It really makes me feel more comfortable in the water.

That being said, the skills I want to know are the basic skills. I dive about once a year for a weekend or week or whatever. I have dived all over, including the cold Puget Sound. I really want to work on buoyancy. I know that every dive is a buoyancy dive, but how much weight do I use? Do I look at my log book and go with last time. Do i just go with a rule of thumb? Everyone says the conditions are different each time. how am I supposed to know what weight to use when? My last dive in the Sound I was severely under weighted, but I talked with people and they said it might be enough. It seems weird to me to finish rescue diver and still be dealing with buoyancy. Of course I saw an octopus out in the open so I can't complain about the dive

So in answer to your original post. I would love just one-on-one time, pleasure diving and reviewing the dive afterwards. What did they see that I was doing well, what did they see that I wasn't doing well. At this point I have a goal of master scuba diver and getting various certs, but I just want to be a better diver shallower so I don't overload when I start doing some of the difficult stuff.

Thanks for the post.

Yeah, Rescue is indeed something else...best course I ever took.

As far as your weighting goes, I haven't dived up there in Puget Sound, but I would imagine your weight should roughly be the same if you're diving in the same ocean/sea. I would imagine it would be different in say the Atlantic or Red Sea, but if both dive sites are in the Pacific, I don't think that would affect it too much. Although I could be wrong on this, as I said, I haven't dived in Puget Sound.

That being said, just do a weight check before you drop down...should float at eye level while holding a normal volume of air in your lungs. Another thing I did which helped a lot with trim was get into a horizontal swimming position underwater and then stop all movement...if you start to roll to one side, then maybe take a pound or two off that side. I dive with two pounds less on my right side for example.

 

[DeepSeaDan]

DSD,

I am probably exactly in that category you described. I have about 45 dives under my belt and have just finished rescue diver course. BTW, I think that is an amazing course and everyone should take it. It really makes me feel more comfortable in the water.

That being said, the skills I want to know are the basic skills. I dive about once a year for a weekend or week or whatever. I have dived all over, including the cold Puget Sound. I really want to work on buoyancy. I know that every dive is a buoyancy dive, but how much weight do I use? Do I look at my log book and go with last time. Do i just go with a rule of thumb? Everyone says the conditions are different each time. how am I supposed to know what weight to use when? My last dive in the Sound I was severely under weighted, but I talked with people and they said it might be enough. It seems weird to me to finish rescue diver and still be dealing with buoyancy. Of course I saw an octopus out in the open so I can't complain about the dive

So in answer to your original post. I would love just one-on-one time, pleasure diving and reviewing the dive afterwards. What did they see that I was doing well, what did they see that I wasn't doing well. At this point I have a goal of master scuba diver and getting various certs, but I just want to be a better diver shallower so I don't overload when I start doing some of the difficult stuff.

Thanks for the post.

...for every dive in new conditions, is to do a bouyancy check, as you learned to do in the basic open water course. Anything else is guess work. People don't do it because it takes time & effort to complete. To make it easier, you can split your weights up - some integrated, some on a belt, some in b.c. pockets or other areas suitable to achieve optimum trim. Then, adding or subtracting weight from the total compliment becomes quicker & easier.

Or, dive like I do, with twin 130 ft3 h.p. steels - no need for weights with those puppies!

A crane maybe.....

Best,
DSD

 

[iridiumjd]

I will have to make sure I do the buoyancy checks at the beginning and make sure I have extra weight. Thanks for the comments. Now I just need to go practice practice practice.

 

[ruready7]

Wish more time was spent on bouyancy. More time I spend in water better I have become. I adjusted my weights on my trim pockets and raised and lowered the tank til I felt more in control. Just wish that was covered in more detail in classes either confined or open water dives.

 

[Pearldiver07]

...

Or, dive like I do, with twin 130 ft3 h.p. steels - no need for weights with those puppies!

A crane maybe.....

Best,
DSD

Or, just dive with two mushroom anchors on your BCD - that should be able to simulate doubles with deco bottles both above and below the water Just kidding, DeepSeaDan. That's just how I feel as I trudge toward the water.

But back to the thread at hand...

I never thought of specialty training classes as unnecessary. But I never thought of them as more than an "intro" to the skill at hand.

My instructor didn't even want to teach my buoyancy specialty until I was more soundly comfortable in the water as a OW student. He would work on some of the fundaementals while we did other things. I still play several of the "games" that he showed me during that class. And occasionally, I've been in the water playing with instructors I've trained, still trying out the games for fun.

IMHO, a good specialty class will introduce you to the environment, skills, and avoid the pitfalls of trying a different aspect of diving. Don't take a Photo specialty from an instructor who isn't truly proficient at it himself/herself. Take the time to find out who is best at that aspect of diving, and pump them for all of the info you can. Most instructors can tell when they've got a "card collector" and when they've got someone who really wants to get the most of a class of any kind.

After you've taken any training, get out and dive using it! Nothing fades faster than learning without subsequent application.

PROFICIENCY IS A COMBINATION OF LEARNING AND APPLICATION. You need both to get better. Simply diving over and over in the same environment doing the same activities will only make you good at those aspects. Pay attention when you dive, is there something to be learned?

And learning without time to apply it (experience) will be worthless too, in the long run. I had a friend who was a fighter pilot who often said "For all of the training in the world, nothing substitutes having air under your butt." I agree about this for diving too.

When I made instructor, and later when I made Course Director, I sent "thank you" cards to my original two instructors. The first one taught me a love for diving, and the second one taught me how to appreciate and master the skills. Dan and Dwight, if you're reading this - thanks again!

 

[DeepSeaDan]

"For all of the training in the world, nothing substitutes having air under your butt." I agree about this for diving too.

... "Buttbolism??"

Great post Pearl! I'm with you all the way.

Best fishes,
DSD

 

[dvdcoon]

Modern conventional scuba training can allow a new diver to progress quite rapidly through upgrading courses with relatively little in the way of actual dive-time experience. The net result is often a diver with a wallet with some nice plastic cards, but still lacking in what the seasoned dive community might consider "acceptable diving performance skills."

So, for you newer divers out there: if you could have the services of an Instructor to work with you, one on one, for an entire weekend, in any kind of conditions, what skills / experiences would you like them to assist you with? I'd especially like to hear from divers who've progressed through a conventional training system ( P.A.D.I., N.A.U.I., S.S.I. etc. ) relatively quickly, with little in the way of dive experience prior to or between courses.

Regards,
DSD

With no prior experience, I finished my open water training in four days with PADI. My overall experience was not a pleasant one as my instructor turned out to be a very flakey businessman. As a result I am very skeptical about signing up with any continuing SCUBA education courses…at least for now. I realize that knowledge and safety are essential in a sport like this, but I’m going to go with a more informal approach to learning new SCUBA skills. The sport in general is so fresh and overwhelming to me now that I feel that I don’t have to rush, or sign up for these popular specialty courses just yet. I’m not even sure of what genre of diving I’ll really want to pursue. So for now I want to get some basic dives under by belt and get to know my gear thoroughly. Hopefully I can meet some safe & knowledgeable divers who I can learn good habits and skills from.

To answer your question more specifically…if I had my own instructor for a weekend; I’d like to learn more survival skills that could benefit me in the event that I was separated or diving alone.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

This may seem too basic, but as a fairly new diver with just under 100 dives under my belt, but with OW and AOW, I wish I had more time to really get my bouyancey under control, practice some of the safety skills (removing mask, buddy breathing, ascents). I try to practice some of my basic skills each time I dive, but ususally the whole thing seems a bit rushed and I worry that I'm holding up all the other divers on the boat.

I just keep reading information on the basics of diving and visualizing different aspects in my head. But I'm still working on perfect bouyancy.

 

[jarnhus]

Dan,

If I read your question right, you want to know, if there is a marked for such a course/service. I would definitely think that there is.

In terms of my own background I became a PADI OWD just over a year ago. I have since then had six dives (one for fun, two for a dry suit specialty and three in the AOWD training). I am starting to feel, that even though I am comfortable in the water, I would love to do some serious training dives, which focus on specific skills like buoyancy, reduction in the needed amount of weights and air consumption.
These are skills, that I still don't feel to be in control with (even with a pocket full of c-cards). I have, however, benefited greatly from having an experienced dive (and land) buddy, with whom I could discuss the issues and ask questions.
I have met other divers, who did not have this opportunity and I see them lacking some skills, that would, at my present stage, make me slightly uncomfortable with diving with them.
In terms of your idea: Yes I would think such a weekend would be a great experience and as a matter of fact, I am planing on signing up for a similar concept in Paris (where I live at the moment). Here it is not made as a weekend course, but as supervised pool dives, where you have the opportunity to play around, ask questions and in general focus various skills.

I will just provide the link: Plonger à paris

I hope this is of any help at all

PJ

 

[Sinbad the Diver]

This may seem too basic, but as a fairly new diver with just under 100 dives under my belt, but with OW and AOW, I wish I had more time to really get my bouyancey under control, practice some of the safety skills (removing mask, buddy breathing, ascents). I try to practice some of my basic skills each time I dive, but ususally the whole thing seems a bit rushed and I worry that I'm holding up all the other divers on the boat.

I just keep reading information on the basics of diving and visualizing different aspects in my head. But I'm still working on perfect bouyancy.

I think you will find that if you go to a local quarry lake or training place (where people are going to practice and train more than to see and explore) and find a buddy who understands that's your goal you will have plenty of opportunity to do that. I did it by starting a thread in my local section of Scubaboard. Posted what I was trying to accomplish and found someone who just wanted to get wet, had a ton of experience to share and was happy to have company for practice dives (he had recently certified as solo just so he could spend more time in the water for training).

Do something like that and you won't need to feel like you are wasting other peoples dive time. Just be up front about your plans and goals while you are planning to meet someone, not something to spring on them while you are grearing up on the shore.