Skills worth practicing during dives?

[rjpv]

Hi folks,

I've been thinking about how much I dislike having my mask removed from my face during a dive off, especially a local (cold water) one. I like my mask.

This then makes me concerned that in an actual lost-mask situation, I might act with something less than the grace of a lobster flitting out of one's hand. So I thought, perhaps I should, during dives, practice replacing a displaced mask.

I'm thinking the best approach would be at the end of a safety stop in 15-20 fsw, since if things go badly I simply surface as planned.

So my question is, what skills would you recommend practicing on a regular basis? Some skills, such as CESA, seem not to be worth the risk of practicing. Others, such as removing/re-donning a weight belt, needlessly bothersome. What do you guys think?

 

[Quarrior]

Switch between primary and secondary reg during a dive. I do this on my first dive of the day and do while I'm just swimming around.

Get with your buddy and practice OOA. You don't need to surface, just swap hand off a reg, breath off your other reg and then switch back.

Let all the air out of your BC and swim your rig to the surface.

Launch a lift bag or SMB attached to a reel or spool from about 40ft. You should be able to do this without it pulling you up with it or it going up so fast it hits the surface, deflates and comes back down.

 

[Mako Mark]

bouyancy bouyancy and more bouyancy.

locating and sharing your buddys alternate air source should be done as a safety drill just below the surface before every dive.

then anyhting that you think needs practice, like the mask thing.

 

[Aquanautchuck]

I like to practice skills in the shallows. Pretty much all the OW skills, including mash exchange. I dive with a back up mask. I also practice getting out of my gear. Great to practice all the skills.

 

[TSandM]

Oh, mask off swimming, mask replace and clear are my current projects (when I'm not in the doubles).

My personal feeling is that the GUE teaching that every dive should begin with an air-share drill is a valid one. If you don't know your buddy can competently share air with you, you're solo diving, right?

I've been doing valve drills in doubles the last couple of days. I came home tonight with the insight that breathing a reg dry and calmly switching to one's alternate is a really cool thing to practice. With luck, if I ever have a catastrophic failure that lands me with nothing to breathe, I'll be quite calm in seeking solutions to the problem, because the sensation of breathing a reg dry will not in any way be foreign to me.

 

[Jason Ooi]

do more gain more...I do all the dive...

 

[Diver Dennis]

Jason is right. It's a great idea to practice some things on every dive. It just takes a few minutes. He practices every dive and Jason has a lot more dives than me...

 

[jeckyll]

If you're worried about your mask, then definately, practice re & re it. At the same time, prevention is also great. Figure out how to block someone's kicks so that they don't kick your mask off & your reg out

IMO, all the basic skills that you may need are worth practicing (i.e. most of the stuff from the basic OW course). You'll still run into unanticipated things, so having good buoyancy, trim, airshare technique etc will make it easier to deal with those issues you may not have anticipated.

Awareness of the fact that practice is require already puts you miles ahead of many people

Bjorn

 

[Footslogger]

Buoyancy ...Buoyancy ...Buoyancy

In that order ...

'Slogger

 

[HappyFunBoater]

I spend my three minute safety stop removing my mask, switching regulators, buddy breathing with my other family members, etc. It's a nice way to pass the time.

But I did it once with my AOW instructor, and she freaked out! She thought I was having equipment problems. But she later told me she was impressed that I remained so calm with all the equipment falling off my body.