Skills worth practicing during dives?

[rjpv]

Thanks for the advice guys!

 

[Jasonmh]

Practicing skills at a saftey stop when the dive is next to OVER makes no sense to me either.

If you are gonna need those skills during a dive it is gonna be DURING the dive on the way down or while you are at depth. Why do this at 10ft when "if I freak out and bolt to the surface I will be okay"? Pfzzzzzt!

Well, for one thing, you don't know when those skills are going to be needed. It can make sense to practice skills at the end of a dive. For example, most of the people were I dive hang out between 10-25 feet, and it can get very crowded, so at the end of the dive, when I am spending the most time at those depths, is when I am far more likely to have my mask kicked off than any other time of the dive. It could be said that at the end of the dive someone could be more likely to be low on air or go OOA. If the only time you have praticed this with your buddy is when you are on the bottom or descending, how do you know if you will be able to handle an OOA ascent, should you ever have to do one? I can see quite a use for being able to share air and hold a safety stop. Of course drills should be done at the start of a dive to verify that everything is functioning, but that doesn't mean that drills performed at other times are not also useful.
To me the more important issue is to make sure that you and your buddy are on the same page, and that you signal that you are going to drill, so they do not respond to an "emergency" that doesn't exsist, and are ready to assist you should you need it. The way I look at it is that you will not get to choose when and how a real problem occurs, so practicing skills at all points in a dive only helps to stack the deck in your favor.

 

[limeyx]

Several people stated that in the last 3 minutes of the dive, what could be argued as the most important three minutes of the dive, they're doing mask drills, and air shares and all manner of other practice.

I don't get it.

...
---
Ken

I agree. You also have the most gas loading too -- if you lose buoyancy and shoot to the surface, this is the worst possible time to do it.

 

[limeyx]

That's going to be one of my September exercises . . . Once I figure out how to lay line, that is.

Dont sweat the line laying stuff too much.

For primary tie-off just use a spool and loop the spool around the upline or a rock like you'd atach it to an SMB.

Then run the line along the bottom, around a few rocks or tent pegs if you have some, and do your best to tie it off at the end (lock the spool with the double ender).

to do a tie off (wrap) just go around the object with the line, then loop it over the line and back under.

Technique can come later We can try it in september if you like, or Rjack should be able to show you.

 

[HappyFunBoater]

I agree. You also have the most gas loading too -- if you lose buoyancy and shoot to the surface, this is the worst possible time to do it.

If removing your mask or testing your backup reg during the safety stop causes someone to shoot to the surface, then they shouldn't be diving. Those people need to get back in the pool.

 

[TheRedHead]

To be fair, I believe that drysuit divers see a lot more shooting to the surface than warm water divers in wetsuits. In fact, I think it is pretty rare in warm water and most of the divers are overweighted making a slightly negative ascent.

The modified S drill is done on the descent to make sure you can deploy your backup. We practice sharing air usually during the dive and just swim since we have long hoses.

 

[dbulmer]

HappyBoater,
While you are doing these skills on your stop, what will your buddy be doing?

 

[HappyFunBoater]

HappyBoater,
While you are doing these skills on your stop, what will your buddy be doing?

Staring at me.

 

[HappyFunBoater]

To be fair, I believe that drysuit divers see a lot more shooting to the surface than warm water divers in wetsuits. In fact, I think it is pretty rare in warm water and most of the divers are overweighted making a slightly negative ascent.

True. Sorry for being vague. My comments were based on how I dive - shorts and t-shirt. I admit to having trouble maintaining bouyancy with a wetsuit in that 10-15ft range.

 

[TSandM]

I have to agree completely with the concerns . . . The place to do your FIRST practices of air-sharing and mask removal and such is NOT the safety stop at the end of a deepish dive. The safety stop is a great place to practice stuff that you're already pretty comfortable doing, but midwater skills are a challenge (especially in limited visibility). That's why we do skills dives, which are completely given over to such practice. Those dives are deliberately shallow, and the time at even shallow depth is limited, because we know that people learning these things are going to have buoyancy issues. How many times did people end up on the surface during my Fundies class? I can't even remember.

When you can run a green water ascent and handle an air-share popped on you by your buddy at 20 feet and stay at your depth and do a competent drill, you've accomplished something. It took me quite a while to learn to do that.

And when we were in the VI, I did notice that my companions who decided to practice things like air-shares tended to decide to do it at the end of a dive . . . And when we had been to 90 feet on a wreck, that made me really nervous.