Things you learn from DM

[cnidae]

My personal view is that the backplate and harness configuration is not the best gear for everyone, and extraneous for anyone not going into a cave. Non-cave divers are better off with B/C pockets, containing safety gear such as a signalling sausage and a spare mask, and an integrated weight system, if they are diving with more than 10 lbs of weights. Those are things you do not get with a harness and backplate.

I’m curious to hear why you think bpw’s are so specifically designed for caves? To point something out, you will not need to use more than 10lbs of weight if using a bpw. They do make pockets that slide right on the webbing for bpw’s which will definatly work better than a jacket style bc pocket to improve on that it would be better to have pockets that you can actually use like on your thighs.

If you are helping with students, your instructor will probably suggest you get a decent B/C like a Zeagle or ScubaPro, and lose the Oceanic.

I'm sorry to say but oceanic products are equal to zeagle and scubapro when it comes to bc's

Then you will be able to decide more intelligently whether you have any use for a backplate and wing and a 60 inch hose. Chances are very good that you do not. Waste of money, all 3.

Some day you will see the light and when you do I'll be there to say "I told you so"

 

[ScubaScott]

This was all very humerous to read......

Essentially, what I got out of it was

Indigo Blue = Jepuskar

SS

 

[oceancrest67]

Originally Posted by IndigoBlue
List of bad habits:

*Diving without a snorkel
*Diving without a digital depth/timer
*Diving with an archaic 5 ft hose under any circumstances
*Diving deeper than 50 ft in a thick wetsuit
*Diving with more than 10 lbs on a weight belt
*Diving without the appropriate back up gear for the nature of the dive

***************
IndigoBlue:

I have read through most of this thread and arguments. I find many of your statements absolutist and limiting. This board and this thread ought to expand knowledge, not limit knowledge via arrogance and shortsightedness.

1. I no longer wear my snorkel. I find it a nuisance, especially when dealing with a cave dive set up and configuration. You ought to take a Cavern/Cave class someday. If I am helping DM with a PADI class, the standards say to fit the example and wear the snorkel...sometimes a snorkel is handy in a long calm water surface swim.

2. I dive with a timer and a good dive computer. DIR folks might consider a computer a failure point. For most diving, a dive computer is a handy thing to have.

3. A long hose configuration is dependable in many diving circumstances...yes, good in a cave diving episode of buddy breathing etc. Again, this configuration depends on the diver, the kind of diving and the circumstances.

4. Indigo: your statement is absurd. I wear a thicker wet suit depending on the diving circumstances and related diving temperatures. Yes, a thicker wet suit has more buoyancy...but compresses at depth...so the trick is in setting up proper weighting and trim.

5. I no longer wear a weight belt and I love the integrated bc option. I use a Dive Rite Transpac and I love the integrated design...good enough, comfortable enough for the kind of diving I do. Others prefer weight belts and this is an understandable option considering the kind of diving and circumstances. Again, weight set up depends on many things.

6. Yes, having back up gear is understandable given the kind of diving and circumstances. I take a safety sausage if I am out on the open ocean NC wreck diving...or a whistle for example. I take a small light. I do not take things that become increasing points of likely entanglements...my motto is keep it simple, streamlined yet reliable and functional.

 

[cnidae]

This was all very humerous to read......

Essentially, what I got out of it was

Indigo Blue = Jepuskar

SS

No he's not Jepuskar he's someone else.

 

[ElectricZombie]

And if you are not going into a cave, it is silly to wear a hose longer than 40 inches.

And then you will be a safe diver, with a snorkel with you at all times, unless you are diving into a cave.

A 7ft hose is appropriate for any type of recreational diving. The advantages are clear to anyone who has used one for any length of time. If you are having problems deploying it properly, then you haven't practiced enough. Diving with a snorkel is just sloppy. Unless you have a magic snorkel that allows you to breath underwater, there is no need to carry a piece of useless gear that will just cause drag and create entanglements. Snorkels are for snorkeling...period.

 

[ScubaScott]

No he's not Jepuskar he's someone else.

Thanks for the newsflash...

What I was saying is that Indigo is a troll, just like what James said in post #2.....

SS

 

[Fitzy]

Whatever the agency minimum is, that would be your ideal starting point in terms of minimum number of dives to begin training as a D/M. During your training, you will gain a slew of dives as you help with classes.

The agencies are all guilty of insufficient required dives for the basic open water certification. By seeking additional training on your own with any of them for AOW, nitrox, CPR, rescue, O2 provider, and D/M you overcome that flaw that each of the agencies is guilty of.

The sooner you start your training as a D/M, the better. Any time spent waiting longer is only time spent developing really bad habits.

List of bad habits:

*Diving without a snorkel
*Diving without a digital depth/timer
*Diving with an archaic 5 ft hose under any circumstances
*Diving deeper than 50 ft in a thick wetsuit
*Diving with more than 10 lbs on a weight belt
*Diving without the appropriate back up gear for the nature of the dive

A good instructor can guard you against making these mistakes before they develop into bad habits, and training as a D/M as soon as possible is a good way to develop your diving skills to perfection.

Hi, This may sound like a dumb question but as i am still considered inexperienced can i ask why u shouldnt dive deeper than 50 ft in a thick wetsuit (how thick are u refereing to?) and i use integrated weigts on my bcd and need about 23lbs to reach a tad less than neutral bouancy.

thanks.

 

[Kim]

Hi, This may sound like a dumb question but as i am still considered inexperienced can i ask why u shouldnt dive deeper than 50 ft in a thick wetsuit (how thick are u refereing to?) and i use integrated weigts on my bcd and need about 23lbs to reach a tad less than neutral bouancy.

thanks.

First off this is someones personal opinion - and not everyone agrees with it. What you do need to realize though, is that neoprene is a compound that contains very small air bubbles. This means that at the surface it is far more bouyant than at depth, because at depth the pressure reduces the size of the air bubbles and the suit becomes less bouyant. If you weight yourself in a thick suit at the surface then you will end up overweighted at depth. You can compensate for that by using a little air in your BCD - but that isn't an optimal solution. A lot of people realize that they can 'swim down' the first few meters so that their suit begins to compress (air is already 50% smaller in volume at 10 meters/33ft) so using an empty BCD and breathing totally out to leave the surface and swim down a bit means they can do with a little less weight than the bouyancy check told them. What is really important though is the end of the dive. You have to have enough weight to hold any safety stop/compulsory stop for the required time - with little or no effort. Your tank will then weigh less, and in a wetsuit suit - at 5 or 3 meters (depending again on your point of view) your wet suit will be again more bouyant than it was deeper. Also - if you did need air in the BCD at depth - you have to remember that that will expand as well - so you need to dump it! What it all comes down to is that the thicker your wetsuit - the more careful you'll need to be - and the more difficult it becomes to get an average bouyancy characteristic. I use a 5mm wetsuit and dive regularly to 35/38 meters - it's not a problem - but it is easier in a 3mm!! A 7mm would be a little more difficult. (I hope I've managed to get the basic concepts across here!!)

 

[Winton]

Okay, I don't use a snorkel, haven't for quite sometime, I use about five kilos just over ten pounds of weight, but I am a big dude wearing a 5MM jumpsuit, if a 5MM jumpsuit is a thick suit I routinely go deeper than fifty feet in it, so I don't conform to this list very well at all.

It does have me wondering, what other bad habits I may posess? I would like to see a list of bad habits to avoid underwater; from instructors, with logic and reasoning and personnel experience behind them, not just PADI or SSI say's so? I am sure bouncing is bad, it could cause DCS, and may possibly have more serious repercutions.

 

[Kim]

Ok - I'm not an instructor - but from what I've seen -

*trust me dives
*inattentiveness/non-understanding of gauge/computer readouts
*inadequate/no dive planning
*not adhering to the plan
*complacency
*non - realization that you have your life in your own hands - and shouldn't depend on someone else to do it all for you.
*pigheaded stubborness

That's my list - but I'm no instructor!