Training for Diver Stress

[Cave Diver]

Does anyone out there regularly add any sort of training into their normal dive routines, such as mask removal/replacement, out of air drills, etc?

Also, although I do not advocate any of this, especially for less experienced divers, does anyone have their buddy provide them with 'problems'. For example, having your buddy purposely knock your mask off, knock the regulator our of your mouth, etc. to simulate things that could happen if you were diving with inattentive or careless divers (which if you find yourself in that situation you should be looking for new buddies anyway).

I recently did a dive with ChrisPete and TxDeepDiver (Thanks again guys!) for that explicit purpose. I had them task loading me with stressors that I had to deal with while trying to maintain my compass heading and remain stable in the water column.

Just curious if anyone else does dives like this and if so, what are your favorite types of 'problems' to induce on your buddy?

Again, this is not intended to condone this type of activity, especially for inexperienced divers. I personally however have had some advanced types of training and I think it is a good idea for me to practice skills I have been taught in a somewhat controlled setting. If you have *NOT* had proper training for some of the skills mentioned, DO NOT attempt them on your own.

 

[Bomber]

if so, what are your favorite types of stress to induce on your buddy?

I dive with what you would call a AAA type. He has to be the leader, go in front, etc. After a full day of diving (following him BTW) I like to mention how cute I think his butt is.

That's a joke guys! either way, it stresses him to the max and seems to make him very aware of all aspects of diving on subsequent dives. Including, checking on me periodically instead of going off and leaving me to follow.

 

[jepuskar]

Do you like the fact that a constant stream of bubbles comes from his butt or just the general shape of his gluteus minimus?

 

[MikeFerrara]

Yup. We do stuff ike that. We started with little things like turming off air. When that wasn't any fun we started turning off air and pulling off mask. Now we do what ever our imagination can come up with. All of us handle all the stuff without a problem. Now we tease eachother if depth and trim are not maintained. Once in a while someone is a little sloppy and they hear about it.

A couple weeks ago while teaching a class in the pool. It was near the end of the evening and we had student playing with the buotancy course. BTW, we usually have almost a one to one staff to student ratio. A DM turned off my air while my wife came from the side and knocked off my mask. Rather than replace my mask after turning my air back on I slipped out of my scuba unit and hovered around the pool with everything under my arm for a while before replacing it all. Last night we were doing no mask share air through a buoyancy course (with very small hoops).

This stuff is good practice but if it isn't stressfull it isn't stress training. To induce any real stress I'm afraid our group would need to get dangerous. We do it just for fun and to show students how comfortable and in control a diver can and should be.

 

[Uncle Pug]

Shane and I do on occasion pull a simulated OOA on each other... but we are careful to make sure that it is in a safe place and time to do so.

I am not sure that stressing your buddy is a laudible goal... though it might have been great fun for TxDD and Chrispete to accomodate your desire to get ready for the Tech 1 class.

You will be task loaded during the class and then have various failures occur... but a key difference is that your buddy will be experiencing the failure too. Whatever failure I have is my buddies problem as well... and he is also a part of the solution.

If my buddy is intentionally the source of the problem then the whole training excercise is turned upside down. We need to learn to solve problems together but maybe just as importantly we need to proactively keep problems from developing.

For example... it is unrealistic that my buddy would take my mask from me in a real dive. More likely if I were to loose my mask somehow he would retrieve it for me. But even better should my buddy be paying attention and notice that my slap strap was loose and had floated up over my head and only water pressure was holding my mask to my face... and then he dealt with that potential problem before I lost my mask.

So, rather than stressing one another out... we try to discipline ourselves to situational awarness and buddy awareness and try to eliminate potential problems before they develop.

Tip: For your upcoming Tech 1 class - be aware of your own situation & your buddie's situation... do not lose track of that when an incident *happens* or more incidents will *happen* and the cascade will start.

 

[Cave Diver]

MikeFerrara once bubbled...
Now we do what ever our imagination can come up with. All of us handle all the stuff without a problem. Now we tease eachother if depth and trim are not maintained. Once in a while someone is a little sloppy and they hear about it.

Can you give examples of other stuff your imagination comes up with? And the maintaining depth and trim are exactly the kinda of things I am talking about.

At some points they were throwing three failures at me at once. Knocking mask off, turning air off and adding/removing air from my BC while I was dealing with the other two problems.

Makes for some interesting comments.

 

[Uncle Pug]

Bomber once bubbled...
I dive with what you would call a AAA type. He has to be the leader, go in front, etc.

Doesn't sound like a leader to me.... or someone who understands how to buddy dive.

 

[jbd]

have recently added such stuff to our dives together.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Before we go further I want to point out that when we do this stuff we are not conducting training, we are just clowning around. My point was - mask off "so what"...air off "no biggie" Only certain divers are involved and only under certain conditions like pools or a site with similar conditions. There is, I think, a big difference between one or more GUE instructors conducting such exersizes in a class and divers who have taken DIRF conducting them. If you ever see a diver panick at depth you will never forget it. Be careful not to get yourself into a situation you may not be able to handle.

The point of the GUE drills and one UP was I believe pointing out is that the goal is to be capable, comfortable and aware enough to not be so wrapped up in a minor problem that other things slip by and combine turning the situation into a big problem. If it takes all your consentration to clear a mask then while you are doing so someone is solo (the team is disfunctional). If you can't hold your depth while taking care of a minor problem and you blow out the vis, things just became more complicated and team seperation may result.

Minor issues such as these pranks should not induce stress or be much of a distraction. What your after is a functional team. All members should be a functioning part of the team even while clearing a mask or installing a jump reel or checking to see if their left post has rolled off or dealing with some other task or problem. The functional team is aware of these tasks, prioritises and manages them . In a team of three you should have three who can contribute to a solution, threfore avoiding stress and further complications.

Why is everyone so amazed by this stuff?

 

[JimC]

Why is everyone so amazed by this stuff?

My guess would be that you don't get it in most courses.

To get this sort of information you have become aware that should should know it, or happen to blindly stumble onto excelent training which teaches it.

Most people just arn't interested in knowing what they know, or even knowing that they don't know something.