jowe
Registered
In the realm of "in case it helps someone else"/"I made this mistake so you don't have to"...
I've just started PADI OW and had 1st pool session today. I was not having a happy time with buoyancy and control. Felt like I was being "pulled" to the left and was just constantly unbalanced. Super distracting, it made everything harder than it needed to be and does nothing for calm after a while. Checked main weights plus trim weights were the same each side. Cinched all the straps extra tight, nothing was obviously wrong... until the instructor's 3rd attempt to help me - he noted he could get his clenched fist between my back and the BCD. My BCD was too large. (Yes, I have a smaller one now).
This was after being fitted for gear at the shop and getting a "looks great". Lesson learned - I should have asked him to come over and check the straps and position of everything, asked how tight things should feel and just engaged him more. I'm reading as much as I can, but I don't yet know exactly how things should feel or what questions to ask. Having no experience puts me in the dangerous position of trusting people I don't know. So, my next step will be to scour this board and try to figure out what I should be asking, but I'd love any pointers. If nothing else I can try, "What should I be asking you, to help me stay out of trouble?" or "What things typically go wrong or do people miss when doing this?" ("this" usefully applying to anything I'm not sure of). Of course my mileage will vary depending on who I'm asking, but it's a start.
I've just started PADI OW and had 1st pool session today. I was not having a happy time with buoyancy and control. Felt like I was being "pulled" to the left and was just constantly unbalanced. Super distracting, it made everything harder than it needed to be and does nothing for calm after a while. Checked main weights plus trim weights were the same each side. Cinched all the straps extra tight, nothing was obviously wrong... until the instructor's 3rd attempt to help me - he noted he could get his clenched fist between my back and the BCD. My BCD was too large. (Yes, I have a smaller one now).
This was after being fitted for gear at the shop and getting a "looks great". Lesson learned - I should have asked him to come over and check the straps and position of everything, asked how tight things should feel and just engaged him more. I'm reading as much as I can, but I don't yet know exactly how things should feel or what questions to ask. Having no experience puts me in the dangerous position of trusting people I don't know. So, my next step will be to scour this board and try to figure out what I should be asking, but I'd love any pointers. If nothing else I can try, "What should I be asking you, to help me stay out of trouble?" or "What things typically go wrong or do people miss when doing this?" ("this" usefully applying to anything I'm not sure of). Of course my mileage will vary depending on who I'm asking, but it's a start.