Some things that I haven't learned yet

[sibermike7]

So does it mean the he never swims with the frog kick?

So what about all those divers who do swim mostly with a frog kick? Are they all ‘thrill’ seekers? Why they would do that if there was such a danger to have air in the feet and risk go head down and feet up?...MA!

Keep at it. You'll love being dry!!

A lot of divers use the kermit kick to avoid kicking up silt. I use a modified elevated foot kick myself for that reason. No thrills, just practical. Don't get too worried about air in your suit, learn to use it as Lynn has suggested (put a little here, put a little there). It's great! (with practice)

I am having a little difficulty with a runaway ascent due to the air moving from the torso to the feet.
You haven't greatly changed your buoyancy, but rather you body position in the water. I am picturing the diver's head being where the feet just were and the feet where the head just was (see-saw). The air doesn't suddenly expand when it moves to your foot area. ???

Maybe I'm missing something here.

We dive COLD water (under ice, etc.) and I use the drysuit's ability to put air at your feet to warm them (me feet) up when they get cold. I just lower my head, straighten my legs and "whoop" air goes to the feet. Then I lower my feet and raise my torso to move it back. Think of a see-saw effect.

Also, if you are weighted correctly and fitted correctly to your suit, your feet should "pop" out of your boots!

When you are in the pool, have fun practicing putting air in you feet, letting them break surface, and then getting then down and the air out. I even over-inflate my suit to create a lot more air than normal to get used to working the legs back underneath.

 

[sibermike7]

If you are running a big bubble of air in your dry suit, and turn head down, it is quite possible to have all the air run to your feet, expand and start you to the surface. It is also possible that the gas in your feet will make your boots so loose that you kick out of them, rendering you fairly helpless.

O.K., missed the IF ...
Still find it unlikely, though I suppose it is possible!

EDIT: Just returned from a series of dives. I had to borrow my friend's drysuit because mine is in the shop. His Viking 1500 has these really flexible non-insulated boots and they are a little big for me. I about died laughing tonight when we were maneuvering around some underwater buildings in an old Soviet-era prison that had flooded and did a weird kick causing the boot to come off my foot!!! All right Lynn, how'd you do that???
I didn't lose buoyancy or anything and I wouldn't have been helpless, normally, but I was gasping for air due to laughing so hard!!!

 

[sibermike7]

I have just waded through this thread: a TON of good info, and TS, your gas management "rules" were great!

I noticed a question by soaked early on concerning her weight belt. She was a little miffed that an "insta-buddy" wanted her to put it on the outside. She wanted it under the crotch strap and was irritated that the buddy wanted her to move it. She was given the advice to do what she wanted (put it under the crotch strap).

Bad idea.

FWIW, I remember back to Basic Scuba 101 (26 years ago) when we were taught "The weight belt ALWAYS goes on last (outside) so it can be ditched in an emergency." Has something changed?

 

[Bonairetrip]

<SNIP>
As undergarment I am using underwear etc. that I have found in my draws at home. It is not ideal but I can get by with that stuff for now that the water it is not too cold. However not wearing the proper scuba undergarment may make me more confused about the amount of air I am supposed to put in the suit...

I found the proper under garmet made a big difference for me. In my first DS (a tri-lam shell), I used some stuff I had handy. It was an older Patagonia expedition weight top & bottom. Great stuff for winter camping. At some point I bought a proper jumpsuit style under garmet and I would never go back.

To put it simply, it just felt right. I was instantly warmer. I no longer had to worry about my top riding up underwater or about the little blue fuzz balls getting stuck in the exhaust valve seat. The thumb loops stopped my sleeves from riding up. And it seemed liked I futzed with the air less.

I went back and forth on the bc vs. DS for underwater bouyancy. If I am properly weighted, I found it much easier to use the DS for bouyancy.

(Full disclosure: While I dove dry locally, I am now a warm water weenie.)

 

[Bonairetrip]

2) My trim and buoyancy is a mix of good and bad. I still haven't grasped the final magic trick that will allow me to settle it down consistently.

3) My air consumption is still as high as Mt. Everest. I liked to think that it had began to improve a little bit but lately after comparing my air consumption with guys that use 1/3(or less) of their air supply in the same amount of time that I use a whole tank...all my hopes were crushed to a pulp.

In colder water, these are both harder than in warm water. As to #2, I would focus on getting both the right amount of weight and in the right places (trim). I suspect #3 will come when #2 is all the way solved.

With regard to #3, I would also focus on slow steady breathing.

 

[offthewall1]

Among the besillions of things that I haven't learned yet I have picked up the few that are a cause of constant frustration and struggle:

1) During a night dive the main light is always a bummer! I hold it with a lanyard around my wrist and when I let it go it begins to rotate, the light beam swirls like a disco light and ends up blinding the unfortunate buddy. My last new buddy suggested me to use a device (I don't remember its name) with a clip and attach it to my harness. I am going to try it and hopefully it will make easier to carry the light.

2) My trim and buoyancy is a mix of good and bad. I still haven't grasped the final magic trick that will allow me to settle it down consistently.

3) My air consumption is still as high as Mt. Everest. I liked to think that it had began to improve a little bit but lately after comparing my air consumption with guys that use 1/3(or less) of their air supply in the same amount of time that I use a whole tank...all my hopes were crushed to a pulp.

4) Keep forgetting bits and pieces of gear. First of all the hood, then the light marker and lanyard for the camera, then the weight belt and last some hot water...I will keep writing a list every time a pack my gear until eventually it sinks inside my brain.

That's it for now.

Cheers

I learned two things today from paddler3d

I learned that recycled newspaper makes one hell of a hardwood countertop and that cellphones don't work at all from inside Millbrook quarry...

Cheers to the neverending flow of education...

 

[rongoodman]

If she's horizontal it's easier to get all the air out of her suit than her wing, because the suit vent is rotated around to the side of her arm (like I wish mine was!), and with the bungee loop on her inflator hose, she really has to yank it up to get the hose straight enough to let all the air out.

Sounds like a good time to start using the rear dump on the wing. Instead of having to break trim to use the inflator hose, just roll to the right a little and raise your hips--the bubble will be right there at the dump.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I have just waded through this thread: a TON of good info, and TS, your gas management "rules" were great!

I noticed a question by soaked early on concerning her weight belt. She was a little miffed that an "insta-buddy" wanted her to put it on the outside. She wanted it under the crotch strap and was irritated that the buddy wanted her to move it. She was given the advice to do what she wanted (put it under the crotch strap).

Bad idea.

FWIW, I remember back to Basic Scuba 101 (26 years ago) when we were taught "The weight belt ALWAYS goes on last (outside) so it can be ditched in an emergency." Has something changed?

Quite a lot has changed in 26 years ... most specifically, we've started moving away from the emphasis on what to do WHEN you run out of air, and started emphasizing safer diving techniques that include managing your air, weighting yourself properly, and avoiding buoyant ascents unless it's a bitter choice between life and death. Buoyant ascents are inherently dangerous, and dropping your weights at depth isn't something you want to consider lightly.

In the old days, people didn't have submersible pressure gauges. And because the J-valve was so chronically unreliable they learned methods for making emergency buoyant ascents as a means to survive unreliable gear and a "my air is my air" mentality.

Today we emphasize that dropping your weights is less something you want to consider to GET you to the surface than something you may want to consider to KEEP you there once you've swam yourself up. Furthermore, we emphasize better buddy skills ... the use of alternate second stages and an emphasis on air sharing as a means to surface during an OOA emergency. Today the buoyant ascent is considered both risky and anachronistic.

Betty is using her gear properly. She knows how to ditch her weights if she needs to do so ... and when such a consideration is appropriate.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Soakedlontra]

Quite a lot has changed in 26 years ... most specifically, we've started moving away from the emphasis on what to do WHEN you run out of air, and started emphasizing safer diving techniques that include managing your air, weighting yourself properly, and avoiding buoyant ascents unless it's a bitter choice between life and death. Buoyant ascents are inherently dangerous, and dropping your weights at depth isn't something you want to consider lightly.

In the old days, people didn't have submersible pressure gauges. And because the J-valve was so chronically unreliable they learned methods for making emergency buoyant ascents as a means to survive unreliable gear and a "my air is my air" mentality.

Today we emphasize that dropping your weights is less something you want to consider to GET you to the surface than something you may want to consider to KEEP you there once you've swam yourself up. Furthermore, we emphasize better buddy skills ... the use of alternate second stages and an emphasis on air sharing as a means to surface during an OOA emergency. Today the buoyant ascent is considered both risky and anachronistic.

Betty is using her gear properly. She knows how to ditch her weights if she needs to do so ... and when such a consideration is appropriate.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I was going to say the same thing... probably in a less articulate way, but you came first! Good job!

I would add that unfortunately this issue about where to keep the weight belt is still a controversial one. I got certified with SSI and my instructor had to teach me to ditch the weights because the agency said so in the manual but also during my training I wore a jacket style BC instead of a BP/W with a crotch strap.

Another somewhat disconcerting thing is that there are a lot of articles in scubadiving magazines where the emphasis is on ditching the weights. I don't understand why there is not a kind of agreement on this between the technical diving schools and the recreational one and why this endless bickering among them about the weights is kept eternally alive, so it seems.

 

[Soakedlontra]

Sounds like a good time to start using the rear dump on the wing. Instead of having to break trim to use the inflator hose, just roll to the right a little and raise your hips--the bubble will be right there at the dump.

Well right now I am back to square one! I mess with the wing only to dump air to descend and after the ascent to float. I have the pool session this evening and that's the way the instructor is going to teach me. Voila'! During the dive I adjust the air in my suit only. So far I have never had too much air in my feet as Lynne mentioned to push my feet up and head down. I will begin to 'experiment' with the wing to control my buoyancy later when the Dry Suit class is over, I guess.