Horizontal Obsession

[tomboyy]

[/LIST]
What about NMOF, long hose, vintage diving, knife-on-leg, and inadequacy-of-modern-OW-training?

Being discussed on another thread as we type

 

[DaleC]

On a related note.
Some time back I was reading in "The New Science of Skin and SCUBA Diving" how divers used to make descents by jacknifing on the surface and powering down to overcome wetsuit bouyancy (pre BC). I decided to try this with my drysuit and now it's how I descend. I find I don't have to vent completely and then re inflate and I don't get a squeeze till I'm deeper (than when I descended by venting horizontal first). If my buddy is below me I maintain pretty good contact as I just swim straight down his/her bubble line.
I will say it is a far more active form of descent that the usual method which is somewhat passive.
Not for everyone but an interesting bit of old school technique that I found useful in some app's.

 

[Teamcasa]

Forget about the drag aspect, divers are about as streamlined as a water heater anyway.

Actually drag is noticable enough between my wetsuit and drysuit. Also when I do drift diving I often have to hang on to my buddy as he travels way faster than me, having less streamlined gear.

To be clear on the drag issue; yes, some scuba divers can be more streamlined than others. However, I try not to swim fast enough for streamlining to be an issue.

If I find myself in a position to fight a strong current, my fitness level and finning ability will be tested significantly more than my drag coefficient.

 

[captain]

You make a good point, one that I agree with, but in the context of the discussion, I think that you can use "horizontal," "up off the bottom," and "neutrally buoyant" as essentially synonymous.

True, neutral buoyancy allows you to be in control in any position.

 

[Herk_Man]

A fish is only horizontally vertical when it is.

What do you mean by "is" ?

 

[DennisS]

What if you are drift diving? Staying buoyant in a horizontal position offers more surface area to the current, allowing you to observe more scenery, albeit for shorter periods of time. Perhaps there is something to be said for diving vertically!

I like to be vertical when drift diving off of Cozumel. I just fold my legs buddha like, face the reef and control my up and down by breathing. I'm well off the reef and just enjoying the panoramic view. It's about as relaxing dive as possible.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

True, neutral buoyancy allows you to be in control in any position.

This really only happens when the opposing forces of lift and ballast are close together and you are neutral.

It is very possible to be neutral and trimmed horizontal at one depth, but not be able to move to some other positions if your weight and lift are far apart.

For me, putting all my weight in a harness demonstrates this. The lead on my belly acts as a keel, the wings above have lift. I am neutral, perfectly horizontal (even motionless) but I cannot rotate upside down. I am not in control. If I move some weight to my cam bands then I loose the keel effect and have control in any position, that is what I desire.

 

[denisegg]

Now women want to be men and men want beer. Self donning neoprene drysuits are good. Is that a rolling pin you're holding?

Ummmm excuse me....it is a big stick And why would I want to be a man? My male dive buddies cook for me all the time.

 

[elan]

OK Boulderjohn I'll bite. What is with this obsession with being horizontal.

Scuba is a 3 dimensional world. In it I assume whatever position best suits what I am doing. If I am descending I swim mostly vertical head down. If I am ascending I swim mostly vertical head up. If I am swimming horizontal to the bottom I swim horizontally. If I need to look up I assume a position that allows me to do it comfortably.
Always horizontal is for dead people.

I guess it is just easier to maneuver to stay in the team when you maintain horizontal position. You use your legs to move in horizontal direction and lungs in vertical

So those two tools complement each other. If you are vertical while ascending it's kind of hard to maneuver in horizontal direction.

At any time being horizontal you can operate in 2 directions without doing any turns. The 3rd one is only available with turning your body. If you descend or ascend vertically you basically kill one of your tools. And you can only have access to 1 direction of movement and the other 2 are available only using the turns.

So the question now is why would you want to kill one of the direction that you can immediately control especially knowing that SCUBA is a 3 dimensional worlds..

 

[Thalassamania]

Scuba is a three dimensional world through which organisms maneuver head first. You've never seen a dolphin or a sea lion stay horizontal have you? Staying almost horizontal whilst maneuvering in a three dimensional environmental is what man-made machines do, it is against nature.