A wetsuit, a weight belt, and a pond
- Thread starter Patrick Star
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There are a few good suggestions here. Maybe the best one is to work on finning. I'm sure there are videos now online to help. Frog kicking isn't hard and can be important. You may even be able to do the back kick (for backing up)--I know there are videos on that. I can't really do it with my split fins, but honestly never gave it a really good try.
I guess you could practice removing the belt and putting it back on while at the surface. Not rocket science, but a bit more difficult with the BCD & tank on.
Actually, if you can swim and are comfortable in water, you really needn't worry about doing stuff ahead of time. If not, that's another story.
Before my OW course I read about mask clearing. Tried it in the ocean but didn't get deep enough to get the correct head angle. Real easy once I was in the pool doing the course.
Even just reading about the skills ahead of time is a good way to start. Mimic doing stuff on dry land. I still do that at times going over the 24(?) skills.
I guess you could practice removing the belt and putting it back on while at the surface. Not rocket science, but a bit more difficult with the BCD & tank on.
Actually, if you can swim and are comfortable in water, you really needn't worry about doing stuff ahead of time. If not, that's another story.
Before my OW course I read about mask clearing. Tried it in the ocean but didn't get deep enough to get the correct head angle. Real easy once I was in the pool doing the course.
Even just reading about the skills ahead of time is a good way to start. Mimic doing stuff on dry land. I still do that at times going over the 24(?) skills.
Romingnometx
New
I took about 6 months before my OW to get back into shape and twice a week I'd be at the pool with my fins and mask swimming for an hour. Practicing frog kicking is great since it's different muscles you'll have to train. It's also good if you're swimming a while and your legs get tired from flutter, switch to frog for a bit and you'll have some more life in you. Mask clearing was a big problem for me, so I'd spend time every swim session the last month before OW working on that. I'd kneel in about 4 feet of water, flood and clear my mask while continuing to breath through the snorkel. Spitting out the snorkel to practice swapping regs. Shallow diving to retrieve items off the bottom (it's a shallow pool, so not a danger).
I wore between 4 and 10 pounds of lead. I was fairly buoyant when I started and couldn't keep my fins under water through half the kick. Then adding a 3mm wetsuit, I floated pretty good. During my OW class, there were two of us who swam regularly, and two who didn't. It was much easier for us who did. As already mentioned, comfort in the water was a huge benefit, and while I've spent countless hours snorkeling previously, I think the time I spent the few months before OW focusing on it greatly helped me.
I wore between 4 and 10 pounds of lead. I was fairly buoyant when I started and couldn't keep my fins under water through half the kick. Then adding a 3mm wetsuit, I floated pretty good. During my OW class, there were two of us who swam regularly, and two who didn't. It was much easier for us who did. As already mentioned, comfort in the water was a huge benefit, and while I've spent countless hours snorkeling previously, I think the time I spent the few months before OW focusing on it greatly helped me.
This is actually how I start students in scuba classes. Learning buoyancy control with lung volume and proper weighting.
Swedinsidemount
Contributor
A good workout does us all good, try working on those legs as they'll obviously be your only propulsion... and get comfortable in the water, some people have to hold their nose when they jump in or can't do a flip underwater, or swim upside down, just get acquainted with the environment of your new hobby!!! <TG>
OP
Patrick Star
Contributor
Thank you all for your encouragement, very much.
Yesterday was my maiden voyage into the pond. I have spent countless hours swimming in it, but never when it was 50 degrees outside, or while wearing a wetsuit. It went well.
Just donning everything by myself (1.5m suit, 5m suit, hooded vest, boots, etc.) was a worthwhile exercise. By the time I do my first shore dive, I want it to be second nature.
The weight belt loaned to me by my LDS seemed to be just about dead on, but I would appreciate your thoughts. When I was vertical in the water, if I exhaled completely, I would sink down to about eye level. It was enough weight to keep me from just splashing around on the surface.
I learned that my right hip is stronger than my left. While flutter kicking facing down, I would consistently turn to the left. Time to focus on symmetry. I will try to find some videos that show a proper frog kick so I can learn that. Seems like an important thing to know when you want to be careful not to disturb the bottom.
Doffing solo was also a worthwhile exercise, as was rinsing everything with tap water and properly drying it.
Practice, practice, practice...
Next time, I will work in mask clearing.
It ain't the ocean, but it's in my backyard.
Yesterday was my maiden voyage into the pond. I have spent countless hours swimming in it, but never when it was 50 degrees outside, or while wearing a wetsuit. It went well.
Just donning everything by myself (1.5m suit, 5m suit, hooded vest, boots, etc.) was a worthwhile exercise. By the time I do my first shore dive, I want it to be second nature.
The weight belt loaned to me by my LDS seemed to be just about dead on, but I would appreciate your thoughts. When I was vertical in the water, if I exhaled completely, I would sink down to about eye level. It was enough weight to keep me from just splashing around on the surface.
I learned that my right hip is stronger than my left. While flutter kicking facing down, I would consistently turn to the left. Time to focus on symmetry. I will try to find some videos that show a proper frog kick so I can learn that. Seems like an important thing to know when you want to be careful not to disturb the bottom.
Doffing solo was also a worthwhile exercise, as was rinsing everything with tap water and properly drying it.
Practice, practice, practice...
Next time, I will work in mask clearing.
It ain't the ocean, but it's in my backyard.
Entirely different when you are fully kitted for the dive.
At the end of the dive when the tank is at least 2/3 empty. However, material(Al or S) and size of the tank all have different characters.
Just keep working on it and have fun
Frog/helicopter kick is dead easy but the back kick!
Jay Adams
Contributor
when you're ready to go, the lakes are around the 50 degree mark, I was in silver lake yesterday afternoon.
The key things you can work on are mask skills and equalization. Check out some freedivers' equalization technique videos. Valsava is what most divers use, but it's probably the worst for your ears of all the options. For the mask skills, along with clearing the mask, do some snorkeling with a mask full of water and no mask (you'll have to hold the snorkel) to get used to breathing when there is water in your face. Finally learn to take the mask off and then put it on and clear it with your face underwater. If you are comfortable with these, you'll be well ahead of the rest of the class.
One last one, get used to doing a continuous exhale when swimming up from the bottom. This will directly translate to an exercise called a CESA (controlled emergency swimming ascent) which a lot of people find difficult and it should help you get used to the concept of not holding your breath while ascending using scuba.
One last one, get used to doing a continuous exhale when swimming up from the bottom. This will directly translate to an exercise called a CESA (controlled emergency swimming ascent) which a lot of people find difficult and it should help you get used to the concept of not holding your breath while ascending using scuba.
Weighting for snorkeling/skin-diving in a wetsuit is a bit different: You weight yourself to be approximately neutrally buoyant at the target depth you want to dive to and linger at. This means you will be positively buoyant at the surface, and you will need to do a competent surface dive to get down from the surface to depth. And it means the weight you will wear if you plan to dive to and linger at 20 ffw is different than the weight you will wear if you plan to dive to and linger at 40 ffw, for example.
ETA: Also, a rubber weight belt will work better than an inflexible weight belt made from 2" nylon webbing.
rx7diver
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