I f*** up and I am ashamed

[Cdncoldwater]

I accept that I am a f*** in this case.

As I said earlier, IMO you need to reassess your diving in a few areas. We all make mistakes and I'm glad you're accepting that and luckily nothing terrible happened this time.
Our dive environments and experiences appear to be polar opposites. I've only dove warm, clear tropical water on one trip (10 dives) I knew I wasn't going to get a weight check on a boat dive with paying customers so I carried a few extra pounds and had zero buoyancy issues. My son and I followed the DM, but stayed within 2-3M of each other and nothing was done without an "ok" from the other. We confirmed "our plan" after the dive brief as he was relatively new and only OW so was respecting his depth limits. After four years of diving and almost three in side mount, I'm just now starting to look at loosing a pound or two of weight in the environments I know and dive.

 

[Swedinsidemount]

I have never said that 1 week is enough in my opinion. Actually, I have already made clear that, in my opinion, DM training standards aren't good enough.

But these are opinion.

You cited a number. This isn't an opinion, it's a fact. I am asking where you found this information. I am really interested in industry's standards, so I would really appreciate if you could answer my previous questions:
Which agencies require 35 dives for a DM card? What about the others?

SDI/TDI : A minimum of 40 hours; a minimum of 30 hours under the direct supervision of the SDI Instructor
if each dive is one and a quarter hour, then it would be 35 dives...<TG>

 

[RayfromTX]

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[Diverlady13]

Ok. That leads me to the next question. How can we make sure that we purge all the air out of the BCD?

It's going to depend on your BC. On your next dive (or maybe even in a pool if you have access) take some time to experiment with your BC. Empty it to what you think you normally are and then try the valves. When you think that you're totally empty, reach around and see if making adjustments to folds in your BC make it possible to release more air. There have been a few instances where I was certain that all the air was out, but then giving a gentle tug on the folds of my bc resulted in being able to release a pretty big "blurp" of air. I say this with the caveat that my BC is back inflate (Zeagle Zena), so if you're wearing a jacket this could be different.

Now that I'm aware of how much air can be trapped, I routinely adjust when I feel like I haven't gotten all of the air out (that I want out). This has also greatly helped me with weighting. I was overweighted for a while. We've been doing a lot of diving this year (making up for quarantine!) and I've made a point to focus on proper weighting and buoyancy. It can be challenging when equipment changes, so it's good to have a range you're comfortable in. For example, I bought a new wetsuit before my trip to Belize. I ended up adding a couple of pounds of weight for the first dozen dives because that new wetsuit was pretty buoyant. Once it compressed I was able to remove those 2 lbs. I'm still likely slightly overweighted and think I can drop another 2 pounds now that my buoyancy is so much better. I'll test that on our next dive. If I'm too light then it won't be by much and I will go ahead and add back those 2 pounds, though I suspect I won't need to do that.

 

[Dody]

It's going to depend on your BC. On your next dive (or maybe even in a pool if you have access) take some time to experiment with your BC. Empty it to what you think you normally are and then try the valves. When you think that you're totally empty, reach around and see if making adjustments to folds in your BC make it possible to release more air. There have been a few instances where I was certain that all the air was out, but then giving a gentle tug on the folds of my bc resulted in being able to release a pretty big "blurp" of air. I say this with the caveat that my BC is back inflate (Zeagle Zena), so if you're wearing a jacket this could be different.

Now that I'm aware of how much air can be trapped, I routinely adjust when I feel like I haven't gotten all of the air out (that I want out). This has also greatly helped me with weighting. I was overweighted for a while. We've been doing a lot of diving this year (making up for quarantine!) and I've made a point to focus on proper weighting and buoyancy. It can be challenging when equipment changes, so it's good to have a range you're comfortable in. For example, I bought a new wetsuit before my trip to Belize. I ended up adding a couple of pounds of weight for the first dozen dives because that new wetsuit was pretty buoyant. Once it compressed I was able to remove those 2 lbs. I'm still likely slightly overweighted and think I can drop another 2 pounds now that my buoyancy is so much better. I'll test that on our next dive. If I'm too light then it won't be by much and I will go ahead and add back those 2 pounds, though I suspect I won't need to do that.

Thanks for the air tip. I will try that with my beginner Wave jacket BCD. And I will also stop this race to reduce my ballast.

 

[ginti]

SDI/TDI : A minimum of 40 hours; a minimum of 30 hours under the direct supervision of the SDI Instructor
if each dive is one and a quarter hour, then it would be 35 dives...<TG>

Thank you for your reply

I checked PADI standards, from an OLD manual. I did it quickly, but hopefully got the main point, and it seems to me that one has to do:
- 5 workshops (that is, 5 dives)
- skills assessments, that may take just few dives
- 4 practical assessments (that is, 4 dives)
There are depth specifications only for ew dives, so it seems that is absolutely possible to do this course in 1 week according to this standards. However, not being a PADI pro myself, I cannot guarantee that I interpretated correctly the manual. Maybe some PADI instructors could clarify this point?

By the way, there are instructors who do NOT respect standards for their courses, irrispectively fom the agencies. The last tragic case is the death of the girl in the dry-suit accident, but there are other cases in cave, with CCR, and so on. Therefore, I wouldn't be too surprised to hear another case like that now.

@Dody, may I ask you from which agency you got the DM certification? Also, do you have the manual to verify the minimum requirement for the course?

 

[David Novo]

Since the first day I started diving, I have always said that no one but me would be responsible for my safety. I stuck to that rule even when my wife who loves playing the mermaid buddy is going too far.
I dive with 4kg of lead. I struggle a bit to go down but once I reach 2m with a full tank, it is fine. I hold my 5 m safety stop at the end of the dive with no issue however if I reach 2 meters at the end of the dive, I will surface and will not be able to go down after. Some tell me that I should dive with 5 kg but I refuse.
Yesterday, my wife and I went to a boat dive with a DM. At the end of the dive, we went into a big cave with no visibility. The briefing did not mention this cave. The DM entered, my wife entered. I was at the back and I followed even though I would not have if my wife was not in front of me. I could not see anything, could not see my DC because of the poor vis and did not see my wife. Then, I realized that I was moving up. Purging air did not do anything and I ended up stuck at the cave ceiling at 2m (I checked my DC later) with my head knocking on rocks.
Summary: I am stuck at a cave ceiling with 0 visibility, so shallow that I can't go down and I have lost sight of my wife and the DM.
To make a long story short, I used all my strength (Exhaling, down kicks and arms) to go down, in an upside down position and swallowing sea water ( I understood what wet breathing means) and went for the cave exit light. One minute afterwards, I was at the surface on my own. Ashamed becaused I did not know where my wife was. 5 minutes later, she surfaced with the DM. They had looked for me before surfacing.
I am ashamed. I should not have entered this cave. I should not have let my wife enter this cave. At the end, I was a crap buddy.

Before this dive, did you ever do a weight check in the end of a dive with a near empty tank as suggested on a different thread of yours?

P.S.: I apologize in advance if this was already mentioned.

 

[Blackcrusader]

HI Dody, I asked about doing the DM course at a dive center I have over 700 dives with. So well known to all the instructors as I have dived with them all and taken some courses with them. I redid courses I have done before as I took a long break from diving. A few people questions why I would redo and rescue course I have done before. I did it because I felt I had lost the skills and forgotten a lot.

For me I was told I could do the DM course in perhaps 10 weeks if I really worked my butt off. Apart from the diving aspect their is the boating aspect for boat dives as well. A one week course even if you did rescue then one week for DM seems kinda rushed. But that is what you can get in Thailand. I have not met anyone that did not need a couple of months to get a DM cert.

Your incident was not really a major one. You scared yourself when you found yourself struggling to descend when you hit an overhead and had no torch. Being in the dark and alone isn't fun in that situation. Your sorted yourself. Self rescue is the best rescue. How can you rescue anyone else if you cannot rescue yourself first. You did that so be happy to learn from that.

I never did any certification for being a night diver. It was considered diving when I was in the BSAC club. So was some of the wreck diving we did. I try to do one night dive for every 5 - 7 day dives. It's good fun and you experience a lot of things you don't get day diving. I've never met a DM that has not done night dives in Asia. You don't need a certification for it just go with experienced night divers. I don't do cold water diving so no dry suit training for me.

Maybe one day in our futures we might meet at a dive site. I would be happy to dive with you. Just bring along a torch for communication and looking into dark places. Even on day dives there are lot's of things divers without torches do not see due to shadows and dark spots on reefs. Does your DC not have a back light button so you can see your DC in low visibility?
I think money is not an issue for you so I would recommend a Shearwater or Peregrine with it's colourful digital display that can always be seen.

One thing I love doing is being a bouyancy master, sometimes I maybe close my eyes and see if I can maintain depth from feeling the pressure in my ears. It's really hard. Then sometimes I practice being in Trim and not being in trim. Mastering buoyancy makes it easier to maintain what ever position you want be in. It does for me anyways. I have a bad back, compressed disk and twisted spine. So sometimes I like to get into positions in the water I cannot do readily on land.

Diving for me relieves me of back pain at times.

 

[The Chairman]

@Dody if you're ever in Suwannee County, Florida let's go for a dive and work out this buoyancy stuff. Bring your wife.

 

[Swedinsidemount]

Thank you for your reply

I checked PADI standards, from an OLD manual. I did it quickly, but hopefully got the main point, and it seems to me that one has to do:
- 5 workshops (that is, 5 dives)
- skills assessments, that may take just few dives
- 4 practical assessments (that is, 4 dives)
There are depth specifications only for ew dives, so it seems that is absolutely possible to do this course in 1 week according to this standards. However, not being a PADI pro myself, I cannot guarantee that I interpretated correctly the manual. Maybe some PADI instructors could clarify this point?

By the way, there are instructors who do NOT respect standards for their courses, irrispectively fom the agencies. The last tragic case is the death of the girl in the dry-suit accident, but there are other cases in cave, with CCR, and so on. Therefore, I wouldn't be too surprised to hear another case like that now.

@Dody, may I ask you from which agency you got the DM certification? Also, do you have the manual to verify the minimum requirement for the course?

Here from modern PADI e-learning:
Prerequisites & Requirements
Age Requirement
18 years or older
Course Prerequisites
Rescue Diver, 40 logged dives, CPR and First Aid certification within 24 months, medical clearance to dive
Time Commitment
Approximately 50 hours

it goes by hours, about 6 hrs or so go to class room the rest in water...according to what @Dody said, (completing DM in a week) he would have to dive over 7 hours a day for a week PLUS e-learning, the exams, and some hands-on experience with an instructor...<TG>