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There is no magic exercise. Swimming laps is actually a good combination of cardio and working the right muscle groups. I have also heard good things core exercise and some form of breathing control like Yoga. You want a better breathing rate. The answer is kind of ironic, go slower, exert...

Basically this. Cardio will help, but I have seen Andre the Giant with a .4 SAC and a leprechaun with a .9. Comfort, poise, and control in the water will contribute more to improved breathing rate than any fitness program.

Adding a 2nd deco bottle is overkill on this dive. Assuming that the 150ft dive must be after the 110' (why). I would either top up the 50% or use an al40 of O2 on the 110' and save the full al80 of 50% for the 150' dive.

Bummer. See if there is a doctor or a medic on board--someone who could sign a paper saying don't dive. Have ship/doctor document symptoms and keep records. Depending on credit card or insurance that was used it is possible you may be able to get some type of reimbursement.

I don't think it is a matter of a diver using configuration improperly--you could accurately say that forgetting to put the bungeed octo around ones neck is the same as failing to properly stow octo and is improper. The issue is that stowing the octo some place that is not bungeed around the...

For scuba trips with a lot of repetitive dives--3-5 dives a day for 6 or 7 days. Nitrox can assist with reducing fatigue and offer an improved safety margin towards the back end of those trips. Using nitrox on strictly NDL basis for 1 or 2 dives a day for a couple of days provides "benefits"...

A couple of different factors at play. The build up of CO2 is what induces the body to want to breathe, not the "lack of O2". So evening breathing 80% O2 won't make a difference if you are generating a lot of CO2 because the body wants to expel the CO2. Your exhale will just have a larger...

I have never heard about or seem this. Know several that actively solo dive. Instructors have different rules, they seen as representatives and are not allowed to solo dive ever.

What are you talking about? Your last sentence even indicates you did not think your very experienced buddy would be open to this practice.

Oh No, don't misunderstand me. That is perfectly fine and I do the same. He's talking about demanding to see a buddies pressure gauge every dive after he turns it.

I can understand this sentiment, but if that is the level of trust in the other diver and his abilities that you have; what the hell are you doing in a cave with that person? If I had a dive buddy that demanded to check my pressure gauge after every turn we simply wouldn't be doing many if any...

"Conspiracy to.." those two magic words that can be added to the front of almost any criminal charge and F03k your whole world up real fast.

Yes. This was strictly in the narrow context of specific class and location combination and also in an ideal world. Gaining experience in both MX and FL environments outside of class would be good and the same could be said about vis-a-versa. Since you and I know a little bit about each other...

Jon covered it well. A lot of the populat caves in FL are are little simpler to navigate--it's a long tunnel, mostly subway sized, some a little bigger. There is very clearly one way forward and one way back. A lot of Mexico has very large or very wide rooms. It's not clearly one way forward and...

I agree with the recommendations of Jon and others. Cave 1 in MX and Cave 2 in Florida. The additional time spent in the caves, the revealing nature of no flow, and the increased complexity and variety of the systems in MX lends itself well to a Cave 1 class. Florida’s high flow and increased...

It is very hard to get accurate numbers especially with recent units. I would also say that helium is one factor, but CCR has steadily increased for a lot of reasons including improved safety and freedom of information about units. It would be very difficult to parse out the helium factor from...

Which is fine. The time taken between courses or the dives that they want to do after class is up to the individual. This is a discussion about the 'best' (if there is such a thing) breakdown of tech courses. The SSI course with 130' and only 50% is the definition of something that is half...

I think we should distinguish between the breaking up course days vs cert cards being issued. I have seen Tech 1s being broken up between two long weekends in Florida, typically 3 days in the springs and 3 days in S. Florida off the boats. I have no problem with people doing a course over two...

Just to clarify. You ARE learning new gases in Tech 1 and Tech 2. Tech 1 is normoxic trimix - 21/35 and 18/45; Tech 2 is hypoxic - 15/55, 12/65, 10/70....etc. I think what you might be getting at is most of the math is covered and stressed at the fundamentals level. There is no learning to...

I have been guilty of doing a shallow shore dive on 32% and just kept my computer set to air from time to time, but never have I done a dive that would generate any kind of deco obligation and deliberately lied to the computer. I think a lot of people (myself included) are really thrown by this...