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My 10 yo granddaughter will be taking her OW course this summer. The only jacket-style BC we can determine that will fit her is the Zeagle Ranger Jr. Have thought about a BP/W (e.g. Apex soft w/ D18 wing), but cost would be an issue (can get a new Zeagle Jr for $365 - lowest cost complete BP/W...

Even with a computer, I still set my watch bezel at the start of every dive.

Salt water pools have VERY little salt - just enough to allow the salt to be electrolyzed into sodium and chlorine - the chlorine does the same job it would in a "regular" pool, then gets re-combined with the free sodium ions. Sea water is about 30-50 times more salty than a salt water pool.

+1 for not buying a pig-sticker. If you go on a cruise somewhere and want to take along you dive gear (and why not ;)) you will generally have to forfeit the knife every time you go onboard. A pair of shears is IMHO better anyway. Granted, you won't get that neat Lloyd Bridges look, but then...

Here is a link to a discussion several years ago http://www.scubaboard.com/community/threads/dive-and-fly.220055/#post-4917034 in which I asked exactly the same question. Basically, why I could not just treat the surface as a simple decompression stop. The math would seem to indicate that it...

Last time I dove off N.C. in July, I wore a 3/2, and whished I would have brought a shorty or just a 1mm core warmer, but then I don't have too much problems with water temps as long as they are above about 73.

Scariest DSD I ever saw was on a 6-pack in St. Lucia. 6 divers (4 DSD's and two certified) with 1 instructor and 1 DM. The DSD's got their "classroom" instruction by huddling in the center of the boat on the way to the dive site. Then did the initial "see what it is like to breath underwater"...

Add my vote for Olympus. Also, call ahead and see if there is any plan to dive the Proteus - it's a llloooonnnngggg way out, so it isn't dove too regularly, but it's a really good dive (118' to the sand IIRC).

Got my granddaughter into diving and she was [junior] certified at 13. This year when she turns 15 and gets her full certification, I have promised to take her to the Rhone.

This creates a problem when you're diving wrecks like the Proteus - about 30 miles off the coast of N.C.;)

Great thread. While not as intimidating as many of these stories are, my worst case was also my on my OW checkout dives off Key Largo in mid-March. There were four of us in my group getting certified - myself, my daughter, and two sons-in-law. Water temperature was ~68 degF, and I had a brand...

That exact scenario happened on my last dive in St. Thomas - while I tried to stretch the time from 15', everyone else left quickly for the surface after the safety stop. One diver actually hit his head on the bottom of the boat as he was [apparently] not paying attention. When I finally...

This discussion has caused me to remember an exactly opposite experience. When diving in COZ, the boat crew wanted to do everything - unfortunately when placing both my and my daughter's BCs on the tank, they failed to fasten the lower cam band on both tanks! It is a good thing I do know how...

While I feel for the victim, I am firmly of the belief that most shark attacks on humans (divers and surfers at least - not commenting on shallow water strikes) are the result of mistaken identity. Sharks have been swimming around for a REALLY long time and generally KNOW what "food" looks...

Actually, I have found this discussion pretty entertaining - not as many flame/religious wars as usual. I never used to carry a snorkel. Then I dove in Belize one winter. During the SI, a pod of very curious dolphins showed up. Everyone with a snorkel - about 3/4 of the boat - donned fins...

We did our OW cert dives in Key Largo in March about 7 years ago. Used a 5mm suit and had no problems with chilling, however that year (I don't know if it was abnormal or not), we had 4-6' swells. While we did get the cert dives in, it wasn't much fun until we got down off the surface.

I am a software engineer with 30+ years of experience, and am also formally trained as both a technical instructor and somewhat less formally trained as a technical writer. I am appalled at the poor manuals for dive computers, and also at the inane user interfaces - even with all my experience...

One of my sons-in-law (son-in-laws?) was also a "hoover" in the beginning. His solution was to dive slightly higher (and very slightly behind) his buddy in the water column (7-10') - this reduced the cu. ft.-per-breath, and thus increased his dive time. His wife and buddy (my daughter) was...

What I am suggesting is having the mindset that you should try to solve problems except OOA under water instead of first resorting to bailing out to the surface. I've seen a number of [probably poorly trained] OW divers who get their mask flooded or their reg kicked out of their mouth and their...

I find that I have to argue that even an OW diver SHOULD be prepared to solve ALL problems - other than no air - UW. Does this means that this is always possible? No, but the mindset is the same.