5thd-x Essentials of Recreational Diving v1.0

[JeffG]

I can do those things. You are assuming way too much. I will say this... the divers doing the demos had excellent buoyancy control. Solid as a rock. Obviously better than mine.

Maybe try a BP/wing.

 

[PerroneFord]

Or practice.

I'd be willing to bet if you put Andy G in a horsecollar, he could still hover, helicopter, and backfin.

 

[amascuba]

Oh, I shouldn't wade into this, but I will.

The DVD has its shortcomings. It does not have narration. It does have the Powerpoint presentation from the Essentials class. It does have beautiful examples of the correct execution of a number of skills, as well as a couple of examples of incorrect technique. The Intro to Tech DVD has most of the same material, but with voiceovers and grease pencil (and of course, additional skills).

Although you think the acquisition of the ability to use non-silting kicks or to position and maneuver yourself precisely underwater is useless, there are those of us who disagree. Our seafloor in Puget Sound is silty, and if you have dived behind a group of energetic flutter kickers and tried to see through the ensuing cloud, you would wish more people would learn non-silting methods of propulsion. I, for one, love the ability to hover quietly over something I want to watch, and am glad I have a back kick to help me do it. I find the helicopter turns useful on almost every dive, if the water pushes me past something I want to see more of, or to look for my buddy if he moves out of my sight.

I think buoyancy, control of position, and the ability to dive without disturbing the environment through which you pass ARE essentials of recreational diving. JMHO

I didn't actually realize that there was other material on the DVD, other than the skills presentation. I just slapped it into my computer because I was curious about the power point presentation that you mentioned and sure enough there is some pdf documents on there! Awesome! I don't think I would have even thought to look for documentation on the DVD if it wasn't for you mentioning the power point presentation. Thanks!

 

[JeffG]

I'd be willing to bet if you put Andy G in a horsecollar, he could still hover, helicopter, and backfin.

Give him a bleach bottle that would have to fill manually to use as a BC and he still would be able to do that. He would look like a dork doing it though.

 

[*Floater*]

FWIW I use the modified flutter and helicopter turn all the time even during rec dives, but I'd also agree the DVD has it's short comings and is basically just directed at divers interested in DIR, rather than regular rec divers.

 

[divad]

deleted

 

[divad]

Helicopter turns are extremely useful on recreational drift-dives. Much more useful than summersaults.

 

[Adobo]

Yesterday the 5thd-x Essentials of Recreational Diving v1.0 DVD came in the mail. Ordered it from Amazon.

It wasn't what we expected and quite frankly it was very dissappointing. The entire DVD runs about 20 minutes and not a word is spoken.

It's advertised as Essential for Recreational Divers but aside of a demontration of SMB deployment not much applied to the recreational diving we do.

It's all a series of silent demonstrations done hovering over a sandy bottom in about 25/30 feet of water.

They demonstrated the Modified Flutter Kick - okay, and it's purpose for a recreational diver in that setting might be what?

They demonstrated Helicopter Turns - how to circle right / how to circle left - okay, so how is that essential knowledge to a recreational diver in that setting?

So the moral to this story is read the product review before purchasing. The review does say "will help you review the academic curricula prior to taking a DIR class." I didn't read that before purchasing and it cost me $25.

If you're looking forward to a DIR class it might have some value to you because it demonstrates the skills you'll be tested on. Cilff Notes for the Fundies Class I guess.

Send me a stamped self addressed mailer and it's yours.

Don,

There are two components here.. one is the content and the other is execution.

First, the content -
I think they use a generic page to describe what is the content and intent of the DVD. Presumably, that would set the correct context to the DVD. Based on discussions I've had with one of their instructors, I seem to recall that the idea behind these DVDs (there is another one out and more on the way) is not to teach you anything. They are a supplement to the classes taught by the 5thd-x crew. If you take their Essentials class, this DVD makes perfect sense as it gives you a video of the skills you were shown in class and it also gives you a soft copy of the presentation that was covered.

As to whether or not alternative propulsion techniques apply to recreational diving, well, I think that topic is not too dissimilar to the BP/W in rec diving topic. People will argue it to no end with hardly anyone willing to admit that they could possibly be wrong or that they could learn something new from the other side.

Edit: Deleted low value content.

Now the execution -
We're talking about scuba diving instructors on their first shot at releasing an instructional DVD. We're not talking about PADI or SSI. Prior to this DVD being released, anyone insterested in seeing what these techniques looked like outside of a class could only see litte 2" x 1.5" clips on websites like Divetek's. And interestingly, AG was in a lot of those clips.

So yes, there are some improvements that could be made to Essentials v1.0. But if you look at it from what was available before that DVD released, it is a vast improvement.

 

[jagfish]

It's all useful stuff, maybe the original poster was looking for a more comprehensive treatment of recreational diving skills in general.

 

[Matsya]

I ordered both DVDs - Essentials of Recreational Diving and Intro to Tech DVD. Am now waiting with bated breath after reading these posts.