advanced bouyancy
- Thread starter STOGEY
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Could just be the name the certifying agency give it. PADI's is called Peak Performance Buoyancy, and I can't recommend it enough. Just make sure the instructor to student ratio is small that day. It's pretty intensive, as it takes some time for the tweaking. You'll need a lot of instructor attention.STOGEY:
Good luck!
It is to help you find your appropriate amount of weight and to shed all the extra lead that is used in OW. They start with adjusting weight and then once you are good on that they have you perform several bouyancy skills such as swimming thru hulahoops at different levels in the water column to show you that your BCD is just for establishing a neutral position then you can contol you up and down movement with the way you breathe.
i like teaching PPB- I get a kick out of students faces when they drop lots of weight off their weight belt by the end of the day!
crpntr133
lost, even with a compass
In other words you could do it yourself. I thought about taking it myself but can't see paying someone to help me with what I can do on my own. Leaves me open for things that I would like to do for my AOW.
Wijbrandus
Contributor
You could do it yourself. Of course, having a professional set of calibrated eyeballs observing your behavior will help you eliminate a lot of common pitfalls.
I'm still considering it, even after 30 dives, but I'd rather take DIRF.
I'm still considering it, even after 30 dives, but I'd rather take DIRF.
JimC
Contributor
DIR-F will go a lot further, IMHO, than swimming through some hoolahoops.
STOGEY:
A good exercise to work on for buoyancy is to get down to 500 psi or less and be horizontal in 10' of water. See if you can stay at 10' without up or down movement. Now pick a spot on the bottom and stay there. In other words no forward movement. No do so with a little bit of swell.
Next step do this where you can't see the bottom and don't have an anchor line to hold onto.
Learn how to change your depth by using your breath.
Learn how to change your orientation by arching your back, dropping / raising your feet and using your breath.
That is peak advanced buoyancy.
I'm not sure you will find this in a PADI course.
shugar
Contributor
would anyone then know "exactly" what goes/ gets taught in a PADI PPB course??? i'm curious myself as my AOWs coming up and i haven't decided on elective courses/ eventual specialization courses
Jag
Jag
Yes, it's something you can do on your own. I did. When I got certified, I was using 40 lbs of weight total, including 2 lb ankle weights. I found that I was having trouble staying where I wanted in the water column and as I had been taught to use my drysuit for buoyancy control, I was putting so much air in it that it would burp out the dump valve :11:
Another thing I noticed - when I would stop moving, I would immediatly go verticle, so the first thing I dropped was the ankle weights.
Not really the optimal way to do it, but I kept dropping 2-4 lbs each dive until I couldn't stay submerged with a near empty tank. Then added 2 lbs back. With the trilam drysuit, Hyperstretch 300g undies, Seaquest Black Diamond BC, steel tank and Apollo Biofins I was using 20 # of weight ~ half what I was using before!!! My buoyancy control got much, much easier.
I soon decided I wanted to do tech level dives and maybe cave training, so I switched to a BP/W and doubles. Eventually I took a DIRf class and found out the value of an honest critique as to my buoyancy control and trim. I then wished I had had some help a whole lot sooner!!
Now I highly recommend anyone taking AOW ask for whatever agency's version of Peak Performance Buoyancy as one of the dives. The help of competant instruction and feedback is invaluable and will help to improve the enjoyment of your diving by leaps and bounds.
Another thing I noticed - when I would stop moving, I would immediatly go verticle, so the first thing I dropped was the ankle weights.
Not really the optimal way to do it, but I kept dropping 2-4 lbs each dive until I couldn't stay submerged with a near empty tank. Then added 2 lbs back. With the trilam drysuit, Hyperstretch 300g undies, Seaquest Black Diamond BC, steel tank and Apollo Biofins I was using 20 # of weight ~ half what I was using before!!! My buoyancy control got much, much easier.
I soon decided I wanted to do tech level dives and maybe cave training, so I switched to a BP/W and doubles. Eventually I took a DIRf class and found out the value of an honest critique as to my buoyancy control and trim. I then wished I had had some help a whole lot sooner!!
Now I highly recommend anyone taking AOW ask for whatever agency's version of Peak Performance Buoyancy as one of the dives. The help of competant instruction and feedback is invaluable and will help to improve the enjoyment of your diving by leaps and bounds.
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