Anyone want to get Techy ?

[Conor]

Sounds cool, if I do go for the deco course I will probably hire a wing and twinset from them before spending two much cash.

Sounds like the same kind of conundrum (sp?) as the rescue course, should you have experience before training or training before experience.

I think with the CBL scenarios it is what comes more naturally to you that makes the difference, as that is probably what you would start doing when faced with a casualty.

Just had a chat to ND and Otter about suits and am narrowing the field. I may just go ahead and get one and then arrange a course.

 

[Jonathan]

If you can get to Croydon easily (not sure in London where you are from) I can recommend an instructor or two for you.

Any help?

Jonathan

 

[Maggie]

Have qualified to Padi DM and also have TDI Advanced and Deco Procedures. I am doing the Padi TecRec at the moment which I am doing instead of TDI extended range as it was available at the time. I am lucky as the Instructor at my club can do all these courses and he is excellent. Will probably do the TDI Trimix course sometime maybe next year when I've got a few more deep deco dives under my belt. I'm quite comfortable doing 50m deco dives at the moment but I want to be really comfortable and confident before I go any deeper.

 

[flw]

Conor once bubbled...
I was just thinking of my training wish list and womdered what you guys want to do training wise.



Want to do........
Nitrox/Advanced Nitrox
Wreck
Deco Procedures

When I'm all grown up..........
Advanced Wreck
Extended Range

I wouldn't get too hung up on doing wreck courses, I'm not sure what they teach you that just diving with more experienced wreck divers won't, particularly at the basic levels.
Don't bother with basic nitrox, just do the advanced, assuming you are then going to start thinking about staged deco - doesn't really matter which agency, just find a good instructor.
Before you do any extended range course, make sure you are completely comfortable with twinsets, use them for non-staged diving initially, making sure you can access all the valves easily and quickly, and you'll get a lot more out of any course. Take time inbetween courses to practise skills inwater, in different environments - and when cold, before moving on.

 

[Conor]

I suppose there are two sides to my diving, my general holiday diving (hence basic Nitrox for the longer bottom times and to get Nitrox) and my more techncal aspirations.

I see your point about learning wrecking from more experienced people, I guess I just see the courses as a head start. Not living by the coast or having a dive Club, I guess I have to rely more on courses to gain skills and experience.

I didn't realise you could do advanced Nitrox without doing the basic one first ? If you can then I see your point.

Maggie, let us know how the TecRec course goes, I'd be interested to hear whats involved etc.

 

[clootie]

Conor

my club does all those courses, so you just need to move to London Some of them they even do in :sunny: Sharm.

I am seriously considering doing DM with them.... not because I ever want to earn a living diving, but because I think if I help demonstrate the basic skills to students, it will improve my own mastery of them etc, and it would also mean a whole lot of diving in the Muddy Puddle (guess that silt is addictive). The only thing that might put me off is the timed swim...

As for the CBL - the way our instructor taught it was using the vic's BC (despite the manual saying the opposite is generally the way to do it). Dump all your own BC air, put your left arm under his, which will enable a Dry suit to dump if it's a collar dump, and use his BC inflator for initial lift and to control the ascent. That did seem easier to me, as I don't fancy going into orbit if I drop the vic!

Rescue course is like most courses - it's a start. It gives you tools and gets you thinking about the techniques etc, in generally easier conditions than you would have in a real rescue, or at least when you're expecting something, so that if it happens you don't freeze but can think through it. You need a mix of the course AND experience diving in different conditions, thinking about how you would use those tools in those conditions, to really get it down. But if something happens, wouldn't you rather have even not fully honed tools than none?

 

[flw]

Conor once bubbled...
I suppose there are two sides to my diving, my general holiday diving (hence basic Nitrox for the longer bottom times and to get Nitrox) and my more techncal aspirations.

I see your point about learning wrecking from more experienced people, I guess I just see the courses as a head start. Not living by the coast or having a dive Club, I guess I have to rely more on courses to gain skills and experience.

It is definitely worth getting to know a groups of like-minded divers ( not necessarily a club) and then spending time just diving with them, not taking courses. They are simply a starting point, but the money spent on the wreck courses could be better spent diving on more wrecks in different tidal conditions/depths etc.
The best learning is done by mentoring, although some things do really need a course of some sort as a base-line
Of course moving a bit closer to the sea would help!

 

[Conor]

Every one wants me to move, to London or the Sea ? Can't do both.

Mentoring would be ideal, but finding an experienced diver with the skills I want to learn, that is nearby and willing to dive with a relative bubble-muppet such as myself would be difficult. I have to agree with Clootie, courses are good to introduce the skills but practice and experience make them your own.

I like diving Wrecks and having done so in warm waters with no specialised tools etc. I would like to get into them (pun intended) in the UK, but I reckon some experience of line laying etc would be useful before starting.

On the subject of CBL I agree with the way you described. It allows you to use your right hand to hold the victims reg and the left to worrk the BC's and DS's as required. With the added benefit that should you become seperated the victim, makes their own way to the surface rather than sinking into the depths and you get the chace to recover your buoyancy and follow them up without the risk of a run away ascent.

 

[Phish-phood]

Conor I think you will find that if you are looking for an experienced buddy it would be a little easier than you think. Most divers I have come accross have invited me to dive with them and when I tell them I wouldn't impose my limited experience on them they just laugh and say you can only get more experience by diving with people more experienced than you and diving often

One of the reasons my boyfriend became an instructor is because in three years of diving he has never had any sort of incident other than one buddies burst O-ring on a wreck dive which they dealt with. This says a lot about the type of diver he is but it also means that rescue skills suffer because you are not using them, his idea was by becoming an instructor he would be using all these skills again while teaching students. Makes sense to me.

I guess I am lucky, I live a couple of hours from some of the best sea-diving and only 40 minutes from Dayhouse Quarry so whenever I can afford it or have the time I can get into the water, on top of that my two regular dive buddies are an instructor and a DM so I am getting the benefit of their experience. Feel free to PM me if you are ever stuck for a buddy or want to get in the water, because hopefully I will be getting wet a lot more often when courses are being run and if ever the three of us are diving together you are more than welcome to join us if you can make it.

 

[Belushi]

There is not one diver in the world who can do it all. It does not matter who you are, there is always someone who has done more dives, been deeper, taught more students, done more deco etc etc etc.

To gain experience you need to be sensible. An instructorial example.
I have not dived for two years. I have done a few thousand dives before that, in both extremely warm and extremely cold water.
I have lots of new kit (well, its a year old, but not been used)
I class myself as an experienced diver. So, I have a Friday off, and I choose to go diving in Stoney Cove. Nice controlled environment ... Nice and safe. I did two dives, each lasting an hour at 15-20 metres. Why?
Because I needed diving experience. My buddy was basically a gear carrier ... do I need a hood? did I need gloves, practicing the skills that I took for granted when I taught and dived everyday.

I read somewhere that an amateur practices until he gets it right, and a professional practices until he cannot get it wrong.

Join a dive shop club and talk to people. Talk to people about their opinions on dive gear, dive sites and dive techniques. Most things you will hear sound common sense, some things you hear will be complete B/S, but there will be a little nugget that you hear that you think "Holy Cow!!! how simple, why dont I do that?" then you will try it out and it will either work or it wont.

People are your best source of experience, and any diver who is just out for a dive, should not really mind if you beleive you are inexperienced, if you want to tag along.

One of my best teachers was not an instructor, but he was a very patient guy called John Irving. He and I used to buddy up on a Saturday deep dive, when I worked as a cox'n/DM in a LDS south of Chichester. He had a thousand dives, I had less than 100, but throughout the summer he gave me time to practice my deep diving skills until we managed to dive a very deep wreck off Brighton at the end of the summer that year. I learnt more from talking to him and listening to him talking to others than at any time since.

If you ever see me at a dive site (cant miss me, loud, obnoxious ... and "Belushi" on my dry-suit) say hello and we can chat and have a half of sherry-tops!! after the dive ... and yep, I will dive with you if you are short of a buddy