Ascent Question

[bushcat]

Thank you for all of your replies which ultimately will lead to me being a better diver.
What I am taking from this is I am in control of my bouyancy and tough luck if you have to wait those little buttons are mine!

 

[bushcat]

You should never need to add air to the BCD to begin an ascent.

Many instructors inadvertently teach students to do this, though. They do pool skill sessions on the knees, heavily weighted, with empty BCDs. Then they finish the dive and go to the surface. Yes, the students must add air to the BCD, but that should be wrong, wrong, wrong in real diving.

One of the first rules of instruction in any skill area is never have students do something in practice that they do not do in the game (or whatever).

Hi

This exactly and the problem with me is my autistic mind then transferred this to the open water! Hence the need for my posting to seek validation from other experienced divers.

Thanks Again

 

[Belzelbub]

No I was talking about when descending in order to regain neutral buoyancy, I have to add air to my BC, an inhale won’t work.

That might be normal during descent. Usually, when wearing a wetsuit, it's toughest to descend at the start of the dive. So as you descend, you will probably need to add air to the BC in order to slow your descent. Depends a lot of the wetsuit and weighting. You definitely don't want to crash into the bottom, so slowing the descent by adding air is the best way to do that.

so for example when i get to about 15 feet i have to put air in my BC to be neutrally buoyant, or i start sinking pretty fast. i think it's because of the wetsuit compression. i will try to inhale, hold it, and nothing changes.

Sinking pretty fast sounds like you might have too much weight, but maybe not. You live further north than I do, so I'm sure thicker wetsuits lose more buoyancy than what I typically use. You should start out with just enough air in your BC that allows you to descend, then add as you go to keep a reasonable descent rate.

When at diving depth, neutral buoyancy should be established. From that point, ascent should be able to be initiated by taking a larger breath.

Thank you for all of your replies which ultimately will lead to me being a better diver.
What I am taking from this is I am in control of my bouyancy and tough luck if you have to wait those little buttons are mine!

Yes indeed. That is true in all aspects of diving (except the 500 psi in your tank). You are solely responsible for conducting a dive safely and within your comfort zone. Not your buddy, not a DM. Instructor-student situation is a little different as the student should be learning, but even then the student is still responsible for themselves.

 

[crofrog]

During your class were you ever instructed to kneel on the bottom or a platform in either open water or the pool?

 

[bushcat]

During your class were you ever instructed to kneel on the bottom or a platform in either open water or the pool?

Yes almost all skills were performed from a kneeling position with an empty BCD.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

so for example when i get to about 15 feet i have to put air in my BC to be neutrally buoyant, or i start sinking pretty fast. i think it's because of the wetsuit compression. i will try to inhale, hold it, and nothing changes.
once i'm at a constant depth, i usually don't have buoyancy issues and can just inhale to ascend
(i might be confused)

It’s normal to add air while descending, after breaking from the surface. It’s suit compression, but the air in your BC/wing is being compressed even more so.

I maintain neutral buoyancy throughout the dive, even at the beginning of and during the ascent. I don’t add air to start the ascent. If you’re already neutral on the bottom, it’s very easy to start going up without adding air - air that you would just immediately have to vent anyway.

Once I have begun the ascent, I periodically vent to maintain neutral buoyancy on the way up. (It’s best to always be close to neutral to control your position in the water for deco or safety stops.)

During the descent, after leaving the surface, I add a shot of air every time I have to clear my ears. I find this keeps me very close to neutral all the way down. I descend by swimming down, not sky diving down by dumping all the air. Then, since I’m very close to neutral arriving at the bottom, I can level off without crashing into the bottom and kicking up a bunch of silt.

 

[inquis]

I can level off without crashing into the bottom and kicking up a bunch of silt.

I've seen some spectacular lawn darts. Many don't realize the transition from skydive to neutral when deep takes far longer than what they're used to at shallow depths.

 

[boulderjohn]

Yes almost all skills were performed from a kneeling position with an empty BCD.

I'm so sorry. You deserved better. Every student does.

 

[steinbil]

Hi

This exactly and the problem with me is my autistic mind then transferred this to the open water! Hence the need for my posting to seek validation from other experienced divers.

Thanks Again

The problem does not lie with you. Unfortunately it seems like your instructor is teaching bad habits, possibly because that's how they were trained or because of time constraints/pressure to quickly get new divers certified to make money selling gear.

Diving with 40lbs of lead sounds insane to me, and might very well be unsafe, especially in open water. Overweighting new divers instead of teaching them buoyancy, breath control (and not finning constantly) is another shortcut. For reference, I dive in cold water with a drysuit and very chunky undergarments (adding a lot of buoyancy), and I use around 20lbs of weight in total (including 5lbs backplate, 9lbs v-weigth, 6lbs weight belt). My steel double 12L tanks filled to 200bars are around 8lbs negative at the start of the dive.

If you have the chance, find an instructor that will teach you how to be neutrally buoyant at all times. I took my OW last year and have never knelt on the bottom of any pool or in the water, my instructor taught me every single skill while lying horizontal in the water, in trim and neutrally buoyant. Not because I'm all that, that's just what I learned from the beginning, from a good instructor. I have had good experiences with GUE instructors, but I'm sure you can also find good instructors from other agencies. Ask around.

And if you end up getting certified with your current instructor, please try to find other good divers to help/mentor you and look into taking more classes with a different instructor. Diving is a lot more fun when you feel comfortable, confident and capable under water.

 

[crofrog]

Yes almost all skills were performed from a kneeling position with an empty BCD.

It’s disappointing that your class is still being taught like that considering it’s 2022. I’d find an instructor locally that’ll teach you neutrally buoyant and in trim, or any GUE instructor.