basic questions about dive safety & padi test

[born2travel]

Hi everyone,

I am highly considering taking up scuba diving. I'll be doing most of my diving off the coast of Southern California. I just have several questions.

1. If I dive in areas less than 40 feet, what are the chances that I will experience "the bends."

2. How often do weights fall off divers?

3. While on an OW dive with an insturctor, what are the skills I will be required to show?

4. Overall, how safe is diving? What is the likelihood that I'll experience problems while below the water?

I realize, I sound pretty ignorant, but these are some questions I need answered before I start the process of looking for a school. Thanks for your help!

Cheers,

Bryan

 

[double125's]

1) less than 40 ft you can stay down for close to 2 hours without exceeding your no decompression limit. Your ndl is sorta like guessing if you will get the bends. all decompression limits are theory and can change based on individul profiles. this is something that will be covered in depth in your class. The bigger risk in shallow water is overexpansion injuries.
2) havent heard to much about weights falling off although I am sure it happens.
3)some skills will be bouancy control, mask clearing, emergency ascents, buddy breathing and u/w navigation
4)that is a personal question you will get many different answers to.If you dive within your limits use quality equipment and are comfortable in the water the risks are minimal. During your class you will cover several problem scenariois and how to handle them.

You came to the right place to get answers, you should get a lot of replies from veteran divers who will give a lot of good pointers. dont be intimidated and feel free to ask lots of questions.

when looking at dive shops for classes be sure to grill the instructor on the contents of his course. Dont try and take the easiest way out. If you did end up in an emergency situation you want to make sure you know how to handle it. If you took a class from someone basically handing you a c card as you hand him the money you will regret it if your life ever depends on it.

welcome to the world of scuba and to scubaboard. let us know when you get certified and how your instruction went.

 

[-=>Larry<=-]

In general, I agree with 2X125. - But - add

3) Regulator recovery & clearing, variations on normal ascent & descent techniques including safety stop of 3' at 15 feet. Depending on instructor & agency there are a number of optional skills including equipment removal and replace at the surface and at depth - adjusting to fit well.

2) Weights do fall off - it's dealt with in class! - as you gain experience it's markedly less likely though [operator error!]

4) Safety: the statistics are markedly towards safe - but nobody should ever dive like they consider it safe! - Go to DAN [I believe its WWW.DAN.org ] for an eyefull of health& safety related information - and to learn about one of the better organizations on our side!

Welcome!

 

[CuriousMe]

-=&gt;Larry&lt;=- once bubbled...

4) Safety: the statistics are markedly towards safe - but nobody should ever dive like they consider it safe! - Go to DAN [I believe its WWW.DAN.org ] for an eyefull of health& safety related information - and to learn about one of the better organizations on our side!

Welcome!

Here's the site

http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/

Peace,
Cathie

 

[scuba-punk]

I'm not an instructor, so this is only MHO...

1) Chances for the bends is smaller at that depth, but as you will learn (or at least should learn), the pressure change from that depth to the surface has a higher risk of embolising you if you hold your breath (which you never, ever do of course) and surface.

2) Weights do fall off, but again, this risk can be mitigated by not overloading your weight system. Taking care of your weighting system is also a good thing.

3) Basically show proficiency and comfort in the water. This is demonstrated with skill such as mask clearing, mask remove and replacement, buoyancy compensator and weight belt removal and replacement, both underwater and on the surface, air sharing techniques, etc. PADI has about a dozen and a half skills.

4) Diving is fairly safe, but you also need to keep in mind that you are underwater. You can't breath water and do well... Practice, Practice, Practice - Learn More - Practice, Practice, Practice - Learn More, etc.

-Frank

 

[Padipro]

The answers that the others have given to the first 3 questions are very good so I'll only respond to the 4th.

Dan did a comparison several years ago of sports related Emergency Room visits. I used this information while teaching to give my students a way to relate the safty of diving to other sports. Of course, contact sports, such as football, were at the top of the list as the sports with the most injuries. Near the bottom of the list were tennis, swimming, and diving in that order. According to DAN you were more likely to be injured and require a visit to the ER while playing tennis or swimming in your own backyard pool then you were while SCUBA diving. Provided of course you follow the rules and dive safe.

Just my 2 cents.

Scott

 

[-=>Larry<=-]

CuriousMe once bubbled...


Here's the site

http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/

Peace,
Cathie

I found it too, late last night - but then lost track of the thread to correct myself!!

Excellent Analogy Scott! - I think I'll save & use that myself!

 

[Pimbura]

Excellent questions! I have been diving for over 35 years and it amazes me how many people never think to ask questions first. These fine folks have posted some excellent answers. I would only try to add one little thing. I never think about diving safety. Principally because safety is the result of making good choices up front and developing good habits. I dive just north of you (Puget Sound) and the water is currently 41 degrees. Last two dives I have made, my 'buddy' ran out of air below 100 feet (at night Different guy for each dive). I brought them up on my tank and both times, two healthy people walked up the beach. They weren't 'unsafe' because they didn't think about safety. They were in trouble because they had bad habits (not checking their air), and they made poor decisions up front (one had a partially filled tank and decided to dive with it anyway). I think that the other guy had just never bothered to learn gas management. Part of it is training, and part is taking the time to think things through before jumping in the water. It's really not that tough. You can learn to dive if you want to and if you pay attention, ask questions, and think things through, you will be a safe diver. Diving is pretty easy, so long as you gain wisdom with time, and not assume that an air-integrated computer will do your gas management for you. For that matter, no piece of equipment will do your job for you. You can't buy safety and you can't buy experience. Just my two cents worth. Bill.

 

[Stingray81888]

You should TAKE UP DIVING! As long as you dive safe and in your limits.
So far i think the sport has been very safe. The skills you need to do in front of the instructor are mask removal and clearing, regulator recovery, bouyancy control, buddy breathing, weight removal and putting back on(surface and underwater), BCD removal, and some others. For PADI, you need to be able to swim 200 yards continuously and tread water for 10 minutes as a test. The only time I heard of weights falling off are the integrated BC weights that are velcro types after they have been used a lot.

I think Southern California is the best place to dive because of the ocean is not always perfectly flat like in the Cayman Islands or something. This is my opinion because i live in South Ca.

 

[MikeS]

1. Proper dive training will teach you what causes the bends and a few basic rules to follow to prevent it. If you follow the basic rules, the chances of getting the bends are statistically insignificant.

2. Proper dive training will teach you how to properly wear weights so that the only reason they come off is if you (or someone else), takes them off. It is possible to accidentally release them or to have them fall off because of ill fitting, improperly attached, or poorly maintained equipment. Additionally, the training will teach you how to but the weights back on should they accidentally come off.

3. Keep in mind that with a good instructor the skills are not a “test;” you cannot fail, you simply keep working on each of the skills till you demonstrate that you can correctly perform them. The skills you must demonstrate include how to properly set up your equipment, dive procedures such as ascending and descending, and how to safely deal with problems such as a mask or weight belt falling off.

4. Diving is like driving a car and your dive training is like driver’s education. In your dive training, you’ll learn how you can be injured diving and a few basic rules to stay safe. How safe you’ll be diving depends on if you follow the rules and pay attention to what you’re doing. Statistically, diving is safer than playing softball, but if you ignore the rules and/or push the limits, you can injure yourself.

It is almost a certainty that at some point while diving you’ll experience a problem below the water. Dive training and then practice prepares you for these problems by teaching you how to deal with these problems in a calm and confident manor.

Before you sign up for any class, talk to the instructor and ask him these questions. If you’re not comfortable with their answers, find a different instructor.

Good luck,
Mike