Big dissapointment failed my Last 2 OW dives.

[jbisjim]

Sounds like your attitude is right.

Don't give up

 

[STOGEY]

Hey David,

I'm a relatively new diver just like you. On my second boat dive, I was using rented equipment. The bc didn't have a hard back plate like the ones that I had when I took my course with. So when I jumped into the water from the boat, I felt the tank and so forth just swaying all around the place. Even though nothing was really wrong just that I wasn't use to the loose feeling of the tank moving around. I decided to call the dive, just because I wanted to make sure that my equipment was ok.


Not only that but we had just had the remnants of one of the hurricanes and the water and visivility wasn't too good. When we started to descend it only took us about ten feet to realize that the visibility was very bad. So we all ended up calling the dive.

Being with a good diving boat captain and crew they jsut took us to another spot. Securing my equipment a little better in preparation for the new spot, the dive went pretty good after that.

I did learn something though, its good to make sure that you are familiar with your equipment before I make a dive.

 

[Groundhog246]

I did learn something though, its good to make sure that you are familiar with your equipment before I make a dive.

Familiarity is one of the reasons for owning your own gear. If you don't own it, then certainly a good look over is important. Not all BC's have their exhaust valves in the same place and being able to reach one quickly could be critical.
When buying gear, everyone has their own order of importance. Most places you need to purchase Mask, fins, snorkel for your course, most around here require a weight belt too. After that, my recommendations (and reasons) are:
Exposure suit, usually a wet suit to start. Hardest to get a good fit, condition from rental and rentals get beat up quick, so often half the cost of a rented package is the suit, so fastest return on your dollar.
Next, Regs. Your life depends on them providing air and they do not take abuse well (dragging through sand, not rinsing properly, banging them around). If you own your own, you know their history and how they've been treated. Do try and dive several makes/models before buying though. Most regs out there are OK, but you may find some you don't like. I had one that directed the incoming air at the back of my throat and cuased a gag reflex. Dove em twice, they breath GREAT, but not for me. My son OTOH loves them, especially as they have a very compact 2nd stage. Other things are where the exhaust valve is, path of the exhaust bubbles might be in yor field of view and annoy. You may not like the purge, too small and hard to find (cold water issue especially with heavy gloves) or too large and inclined to flow facing inot a current.
Then BCD. And as you noted, there are differences. AHrd packs, soft packs, one cam band or two. Weight integrated or not, jacket or back inflate, or maybe BP/wing (they're not just for tech diving anymore).
Along the way you'll pick up tools and gadgets you won't want to be without. You'll certainly want at least one good dive knife. Lights (night diving is a whole new adventure), safety sausage, whistle or horn, your own dive flag/float, maybe a reel.
You might want a dive computer (and you might buy it with your regs if you want an air integrated). Here again a wide variety. Different sizes, console mount, wrist mount, hoseless, more/less conservative, larger/smaller numbers (how good's your eyesight), backlight. Some you can change the battery yourself (with an easily available battery), others you have to send to the manufacturer. Before you spend $$, talk to other divers, see what they're using, why, what they like about it, what they dis-like.
Generally the last thing to buy is tanks. Tank rentals are usually pretty cheap. You have to go to the LDS for fills anyway and some shops it's leave them and pick them up in a day or two, so you're not even avoiding an extra trip to the LDS. If you take a dive trip, you can't fly with your tanks, so you'll have rentals there. Add in the cost of annual Visual inspections, hydro every five years, you have to dive a lot, to save money buying tanks. On the other hand, owning your own, they're filled and waiting in the garage, you can do those last minute dives when the LDS is closed.

 

[yknot]

The smart call is to not dive and it is also a good idea to see your doctor. Don't assume that your ear is only suffering some swelling. A ruptured ear drum may not be as traumatic when it happens as you think it should be- the water in the ear feeling is an indication, at least to me, that there may be other problems. Also, don't use those swimmers ear products. They are largely alcohol, which is what "drys" your ear canal. Ask your doc for a prescription med for ears or do a search for some of the homemade ear beer remedies I've seen posted in the past. As you are likely going to be mostly quarry diving, at least in Ohio, the PH balance in your ears may be critical due to the alkaline nature of limestone. One good ear infection will be enough reason to become a believer. If your injury is a rupture, expect to be out of the water for at least six weeks.

 

[STOGEY]

To Groundhog,

I recently finished the basic purchase of all my equipment that I'll need for a while. Tht is from exposure suit to tanks. I thought that I'd wait on the tanks, but one day while qaiting to go on a boat dive. I had to wait at the dive shop for two hours to rent tanks. that was because they were being used for certification dives. So I decided to get at least two tanks. I could have very easily mised the boat on that one.

Just after I bought my octo and computer living in New England mother nature decided to give us a couple of sea storms. So I haven't had a chance of testing out the octo and computer yet. To me that is like having a beautiful girl with you and finding out that she likes other women and no men. Oh well!

 

[was_one]

Diving in cold water is a shock. I assume you were wearing a hood. Some new divers have a problem usung one. If you are having to use a hood and you can' tequalize as quickly or as eazily as you like try letting some water in your hood as you leave the surface. Some times the water pressure in the hood keeps water from getting to your ears and you develope a squeeze. Letting water into your hood underwater lets the water in your ears flow more freely. As for using a decongestant when diving , it is not a good practice to get into. It is done frequently by many divers, but at depth if the drugs were off you can also get a reverse block not letting the pressure out of the sinuses, it can be very painful. You did the right thing and hope your diving goes well in the

 

[pete340]

Anyone else experience this?

Here's a somewhat different perspective:

I did AOW right after my 4 OW qualifying dives. Did it on a liveaboard -- 4 dives the first day, and by the end of the day my ears felt a little strange, a bit plugged up and noisy. Woke up at 7:00 the next morning, with the AOW deep dive scheduled for 7:30. My ears were much worse. I lay on the bunk for a while trying to figure out whether it was real or psychosomatic. Decided it was real, told the instructor I couldn't do the dive. He encouraged me to try it and see how it went, because "sometimes these things go away when you get in the water." I got my gear on, and as I started down the ladder to the dive platform my ears cleared. Dove to 90 feet, no problem. And no ear problems since then. Go figure.

 

[al1]

You did the right thing. There is always another day to finish your OW dives. I made a dive once with bad ears and managed to get down. But when it was time to ascend I had a bit of a problem. I ended up stretching both my ear drums, but thankfully I didn't burst them.

 

[molksmith]

You can always do your dives again, you really don't need major ear problems.
I was on a live aboard and I had that gotta get all the dives I can thing and you know what? that was stupid. I ended up with minor barotrauma that took 6 weeks for my tubes to drain. 4 Dives a day in my opinion is too much. There is even an argument that 3 maybe too much. I had cotton ears, all muffled, and I was okay to dive but it kept getting worse and then I started gettin vertigo on my last dives.
Spooky Feeling underwater.
You may have failed your last dives but you passed in the most important test. IF you have a feeling, follow it. Otherwise as you get more experienced you could get in some serious trouble ie...Technical Diving. You did great. Don't worry you'll get the other dives. You don't want to screw around with your brain or anything close to it. Bad things can happen. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. It really is an amazing machine and it warns you.