Yes. I am working on getting a Tech DPV class scheduled for myself. I think
@DA Aquamaster probably taught me everything I need to know on Saturday. But, I'd still like to do a formal class to make sure there is not anything else that I need to know.
Also, I watched that same GUE video last week. I even tried that maneuver of turning it and putting it nose-up between my thighs the other day. I think I just need to practice that some more now that I'm more comfortable driving the thing and have the tow cord setup better. When I tried it, frog kicking and back kicking did not immediately feel natural. But, I only did it for a few seconds.
We covered some of the basic open water DOV skills, but there are some more open water skills to cover, and there's a LOT more to learn in terms of technical and cave DPV use. Published standards vary, but a tech or cave DPV course should be no less than two dives per day for a minimum of three days and four or five is better.
It helps if you can drive the scooter proficiently before you arrive, but IMHO, a good technical or cave DPV course should include:
Basic Pre-dive skills and academics
- Dive planning including gas planning and management, battery planning and management, and deco and contingency planning. (This is arguably the most important portion of the class)
- Suitable DPV conditions
- Suitable versus non suitable passages
- DPV etiquette
- DPV impact and environmental considerations (You'll all too often see evidence of divers failing to minimize DPV impact in caves, by scootering either in areas where they should not, or in areas that demand more skill than they possess)
- Proper DPV rigging (you'll find some common aspects as well as some variation by both instructor and DPV)
- Pre-dive DPV checks (varies by DPV)
Basic dives skills while operating a DPV:
- Buoyancy and trim using a DPV
- Monitoring the SPG and dive computer, and as appropriate, monitoring PPO2, regulator switching, etc
- Using a primary light while operating a DPV, including light signals while operating a DPV
- Dropping, securing and retrieving a DPV
- Line following and team order and position with a DPV
- Maintaining team integrity with a DPV
- Placing and retrieving primary and jump lines with a DPV (Unfortunately it's common to see cave DPV divers not using continuous guide lines or markers, and it has resulted in fatalities)
- Zero visibility techniques, including clipping off and retrieving a DPV in zero visibility
- Carrying, managing, using, and placing staged gas or bailout gas using a DPV
- Entanglement avoidance
- Collision avoidance
Managing DPV malfunctions and failures:
- Managing a run away DPV (some skills asre standard, and others vary by DPV)
- Towing a second diver with and without the disabled DPV in tow (and knowing when to just leave a dead DPV so you live to retrieve it another day)
- Managing light failures with a DPV
- Addressing entanglement and propeller entanglement issues with a DPV (varies a bit by DPV).
- Team separation
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In the past, it was common for cave divers to just start using a DPV in a cave after about 100 full cave dives, with or without mentorship and absent a formal cave DPV class. That's changing, in part due to cave DPV fatalities due to mistakes ranging from lack of use of markers and continuous line to poor gas planning, to poor placement of staged gas.