Frog Dude
Registered
The most important component in diving, and the least trained, resides between your ears.
We all have dives that stand out in our mind. Some enjoyable, some less than enjoyable.
The important thing is that we REMEMBERED them. Simply by closing your eyes you can be transported back to the Wall at Eleuthera or gliding through Grand Canyon like coral formations in the East China Sea.
Open your eyes and your back at your desk. No gear to clean or tanks to fill.
Take this a step further. Think about practicing buoyancy control, an air share, or free assent. You have done this in the pool and maybe in open water, you remember how to. Take the time to remember it. As far as the brain is concerned whether your wet or not, your doing it. Try to imagine the worst possible equipment failure and think about how you would address it. If you freak out, just open your eyes, then start over and KNOW that that this something you need to work on. As you advance sit in your chair at home with your BC on and close you eyes. Learn where everything, dump valve, power inflator, pockets and straps are. Practice until you can reach for them instantly with out looking. The same goes when you add new piece of gear. Learn where it is without looking.
I admit a bit of an advantage here. I have a pool in the back. Any new gear, even if it is a new backup mask I will spend time in the pool with it. Not focusing on the mask but sweeping the bottom or looking around. If there will be a problem with the mask I will find it there.
The bottom line is that you will develop recognition patterns in your brain on the skills that you have worked on. If you have practiced OOA mentally it wont be a shock when it happens during a real dive. Been there, remember!!! Follow through with the procedure that will expose you to the least risk. Air share or free assent.
I have been OOA at depth, having practiced these drills I responded by doing a free assent 1 ATA where I had enough air for a few breaths and find the anchor line. I continued up to 10 feet where I had enough air to cook off for 2 minutes than surface. There was enough air to puff up the BC and backstroke to the stern and board the boat.
No big deal, but in retrospect, it shouldnt have happened in the first place. I dont bounce dive anymore.
Most all of the issues that I have seen on this board, excluding physical conditions can be resolved by these simple and no-cost drills.
Frog Dude
Experience is a wonderful thing.
It allows you to recognize a mistake before you make it again.
We all have dives that stand out in our mind. Some enjoyable, some less than enjoyable.
The important thing is that we REMEMBERED them. Simply by closing your eyes you can be transported back to the Wall at Eleuthera or gliding through Grand Canyon like coral formations in the East China Sea.
Open your eyes and your back at your desk. No gear to clean or tanks to fill.
Take this a step further. Think about practicing buoyancy control, an air share, or free assent. You have done this in the pool and maybe in open water, you remember how to. Take the time to remember it. As far as the brain is concerned whether your wet or not, your doing it. Try to imagine the worst possible equipment failure and think about how you would address it. If you freak out, just open your eyes, then start over and KNOW that that this something you need to work on. As you advance sit in your chair at home with your BC on and close you eyes. Learn where everything, dump valve, power inflator, pockets and straps are. Practice until you can reach for them instantly with out looking. The same goes when you add new piece of gear. Learn where it is without looking.
I admit a bit of an advantage here. I have a pool in the back. Any new gear, even if it is a new backup mask I will spend time in the pool with it. Not focusing on the mask but sweeping the bottom or looking around. If there will be a problem with the mask I will find it there.
The bottom line is that you will develop recognition patterns in your brain on the skills that you have worked on. If you have practiced OOA mentally it wont be a shock when it happens during a real dive. Been there, remember!!! Follow through with the procedure that will expose you to the least risk. Air share or free assent.
I have been OOA at depth, having practiced these drills I responded by doing a free assent 1 ATA where I had enough air for a few breaths and find the anchor line. I continued up to 10 feet where I had enough air to cook off for 2 minutes than surface. There was enough air to puff up the BC and backstroke to the stern and board the boat.
No big deal, but in retrospect, it shouldnt have happened in the first place. I dont bounce dive anymore.
Most all of the issues that I have seen on this board, excluding physical conditions can be resolved by these simple and no-cost drills.
Frog Dude
Experience is a wonderful thing.
It allows you to recognize a mistake before you make it again.
