C2 next Month with ZG in Mexico

[gxsr_sarge]

Hello All,

Any advice (training, preparation or otherwise) for me and my team before taking C2 w/ Chris next month? We took C1 with Mark Messersmith together last May and are all T1 as well. We also just got back from H/S (Ginnie, really) doing 20+ C1 training/fun dives. As a team, we feel pretty solid.

In particular, is there anything that caught anyone by "surprise" or any area where anyone felt unprepared during C2?

Thanks!

 

[TSandM]

I would highly advise getting in open water and running a line, and practicing lights-out air-sharing exits on a line, INCLUDING moving the team across the line. It was my experience that we were expected to have those skills well polished before starting C2, and as I'm sure you know, careful divers never have to practice them in a cave Having done almost 100 uneventful cave dives in the year plus between C1 and C2, I was not really up to speed on those things, and our classmate who got cave certified in 2001 was even rustier.

In addition, if you haven't spent any time carrying a stage and a deco bottle, I'd recommend doing that, and practicing putting them both down and then picking up, first the stage and then the deco bottle. I'd carried one bottle enough to be comfortable with it, but the second one made things more complicated, and we had no opportunity to practice and no real instruction on how to make it easier (although, with the instructors in MX, that might be different).

And finally, optimize your fitness. That was one of the big challenges of C2 for me. It's a lot of swimming (although thank God, in MX, not against strong flow).

Have fun with the class -- I hope you have scheduled some time after it to do some C2 dives there. The world off the mainline is amazing!

 

[gxsr_sarge]

Thank you very much - that's super helpful!

We still have some time to practice some of those drills. I've only carried either an 80 stage or a 40 deco bottle at one time. But never both. Great suggestion.

Also, I have been doing a bit of cardio and strength training in anticipation of the class. I can only imagine all that swimming....

I'm trying to stay for a few extra days but it's hard enough for me to be able to take the week off in the first place. Luckily, Mexico is only a 1 1/2 hour flight from Miami and Cave County is a five hour drive.

 

[PfcAJ]

Don't just practice carrying them, drop them (on the line) and pick them up. Be able to pick up a bottle while wearing one and put it on the inside or the outside of the one your wearing.

Valve shutdowns need to be smooth, with good communication, and your s drills should be perfect. Work on getting your spool(s) and cookies/arrows out of your pocket with the stage bottle on. Something that I found works well is to push the bottle down so its under my thigh, allowing unimpeded access to the pocket.

For a heavy (nitrox) stage, take the tail clip and do one pass through the stage rigging to keep it up tight. Be sure not to pass the tail clip through the loop formed by the reg hose, and remember, if you aren't breathing it, its stowed and turned off. I cannot emphasize the importance of this enough.

 

[gxsr_sarge]

Don't just practice carrying them, drop them (on the line) and pick them up. Be able to pick up a bottle while wearing one and put it on the inside or the outside of the one your wearing.

For a heavy (nitrox) stage, take the tail clip and do one pass through the stage rigging to keep it up tight. Be sure not to pass the tail clip through the loop formed by the reg hose, and remember, if you aren't breathing it, its stowed and turned off. I cannot emphasize the importance of this enough.

When you say "drop them on the line" - do you mean clip them?

Great suggestion on the rigging.

 

[crd_kats]

Have FUN!!!!!!!


and I'm sorry I can't be there too :sad:

.

 

[nadwidny]

I never found any surprises doing C2 with Chris. I thought the course was easier physically and mentally than C1 in that you only do 2 dives a day instead of 4 and besides hauling a stage and a deco, there really are no new skills to learn.

The big challenge for me was remembering team order when things go south. Since "scenarios" only happen on the exit and the exit is much longer than C1, there is much more time for more things to go wrong. So for me the hardest part was remembering how to order the team with various failures (eg who leads when there is one guy with no gas, when the team is down to it's last light, another has only one post, etc...).

As long as you have the basics down (and I'm assuming you do with T1 and C1 already) I think you'll find C2 to be a more enjoyable class. Be assured that Chris will test you to your max but as far as skills go I can't remember thinking "Gee I wish I practised this more" at any time during the week. Maybe hand signals on the line.

 

[rjack321]

Practice your s-drills in rediculously shallow water. They should be plus minus 6" of bouyancy in 4-6ft of water. Keep doing them further and further apart until you are up to 10-12ft between buddies. Practice slowing your momentum with a backkick at the very end so you aren't crashing into each other.

As mentioned, tighten up the leashes in your stage bottles by wrapping the lower clip through the fuel hose, then access your SPG and un-clip & drop clip off the stage to a line to get used to the tight bottles.

Get your reel work down but be SLOW SLOW. Slow reel work is not really faulted in MX but rushing half arsed tie-offs and overall sloppiness will get you a finger wagging. Same with accessing your pocket for cookies. You should look like a pro with the reel in these friendly no-flow systems.

Get fit for the swimming, the systems are shallow and you can potentially swim over a mile a day.

Research how cookies are used to mark < < > arrow situations and similar bizarre line symbology online e.g. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/4471511-post2.html and be prepared to discuss this with your instructor until you understand it completely. Navigation in MX is 100x more complicated than in FL and mental laziness will bite you in the butt big time down there (in class and afterwards).

Failures-wise there's very little in C2 that wasn't covered in C1. Its just further back and there's more time for more to go wrong.

 

[lamont]

You need to make sure to mix up some 33% isopropyl alcohol, 33% hydrogen peroxide, 33% vinegar solution for your ears.

Also, i found the days to be very long -- moreso than C1 -- and i was getting back to PA after the shops closed, so i couldn't figure out where to shop for food. Getting food and drink really sorted out for the whole week, and/or identifying someplace open late would be useful (maybe less so if you're staying at an all-in-one place like the catalonia).

Remember to get rid of your light before doing stage bottle work.

Remember that you've got a compass that can help you find the line.

If you've got two light failures, the big light goes in the back, while if you've got two valve failures, the big gas goes in the middle.

I posted a little core dump of notes of everything that I could recall about gas-sharing positions over on the GUE forums right after the course...

 

[gxsr_sarge]

Thank you all for your suggestions! They are all very helpful.

Lamont, I did read your October post (congrats by the way!). Team order is always a challenge, especially in a "class situation". Good tips. I will also most definately take care of my ears. I tend to have the same issue after mutliple dives over a week.

rjack321, does GUE teach the whole "< > X O O" thing during C2? I didn't see that in the C2 class material deck? Also, I really couldn't follow the substance about place/negating, etc in your link. Is there any source where I could read up on it a bit more?

Thanks