Canister light management

[TSandM]

You CAN actually do anything you need to do with the Goodman handle on your left hand. It's just more awkward. I taught myself to thumb the light on the right hand for everything, and in my recent class with AG, he made me unlearn it so that I could do everything with the light. I think it's probably good to be able to do it either way.

 

[tceylan]

Sorry but this really gets me... Why are people practicing stuff that's supposed to be taught in the class!!! If you know how to do these things why bother with the class then???

If you expect an inexperienced diver to learn all this from a 3 day class, you are mistaken... DIRF assumes that the student is familiar and capable of some skills.
Ideally, it would be perfect to log 20-30 dives between every DIRF training dive and build on the new skills.

I'm in the middle of DIRF training but I just got my canister light. But why shouldn't I learn the right way to use canister light before the rest of training dives, so that I don't have to unlearn things, so that I can focus on other skills?

And if I'm doing anything wrong, my instructor will teach me the right way...

 

[MonkSeal]

DIRF assumes that the student is familiar and capable of some skills.

No it does not. It assumes that you have good bouyancy and trim control and the ability to maintain these while task loaded. Before DIR-F I had some idea (very blurred) about required skills, I didn't know how to back-kick, and my helicopter turns were pretty poor. On the last day everything was more or less clear and I was able to perform all drills including back-kick (poor but functional in certain level) and received full pass. All of these would be impossible without first two prerequisites: bouyancy and trim.

How does this work during an S-drill (or maskless ascent) when the donor is helping the OOA diver, holding his arm with right hand for example. Looks like this will be an issue if the donor wanted to check his SPG while his right hand is busy holding his budy. Say, the team is swimming towards the exit line or ascending together...

I guess I could clip the light off, but this sounds like a bad idea to me everytime I need to dump air or check SPG.

The light should be moved to temporary position - right hand - still holding OOG diver's arm and Goodman handle with thumb (it's easier to show then to describe). I guess that waving with light in left hand when reaching SPG or dumping air is not recommnded especially in cave environment.

 

[tceylan]

No it does not. It assumes that you have good bouyancy and trim control and the ability to maintain these while task loaded. Before DIR-F I had some idea (very blurred) about required skills, I didn't know how to back-kick, and my helicopter turns were pretty poor. On the last day everything was more or less clear and I was able to perform all drills including back-kick (poor but functional in certain level) and received full pass. All of these would be impossible without first two prerequisites: bouyancy and trim.

Sounds like you were familiar and/or capable of some skills (helicopter turn?). My instructor told me that we were expected to have some familiarity/exposure to kick techniques for example. OW divers should have been thought some of these.
I do agree... At least the DIRF class I am taking expects some previous exposure/familiarity with some skills.

I'm not saying you will fail if you are not familiar with the skills, but personally I want to focus on other important skills than being able to frog kick during the rest of the class. It's a very short class and I want to use that precious time to get the most out of the instructor.

 

[shellbackdiver1]

I asked the same question in an email to my fundies instructor about practicing skills before the class. Here is a cut and paste of the email "If there is any advise you can give us prior to the class please do so. Is there some skills that you recommend for us to practice?"

The instructor response was this "The idea of the Fundamentals class is to give you the tools to be able to practice the right skills. As much as I would like to say go and practice different kicks and skills, I think it would be best if we discuss that when I arrive."

So there ya go.

 

[MonkSeal]

Sounds like you were familiar and/or capable of some skills (helicopter turn?).

My frog-kick and modified frog were good. My helicopter turn was bad (using only one leg), so I first had to unlearn this and then to learn proper way. The rest of skills I was familiar with from watching video clips - you can judge how much you can learn this way.

If you don't have required level of bouyancy control and proper trim, your class will end-up trying to reach it. You'll be shown everything but you won't be able to repeat it while task loaded within definied boundaries if these two requirements are not satisfied. Don't bother yourself with the exact sequence of particular drills - you'll be shown and you'll learn it.

 

[TSandM]

My Fundies instructor certainly did not appear to expect us to know the kicks, as we spent significant time working on them, on land and in the water. And you're not even required to have a back kick or a helicopter turn to get a rec pass, just to demonstrate three non-silting kicks.

I would agree, though, that having good buoyancy control and basically good trim will make the class a lot more pleasant and productive. I still think practicing the basic 5 is a really good way to prepare for Fundies. If you can do them while hovering quietly and not kicking yourself all over creation, you've got a reasonable platform to add the other skills to.

 

[DIR-Atlanta]

And if I'm doing anything wrong, my instructor will teach me the right way...

The risk you run with this is that you will develop muscle memory for doing things the wrong way, and then you will have to unlearn that in the class. Unlearning bad technique is almost always harder than learning good technique to start with, so I would go easy on the pre-course practice. As several folks have mentioned, the best things to work on are buoyancy and trim. The ability to hold a stable position in the water column while performing skills (mask clearing, etc), will be much more valuable to you in a DIR-F course than knowing all the different kicks.

At least the DIRF class I am taking expects some previous exposure/familiarity with some skills.

You should obviously follow the instructions given by your instructor for your class. Just be careful that you are not over-interpreting what he or she wants you to do. It may be that they do not want you to work so much in mechanics, as on your comfort level with some of the skills (mask clearing for example, which is something that a lot of people do not routinely practice). If you need to, double-check with the instructor to be sure you are concentrating on the right things before the course.

 

[tceylan]

Thanks everybody.

I'm certainly not trying to learn things before the DIRF class. I sounded like very focused on the DIRF class and practicing the skills before the class, but I'm not concerned about passing/failing the class or knowing all the skills before the class at all.

I'm done with classroom work and 1 training dive. Basically, I formally know how to do the basic-5. But I was thought this without a canister light.

Since I dive regularly and I am using this new equipment now. I should be able to perform basic-5 with it. It's a safety concern. That's all...