Cave class report

[Ryan Neely]

It is typically driven by the student. Most people have jobs with limited funding and time off. They want to get as much training done in that amount of time as possible. This is especially true if the training includes traveling somewhere.

I hadn't thought about that. That's a great point. Thanks!

 

[kensuf]

It is typically driven by the student. Most people have jobs with limited funding and time off. They want to get as much training done in that amount of time as possible. This is especially true if the training includes traveling somewhere.

However, there is a benefit to having multiple days back to back to really develop the skills. Imagine taking a rebreather course one day every two weeks, the person may have forgotten most of what they learned two weeks prior.

I think the sweet spot is somewhere between four and five days, depending on the course and material. More than that and people start getting fatigued physically and mentally, less than that and they may not develop at all. If the course is six+ days long, a one day break in the middle makes some sense.

 

[Marie13]

My CCR class was two Sundays in a row and then two full weekends. I liked we had breaks. Our scheduling is probably not the norm. Instructor has a full time job doing something else and only teaches on weekends, but dive shop and sites are two to four hours away away, so we were able to train without burning up vacation time.

 

[tbone1004]

@Ryan Neely most technical instruction is paid for by the day. I.e. you rent the instructor for a day so if you take 14 days instead of 10, you're paying for 4 full days of extra instruction and most tech divers are very cheap so they try to maximize the time they have with the instructors. If we look at the original 4-step method of cave training it was broken up into weekend long chunks. Perfect for those that were living in relatively close proximity to the caves and they drive up Friday night, dive their butts off Sat/Sun and drive home Sun night. Now that we have more people traveling farther to get to the dive sites you're seeing a move to cavern/intro and apprentice/full being conducted together in 4 day chunks to fit a long weekend, or the Cave1 type progression taking 5 days which allows for someone to start on a Saturday, finish on Wednesday, get a couple days of fun diving in or a couple days of supplemental instruction and then have their 24hr wait to fly back home.

@stuartv not sure what you were expecting us to really hammer down on what you did wrong. You have self identified things you could have/should have done differently to better prepare you for the course, you've found out personal limitations of your diving from your current fitness levels, and have hopefully honestly identified what you currently feel comfortable doing in the cave and knowing what you shouldn't do yet. That's about a perfect scenario in my book for any of my students. I've given them the skills to do anything they should be able to do and the experience to know that their skill level exceeds their current experience level and they should put on the brakes. Not a whole lot else we can ask for.

 

[Dominick Gheesling]

As I've been told several times by at least one of the previous posters, "Now you have a license to learn.".

Congratulations!

ps. I LOVE my SEASKIN!!!

 

[jadairiii]

Congratulations! I've known Joe for quite some time, never been caving with him. Joe's an awesome person.

Cave 1 crushed me! Could not imagine doing another 5 days! Good for you.

 

[inquis]

I appreciate the writeup. Enjoy the diving! Having recently done Stage Cave, I can only dream about CCR, but hope to be there someday.

 

[AJ]

Nice write up. Must have been some hefty 10 days

One question: why not do ccr directly? I'am contemplating on going exactly his route or go straight ccr. Therefore I'am curious.

 

[stuartv]

@tbone1004 there is no doubt this qualified as a zero to hero class. I really expected way more static for that. Happy that that hasn’t really been too much of a thing.

 

[stuartv]

Nice write up. Must have been some hefty 10 days

One question: why not do ccr directly? I'am contemplating on going exactly his route or go straight ccr. Therefore I'am curious.

A few reasons.

It was the class that was offered. If Joe had told me he had a CCR only class at that same time, I would have done it.

I kinda wanted a full cave cert on OC so I have that option in the future. E.g. I could see possibly going to Mexico at some point where I don’t take my CCR for one reason or another, but would still like to dive some caves while I’m there. Or maybe I go and take my CCR but it breaks. Full Cave on OC gives me options.

My buoyancy is better on OC, so doing the brunt of the class on OC had some appeal.

I’m a tech instructor, so having full cave training on OC seems like it could possibly be useful in the future. I don’t foresee ever being a cave instructor. But, it is possible that some day I might want to be able to teach Cavern. I have not checked standards, but I kinda expect that having full cave OC cert is a prerequisite for that. Should be, anyway.