Cave Diver wanna be...need some help

[ianr33]

I did not mention any specifics about gear, and I probably should have, it will help you plan now and make some smarter purchases, (I hope).

Double Cylinders with an Isolation Manifold
Backplate and wing designed for double cylinders


Mark Vlahos

I thought that typically doubles are not allowed at the Intro level? Something I have never understood.

Cave Diving is too dangerous for me to consider. My wife told me so

 

[Mark Vlahos]

I thought that typically doubles are not allowed at the Intro level? Something I have never understood.

Cave Diving is too dangerous for me to consider. My wife told me so

When I started my Cave instruction I had already used doubles, and I took the Cavern through Full Cave in a single two week block of time. An instructor may allow the use of doubles if he or she feels that the student is capable of safely diving in the tanks. I probably should have mentioned this. Generally one would not want the first time in doubles to also be your first time in a cave. I alluded to this by encouraging a candidate to take a decompression course, although my specific comment was clearly inadequate to actually express my intent, my apologies.

By the time you are at the Apprentice and Full Cave level of instruction you will be diving in doubles, so it would be a really good idea to be comfortable in doubles before you get to this level.

Mark Vlahos

 

[cyklon_300]

I thought that typically doubles are not allowed at the Intro level? Something I have never understood.

Cave Diving is too dangerous for me to consider. My wife told me so

you personally know two people who did Intro w/ doubles...all you need is instructor approval. It's a liablility issue to have a student learning to manage doubles in an true overhead environment. (btw, it's a much better story if you add that your Mrs is a dry caver...double doh.)

Since Octgal is a former ATC, maybe it is somewhat analagous to flying...there are VFR private pilots who occasionally like to toodle around the pattern in a low/slow single-engine Cessna in nice weather. Then there are commercial/military pilots with multi-engine, IFR ratings, and thousands of hours of logged time ...

Which one has better equipment, training, and experience to handle higher risk scenarios?

If your buddies are dissing technical divers, my guess is they have a case of jealousy for not be able to do more complex dives...

 

[octgal]

thank you cyklon for that comparison, it seems we talk the same language ;-) and good point

 

[JimC]

Yea, that's for sure. I was actually thinking about the pile of gear that you have on your back just before you get into the cave. Not any of the "wrong" purchases made along the way. Not the cost of any of the training, Not the costs of transportation or hotels.

Every time I add up the bottom line I think my wife is going to kill me.

Mark Vlahos

I stopped adding it up for this very reason. I don't want to know!

octgal, there are plenty of us cave divers in Ontario. We have a whole team of us in Ottawa who regularly travel down to Florida.

As for the risks in cave diving, they can be managed. I'll refer you back to Mike F's post.

 

[octgal]

Really? Well once i get certified I'll be looking for you, so hopefully you have room for one more in your group!

 

[CDFDiveMaster]

My personal input to Cave/Cavern Cert. is that you will become a more proficient and confident diver upon completion. You will learn to dive redundantly as well as self rescue techniques. I am thankful I took the cert for Cavern. I'm very comfortable more so than before while diving. With over several hundred dives under my belt I feel 100% more comfortable diving now after having been Cavern certified for several years now. You won't regret the course....go for it.

Peace

 

[boydski]

Hi Octgal,

Getting some experience and training in doubles before you start your cave training would be really beneficial. As CFDiveMaster mentioned, I did a Cavern Class in a single tank and then acuired quite a bit of experience in doubles through additional tech training and a lot of diving before I returned and completed my Full Cave Training.

You can read my Cave Training Trip Report, which was just completed last month. Having a couple of years worth of dives in doubles made the training much easier and a lot of fun. You don't want to be a Samuel!
:new_puppy

 

[Mark Vlahos]

You can read my Cave Training Trip Report, which was just completed last month.

Great write up.

Mask off drills were my nemesis, so most of my dives consisted of doing all of the other stuff with my mask off.

Mark Vlahos

 

[scubafool]

Cave Training Trip Report

Man, you have the BEST vacations!

octgal, I would reccommend trying to dive with cave divers now. Diving with them, even in OW, will be helpful in sharpening your basic dive skills to the level they need to be for cave diving, and also would give you guidance as far as gear purchases.