Cavern Course with Johnny Richards

[palmm]

I am planning on taking the cavern class with johnny. Anything I should work on?

 

[FireInMyBones]

I am planning on taking the cavern class with johnny. Anything I should work on?

Buoyancy/ Trim...if you do not have these two down without issue, you may be removed from the class very quickly.

Come to class with proper cave gear including a long hose. Have reasons why your gear is set up the way it is. Have money ready if you need to change your configuration.

Nothing should dangle.

Listening skills. He has a lot to say, a short amount of time to say it. Listen. He knows what he is saying.

Last thing: movement in the water should be minimal, even when on the surface. If you do not need to move, don't. He picks on these things for good reason.

 

[Crush]

I am planning on taking the cavern class with johnny. Anything I should work on?

Send him an email, tell him where you are at, what your concerns are, and he will give you some pointers - Johnny is very approachable. For example, I thought that instead of bringing my 7mm wetsuit I could bring my drysuit. Johnny suggested that it might be too warm for a drysuit, even a trilam (such as mine). I now strongly suspect that he didn't want task loading to muck with my learning - I brought the wetsuit (as per his suggestion), and did OK in the course - this might not have been the case if I had brought the drysuit.

Johnny has been doing this for some time - I would take his advice.

The following comments pertain to NACD cavern diver:

I don't mean to speak out of class, but (from what I recall) Johnny said that the only automatic failure was if you went shooting off to the surface. To be clear - we had a free-flow at one point which we resolved on the surface, but this was no panic escape upwards. No-one failed that weekend.

I might suggest that you need to be comfortable carrying out tasks in a blacked-out mask (or with your eyes closed), such as following a line over a hundred feet or so. Also, you need to be able to do this with your mask off. In my case (contact lens wearer) this also meant with my eyes closed. Add buoyancy control into the mix - Johnny mentioned to us (and perhaps this was directed towards me) that the floor was not a buoyancy control device. He passed me at any rate.

Have fun! It was one of the most worthwhile courses I have taken. I learned a lot!

 

[ucfdiver]

I think it's kinda silly to leave a drysuit at home. Come to class with what you plan on diving. If you can't pass the class in a drysuit, maybe you're not ready to be in an overhead? I took cavern in recreational gear, and feel it did effect the flow of my training. I really think if I had chosen a decent instructor and done things in the proper gear, I would have not taken a several year break from diving between cavern and intro like I did.

Just my opinion, but I think you learn a lot more if you go start to finish in "full cave" gear.

 

[Crush]

I think it's kinda silly to leave a drysuit at home. Come to class with what you plan on diving. If you can't pass the class in a drysuit, maybe you're not ready to be in an overhead? I took cavern in recreational gear, and feel it did effect the flow of my training. I really think if I had chosen a decent instructor and done things in the proper gear, I would have not taken a several year break from diving between cavern and intro like I did.

Just my opinion, but I think you learn a lot more if you go start to finish in "full cave" gear.

ucfdiver,

Thank you for your opinion. A quick search on google maps reveals that the nearest caves to me appear to be in Florida - a mere 2000 km away. So, while I will be diving in 30-degree water in my drysuit regularly, I may not be diving in caverns quite so often. I guess that I did come to the class in what I was planning on diving - my wetsuit - I was relying on the experience and advice of someone who knew a lot more about cavern than me. I am glad that I listened to him.

For the time being, given that I am not as fortunate as you are in your proximity to cave country, I fear that I will not extend my training beyond cavern for many more years, if ever.

If you ever wish to test yourself in a truly challenging overhead environment, come up north and we'll do some ice diving...

 

[Crush]

If you can't pass the class in a drysuit, maybe you're not ready to be in an overhead?

Perhaps we should go head-to-head, seeing who can remain stationary and horizontal, wearing whatever undies you want, in water at, say, 36F? Let's start at a 25 minute dive at less than 20 feet, and extend the dive time as needs be. The expansion/contraction in the loft of your undergarments with an decrease/increase in depth is fantastic to experience, especially if you are used to a 200-weight undergarment or less.

I'll buy beer, eh!

 

[ucfdiver]

ucfdiver,

Thank you for your opinion. A quick search on google maps reveals that the nearest caves to me appear to be in Florida - a mere 2000 km away. So, while I will be diving in 30-degree water in my drysuit regularly, I may not be diving in caverns quite so often. I guess that I did come to the class in what I was planning on diving - my wetsuit - I was relying on the experience and advice of someone who knew a lot more about cavern than me. I am glad that I listened to him.

For the time being, given that I am not as fortunate as you are in your proximity to cave country, I fear that I will not extend my training beyond cavern for many more years, if ever.

If you ever wish to test yourself in a truly challenging overhead environment, come up north and we'll do some ice diving...

If I ever make it to Canada, I'll skip the ridiculously cold diving, and go hiking in Banff National Park, I can wear a heavy jacket and the scenery looks amazing.

Perhaps we should go head-to-head, seeing who can remain stationary and horizontal, wearing whatever undies you want, in water at, say, 36F? Let's start at a 25 minute dive at less than 20 feet, and extend the dive time as needs be. The expansion/contraction in the loft of your undergarments with an decrease/increase in depth is fantastic to experience, especially if you are used to a 200-weight undergarment or less.

I'll buy beer, eh!

You're going to find this amazing, but I could care less about diving in water that cold.....or penis measuring by some silly contest. I'm just stating my viewpoint that all training should be done from cavern to full cave with as few changes as possible because these courses are attempting to teach so much in so little time.

I also think that the skills currently being taught in cavern should really be taught before overhead training in OW, and cavern should then be combined with intro to cave so that there's 4 days of continuous lecture and mentoring by an instructor, rather than the 2 rushed days at a time we currently have. So I'm not picking on you by any means, there's just a few things that I really believe could have been done differently with my own training that I wish would be reevaluated.

 

[Crush]

If I ever make it to Canada, I'll skip the ridiculously cold diving, and go hiking in Banff National Park, I can wear a heavy jacket and the scenery looks amazing.


You're going to find this amazing, but I could care less about diving in water that cold.....or penis measuring by some silly contest. I'm just stating my viewpoint that all training should be done from cavern to full cave with as few changes as possible because these courses are attempting to teach so much in so little time.

James,

Cold water is only half the draw for me - a lake with low vis and only limited aquatic life is the other half - imagine the joy of being able to practice skills without the unwelcome distraction of stunning scenery...

Have a good one.

 

[FireInMyBones]

I too took the class in a wetsuit. I was glad that I did not have to worry about only having three dives in one for the class. I will practice in a drysuit more frequently once I actually own one and then I might take Intro in that.

If you are going to wear a drysuit, go ahead and have a pee-valve. Johnny likes to stay in the water. I am even putting a pee-valve in my wetsuit. I hate pee stink in my suit.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I took my classes in a wetsuit, and dive in a wetsuit Its my only option, I can't afford a drysuit outright and the dives I do don't require diving dry and some of them straight up dictate diving wet.