Disappointing Open Water Dive certification...

[Divejones]

got a abit panicky with tight hood,

Just by taking off the hood alone you should have felt comfortable, some people feel nausea with the hood, even in cold waters. get used to 7mm suit, if you want to continue diving in Canadian waters, water temp gradient is steep in Canada and there is sudden drop in temp below a certain level, so i am told by my Canadian diving buddies

---------- Post Merged at 07:49 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:44 PM ----------

Just to Cheer you up

Passed my pool classes, and enjoyed the experience. Went dive shop to suit up in prep for OW weekend in Gilboa, i got ready to go... she tryed to keep me calm ,and relaxed,,, she loosened up my gear...and we chilled in water abit...and then we attempted to go down,

 

[TSandM]

I read the OP with dismay. I've seen the same thing happen with students here in Puget Sound. People love the freedom and ability to play in the pool, but by the time they have gotten into two layers of heavy neoprene and all the weight it takes to sink it, their faces say, "Do I really want to do this?" I have never found a good way to help ease that transition -- the fact is that warm and cold water diving are DIFFERENT. Cold water diving (at least where I live) is absolutely worth it, but it can be a lot of work.

If you try this again at home, one thing that might help is that, once you get into your wetsuit, you go and get WET -- finish gearing up with a nice, wet suit and wet hair, which will help with the overheating. We live with that issue here in Puget Sound (on the few summer days when it is truly hot) because our water never gets warmer than the low 50's. Piling into a dry suit and two inches of insulation when it's over 90 degrees outside can be downright dangerous . . . so we carefully set up all the gear so that everything is ready, before we ever get dressed. And if there is any delay, we go get wet.

I don't generally feel hot, but my warning sign that I'm overheating is a pounding heart and feeling short of breath. Those are my warnings that I need to do something to lower my body temperature, and soon. It feels very much like anxiety, but it isn't; it's heat. It certainly wouldn't be a place where I'd want to start an OW class dive.

Also, if your shop offers the alternative of certifying in a dry suit, consider it. Although they are also hot on land, they're not as difficult to get into and, if reasonably well fitted, are not as restrictive of mobility. They do add task-loading to diving, though.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I offer encouragement and a suggestion to gear up in the pool at least o0nce in the gear you will use i=on the open water dive. It can be very helpful in orienting you to the feel of an exposure suit and also provides an environment in which problems are not of such great consequence as on the open water dive. Our students go from our 86 degree salt water pool to high 60's in the local reservoir where we train, and we offer them the option of a dip in their 7 mils wet suits before the open water weekend. It interests me that only about one in ten take advantage of the opportunity.
DivemasterDennis

 

[DukeAMO]

Yep, my first dives in a 5mm Farmer John + 5MM shorty + hood were also stressful. The sheer weight of the gear and the heat were a big part of that. Heck, it usually takes me about 5 minutes in the cool water just to catch my breath after overheating and hauling everything into the water. Did you take time to float on the surface and catch your breath before you tried to descend?

I'm not sure if you can do it on your OW training dives, but most people in the lakes/quarries around here get all of their gear set up and ready to go, put on the wetsuit and everything else quickly, inflate the BCD, and then walk down into the water until it's about waist deep to finish the buddy checks. Otherwise it's just too easy to get overheated. If that's not an option, getting someone to pour some cold water into your suit should help.

If you have water temps in the 70s you can probably get away without a hood. We did our OW training dives in 72 degree water, and some people wanted hoods and others didn't. You might want to check into a dive beanie too. That's not as warm as a hood, but it would be fine for water temps in the 70s or above. The dive beanie just covers your head, not your neck.

 

[BoneCrusher]

My recommendation is to work up to the 7mm wetsuit and hood. Going from just swimsuits to that is a huge shock for a lot of people. Typically we have students start the first night in swimsuits, then every pool session after that is a slow workup in exposure protection. Shorty, 3mm, 5mm, 7mm, then glove, then hood... ect. Take some extra pool time and work into it and you will be fine.

 

[beaverdivers]

We live in CO, however most divers travel to warm water.

I'm a strong believer in not taking students in cold water, just to get " over " their OW dives.

Fortunately, we have a 90 degree hot spring as an option.

Your best option is to travel to a nice warm dive site and finish your OW dives.

As far as the 6 months, just do more pool time.

Your referral will be dated after your last pool session.

More time in the pool will help you get back on the horse.

 

[Lucas Cordina]

These kind of experiences happen, nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about, my first dive, I lost my reg, bolted to the surface with my mouth open and scooped up a jellyfish (I looked like a batfish for almost two weeks)

But you just have to get back in the water, and try again, take your time, it's your money, they are your lessons, deep breaths and I'm sure you'll do fine

The gear is difficult to get used to, it's very restricting at first, and moving around is such a pain during the first few dives, but then, you'll start to forget you're even wearing it

I'm sure you'll manage to solve this issue!

 

[Kitty_Kat]

Like a few other people have said, this is really common with cold water OW classes! California diving often consists of hot and sunny weather with water temps in the 50's. I can't tell you how many times I've overheated myself trying to help students get geared up in my 7mm/drysuit and had to go sit in the shower to cool down prior to starting the dive. There's no shame in refusing to be miserable/not feeling like you're going to pass out on a dive :cool2:. Overheating and anxiety do feel very similar...

I'm actually slightly surprised that they had you go straight from wearing nothing in the pool to the full deal for your ocean dives. We "introduce" all of our students to their nice cozy 7mm in the first pool session and from there add on the gloves and hood while still in the pool. The first ocean session comes as less of a shock this way!

I think the suggestions to trying all of your gear in the pool a couple of times would be really helpful! You can also have a couple buckets/containers of water ready to dump on yourself if needed while you're waiting. I also like keeping my hood off until we're actually at the descent point and ready to go down. I feel less overwhelmed trying to listen to people and more aware of what's going on this way. I've found that a hooded vest is great for this since it's already "tucked in" and ready to go when we're out there, but I don't have to have the hood on and i'm not going to lose it... Hoods are pesky, but cold water diving is definitely do-able and worth it!

 

[Imla]

Oh my do I relate to what you are saying here!
Only.. my experience was with a drysuit. It was an abnormally hot summers day in Norway. About 27c. We had to put on warm wool undergarments, and a snug neoprene drysuit with tight neoprene necksealings. Getting a 7mm hood on top, that squeezed even more on my neck and I was ready to panic just standing on the docks. Putting a mask on made it 10 times worse cause I couldn't breathe with my nose anymore.

What helped was getting in the water. (Still very warm) relax. Just float. Get the heartrate down. I also found that once I got under water, the hood didn't feel as constrickting.

Oh... and you do get used to it...

 

[tracydr]

Good advice so far. A 7 mill is confining as is a hood. Unless its really cold Id opt for a 3mill and no hood. Openwater and all this new gear can be overwhelming. I dove a couple years in the springs and the first time I jumped off a boat in the ocean it was like starting all over. I too overbreathed my reg from adrenlin and had to surface. You will get used to it when you realize that its really peacefull below the surface with the fish. You have to breathe in fully and breathe out fully while diving. For some it takes longer to become acclimated. Hang in there and dont give up, youll be way more appreciative when you get er done and recieve your c card.

I suspect their water is far too cold for a 3ml, no hood or they wouldn't be training in 7mls/hoods.
I've had three similar experiences. One was caused by a mismarked wetsuit size ( I'd been renting from the same shop so thought this suit would fit like all the others). Another episode was caused by a hood that was much too tight, causing me to feel like I would pass out from the tightness around my neck. Changed hoods and I was fine.
I had one other time when the surface swim was very difficult. Got ready to descend and couldn't catch my breath.
It's a terrible feeling and in my case provoked anxiety, rather than being caused by anxiety.
my point is, this might not have been so much anxiety and fear but a simple case of your body's natural, physiologic respons to a constricting wetsuit/hood, overheating, overexertimg and not being able to breathe because of it.
Give it another try. Make sure the wetsuit and hood really fit and aren't making it hard to breathe. Don't let anyone tell tell you that the suit is "close enough" if it really does seem uncomfortable.
would it be possible to wait until cooler weather for your OW dives? So that you don't overheat on the surface? If not, make sure you get your suit wet immediately after suiting up, either by wading into the water, sitting down and flooding it or by dumping some cool water into it with a gallon jug brought for this purpose.
diving in heavy exposure suits when the weather on top is hot is challenging. We went out to the lake yesterday and I wished I'd had my drysuit to get under the thermocline but forecast was for 110. I didn't want to risk a heat injury, gearing up in thermals and a drysuit.
Good luck, whatever you decide to do. Hawaii is excellent diving. You should be able to get by with a 3-5ml, no hood there.