Ditch and don

[wedivebc]

Now the snorkel ditch and don i did for DM was a pain for me.

I ditched my snorkel 5 years ago, haven't felt the urge to don one since.

 

[jbisjim]

I ditched my snorkel 5 years ago, haven't felt the urge to don one since.

LOl

 

[foneguy]

we had to do that at open water class, but the tank was turned on, we held everything in 1 arm threw all in while yelling YAMCA, which expelled all of my air in my lungs, wait till you hit the bottom then find reg, mask, weight belt w/o floating to top, ( thats the real trick), then put it on and surface. yea that was actually fun!! going to next calss, to watch new students do it, just 4 fun

 

[Mako Mark]

I think it is a kind of silly excercize left over from the conservative military style training from the 50's and 60's.

better spend the time teaching real world skills like trim and bouyancy that the student will actually use....

Unless you have nothing better to do that is. JMHO.

 

[ReneeC]

It's lots of fun if you're the sort who embraces challenges, rather then shrinking from them. Some agencies
still do the bailout for OW, and some still do a true ditch and don (remove gear on bottom, leave it, swim up, take a breath, go down, and put it all back on) for leadership courses.

Naui still requires it in the leadership courses but in OW we only require it at the surface.

 

[Walter]

better spend the time teaching real world skills

The last time I checked, panic avoidance was a real world skill. In fact, it may be the most critical, life saving skill any diver ever learns, it will save your life.

 

[FreeFloat]

I agree. It was a lot of fun. I did it myself in a pool last week since I'd never done it in my OW class and moreover, never did one in my plate and wing either.

Me being somewhat negatively buoyant naturally, I had only to keep a hand on the shoulder strap of my gear to stay close to the bottom - and this was in my shorty wetsuit.........

I had so much fun with this I had a buddy time me. 1:25 to ditch, and 2:15 to don.......

 

[Mako Mark]

The last time I checked, panic avoidance was a real world skill. In fact, it may be the most critical, life saving skill any diver ever learns, it will save your life.

Oh gimme a break Walter, it is an old fashioned technique that is adapted from military training and is designed to weed out the weaklings by having them fail in the pool.

This works great if you are training to be a navy seal, but in modern scuba instruction we are trying to assist and encourage divers through positive practice that builds confidence rather than breaks it.

 

[Walter]

it is an old fashioned technique that is adapted from military training and is designed to weed out the weaklings by having them fail in the pool.

This works great if you are training to be a navy seal, but in modern scuba instruction we are trying to assist and encourage divers through positive practice that builds confidence rather than breaks it.

You are mistaken. I've never had a single student drop out of my class because these skills were too difficult. By the time they reach this point in the class, they are ready for these skills. I also teach them how to successfully complete these and other skills.

There was a time when no skills were ever taught, potential divers had to figure out how to accomplish them on their own or they were SOL. That time is long past.

I do agree with you when you say, "in modern scuba instruction we are trying to assist and encourage divers through positive practice that builds confidence rather than breaks it." That is exactly what these skills accomplish. When divers have never mastered these skills, they are one small step away from panic. They don't have confidence in their abilities and it shows, especially when things start to go wrong. I've lost count of the poorly trained divers I've had to rescue because they panicked due to lack of confidence.

 

[steeleflyn]

My wife and I started scuba about a year ago and in our training you sat on the bottom and took your gear off and placed in on your lap. She is very bouyant and as soon as she tried to swing it arround, her butt slid out from under her and she floated up like a bobber with her BC on the bottom. I held her down for the certification. But this is what we learned after we got back.

She wasn't very confident in this exercise so we have been going to the pool and practicing this different ways, I told her that if she was having problems to try it some other way that got the same result.

She found out that instead of trying to fight her bouyancy like she used to do, to just let herself float up but hold on to the BC and
1- BREATHE
2- take a moment to look at the situation (now upside down)
3- RELAX, BREATHE, RELAX, BREATHE, (and hold on to your BC)
4- She disconnected both of her shoulder straps, held the ends and FLIPPED into her harness (now on her back lying down) she felt for the other ends to the harness, connected them and FLIPPED over to her belly and FINISHED.

She now has much more confidence because she knows no matter what happens she can take care of the situation, and all "HER MAN" did was watch... :luxhello:

We since then began the "SSI Expert class" and the instructors laughed and said they never saw anyone do that before. She also has figured out how to do it sitting down on the bottom without help, (the way they wanted).

I am telling you this story becuase even if you have problems or maybe a little apprehensive about doing a exercise, just do as my wife did, try to do something different but get the same result, and take your time.

It will make you more confident and you will be learning something in the process, which will give you the drive to learn how to do the exercise even more different ways.

She now is much more confident and has alot more knowledge about her BC and equipment, and can ditch and don, disconnecting all the straps, and reassembling all of her equipment without any problems.

P.S. If you try anything new, please make sure you Practice in the Pool First, and ask your Instructor for Help or suggestions. Personally, I don't think I will ever have to ditch and don my gear, but it makes the pool time practice, Fun and each time, we become more confident divers.

Whewwwwwwwww, try saying all that in one breath. :blah: :blah: :blah: