Diving today (1/21) and lessons learned

[ams511]

The only thing I can add is why didn't your buddy establish buoyancy for you? Also you need to have the weight checked, if it is the same amount you used in your checkout dives you are probably overweighted. Most instructors seem to add a few pounds to keep you down. Also a 2 mil wetsuit is probably too little protection for this time of year. You need a 3-5 mil depending on your cold tolerance.

 

[redrover]

You will all be pleased to know that, today, I went into the local LDS that I like, Underwater Unlimited. I told them the story and got an earful for my lack of knowledge followed by an offer to have a private lesson (nc) on the proper way to manually inflate the bc. This is the reason that I try and buy from the LDS.

I have carefully read all of your posts and intend to take them to heart, and I will let you know if my friend becomes a good buddy.

Way to go!!! I am pleased. How about you and buddy take the Scuba Refresher together and iron out a few of those kinks?:blinking:

 

[MikeFerrara]

You will all be pleased to know that, today, I went into the local LDS that I like, Underwater Unlimited. I told them the story and got an earful for my lack of knowledge followed by an offer to have a private lesson (nc) on the proper way to manually inflate the bc. This is the reason that I try and buy from the LDS.

Well the proper way is to put the thing in your mouth, depress the deflate button and blow. When your done blowing, release the deflate button. Repeat until the bc is sufficiently inflated.

I'm glad they're going to help you but pPersonally, I would buy retail goods where I get good value on those goods and I would buy training where I get good training.

I am incresingly coming to the opinion that the first step in becoming a thinking diver is to be a thinking consumer.

 

[TSandM]

Well, free instruction could come under the category of "good value on those goods". I know that, when I make decisions about where to buy things, intangibles like good customer service may influence me to pay a little more for something than I would otherwise do.

On the other hand, buying training where you get good buys on gear may not be a very reasonable decision

 

[Lehmann108]

Your problems were not due to inexperience, they were a result of inadequate training and poor judgement. Glad you were able to dive again!. Beginning students should be told at least 50 times that when they reach the surface to "establish positive bouyancy" You need to be able to orally inflate the BC underwater and on the surface. It sounds to me like you should enroll in an advanced class ASAP and maybe take a re-fresher class too.

p.s. your "experienced" buddy is an idiot.

Hard, but needed words. How someone could get an OW cert and never manually inflate their BC is unbelieveable. How could someone even get in the water without knowing how to do such a thing? You are lucky, my Florida friend!

 

[Canadian.Diver]

Ok, you should have done your stop at 15ft not 30ft and to go further why did you do a saftey stop at all in your situation, given your depth and time I assume you had no deco obligations , an extra slow ascent straight to the surface would have seen you get to the surface and have air for your B.C. In any case it is always better to risk getting bent than drowning. After learning how to use your gear , all of it, You really have to find out about gas management and situational awareness! It will totally depend on the dive , but a good rule of thumb is that you should have enough gas at any point of the dive for you and your buddy to do a safe and proper ascent to the surface using only your gas supply.
For good practice check each others gas at the end of every dive and if one of you don't have enough gas to the same ascent again then thats the guy/gal that buys the beer, after all you just costed your buddy his life if you had an emergency, it's the lest you could do. Gaurantee that you will watch your gas then.
Glad you lived!!!

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Find yourself a mentor as was mentioned earlier. There are many divers on this board in Florida who aren't afraid to look at you and say "What the HECK are you DOING?" and then patiently show you a better way. Find them and dive with them, you need to learn how to stop following; you need to take charge of your diving and be a leader. "I'm a new diver" isn't an excuse to be a follower, that's probably the most important time to take charge so people don't take you on dives you're not qualified to do.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[waynel]

Like Skynscuba, I too went almost directly from OW to Advanced. Same reason, more instruction on diving. Actually, more individual instruction due to a smaller class. Same with the AOW check out dives. I learned more doing those AOW dives than all the diving I had done up to that point. Let's face it. There are not dozens of new skills to cover in AOW (not counting the specialities). The "deep dive" is still diving, but with more focus on safety and skill development than on a 50 ft. OW check out. I got more information and instruction on skills I already had. I could do 30 dives and not learn as much as when there is an AOW instructor focusing on just you and one other student. Am I a better diver going to AOW so soon? No, asbolutely not. Not until I do more dives. However, I am a more knowledgeable diver and a better trained diver. Experience is important, but you can never get too much training in any venture you undertake.

 

[Desert Pirate]

I like TS&Ms and Divmavens comments, We do alot of diving in the river were there is Alot of current, and low vis. Its almost impossible to stay with your dive buddy, so you are soley responsible for your saftey and air. That being said, on a dive were you have the option of seeing your buddy, stay with him. We are very comfortable about diving solo, and still while we were diving in So. California when my buddy ran low on air, I surfaced and went back to the boat with him even though I still had 1200 lbs in my tank. Well said guys, stick with your buddy, plan your dive and dive your plan. but kudos on not panicing... ALOT of new and experienced divers have lost thier heads in similar situations.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Well, free instruction could come under the category of "good value on those goods". I know that, when I make decisions about where to buy things, intangibles like good customer service may influence me to pay a little more for something than I would otherwise do.

On the other hand, buying training where you get good buys on gear may not be a very reasonable decision

I guess the point I was trying to make in a round-about way is that cheap or free training being used to sell equipment is part of the problem in the first place. The training just isn't always very good which is why we have threads like this.