Hi all,
as I treat at the end of my AOW I took the DPV specialty, which I admit was great fun (am I the only one who found themselves humming James bond themes into my reg ?).
I have to agree with all that was said here, at the end of my AOW I would have said I had my bouyancy control just about sorted, the DPV made me get lazy, I found myself using the DPV to correct my buoyancy. This was in the form of pointing the DPV up slightly, when I should have put air in my jacket, this has two effects, making the DPV less efficient and making me lazy about my diving skills.
The end result is that I doubt I'll let myself use a DPV again, until my skills are a lot more engrained or until the dive really demands it (e.g. very long swim out to dive site). I think if I had any advice to offer it would be, during a DPV dive, stop occasionally and adjust your buoyancy without the scooter running, until you get used to it.
As for arm pain, I found that by playing about with the positioning of the DPV, through adjusting the amount of bend in arms I could find a much more comfortable position, but also through improving my streamlining I could reduce the resistance which made my arms a lot more comfortable. I don't have very much upper body strength compared to most of my size and weight.
One other point is that my instructor had a dead DPV at the start of the dive, which if attached may have prevented ditching it to retrieve later, but also after the customary thump, it turned into a run away, whcih could again be uncomfortable for if attached to someone who is still new to diving.
Hope this helps, good luck in your OW
Conor