DPV ban location
- Thread starter Peach.T
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Totally agree with you, Diving Dubai this is where i am trying to get at if anyone ever watch netflix tales by light season 3 episode 3 and 4 they use dpv most of the time to film the episode. Cant help but wonder if any new open diver really invested in a $7000 dpv just to do play around in water and cause trouble.
DPV’s just enable assholes to do more ******* things. It’s like anything else, a few bad apples ruin for the bunch. Hence why you need cave DPV cards and captains ban them off their boats, etc.
There are plenty of people that use their DPV’s to extend their dives and minimize their workload. There are also those that crank the prop to 9 and terrorize the reef. Blaming the tool is an unfortunate side effect of people using them that have no business on them.
There are plenty of people that use their DPV’s to extend their dives and minimize their workload. There are also those that crank the prop to 9 and terrorize the reef. Blaming the tool is an unfortunate side effect of people using them that have no business on them.
driftwood
Contributor
We used to use DPV's to clean algae in Spring Lake. You have to be careful how and where you use them. They can (and have) do a lot of damage. The other side of the coin is that I can do hours of work in 15 minutes.
Jon Nellis
Contributor
Being a DPV manufacturer, I rarely go on a dive without a DPV. That said, I also have superhuman navigation skills and can execute a dive so that I'm back at the boat at precisely whatever time limit they set. I usually drop in first, before the other divers are ready or wait until they are all in and down before dropping in. I back roll or giant stride in WITH the scooter, so the crew doesn't have to deal with it. I then avoid the group like the plague, and go into the current or opposite direction from the group, along the reef. Once the DM sees that you are not a nuisance or idiot, they generally let you do what ever you want. If you are a nuisance or idiot, they simply don't let you use it again. You really just need to check with each dive operator to see if they allow them. I've had a few dive ops say no, but call down the street to another and they'll say OK. Most will require you and a buddy to stay together. In my opinion, anyone diving a DPV should be qualified AND 100% comfortable diving solo.
I did a 10 day live aboard last year in Palau with scooters. We went to the blue corner a few times and while everyone else was hooking into the reef, destroying the coral and scaring the sharks away from the spot they normally cruise, I went to the other side of the reef and slowly eased my way into large schools of fish, until completely surrounded. When the group unhooked and drifted over to the side I was on, I powered over to the top of the wall they just left. By that time, the sharks had returned and I again slowly worked my way between the sharks at the top of the wall and then precisely adjust my speed to just hold position in the current with sharks 4-6' off each shoulder, also holding position in the current. They did not care a bit that I was there with the DPV motor running, but they wanted absolutely nothing to do with the gaggle of divers, when they were there, and I never had to touch the reef.
If you are looking for sea horses and other small stuff, the DPV is the wrong tool for the job. If you want to find larger things, they are the best tool for the job. In Bonnaire I did a dive off the southern point (Red Slave). The current was ripping, a small family of 4 dolphins swam up next to me, so I dropped the hammer and took off at full speed doing barrel rolls (which is painfully fast on a Genesis with only a thin wetsuit and single tank). The dolphins where swimming right in front of me, crossing back and forth across my path, playing and having a good ol' time, because I could move like a fish, not flail around like a diver.
The key to interacting with most large fish (or large groups of fish) on a DPV is smooth, slow, predictable movements and slow breathing. It really helps to have full variable speed, as sudden speed changes and arm movements spook them. I've even had fish form up a school around me for protection, as I was cruising down a reef. Usually small jacks. When playing with dolphins, go upside down at least once, as it shows you are not a threat. Sea lions don't care, they will play with you, if you can move fast enough to make it amusing for them.
Cheers,
Jon
I did a 10 day live aboard last year in Palau with scooters. We went to the blue corner a few times and while everyone else was hooking into the reef, destroying the coral and scaring the sharks away from the spot they normally cruise, I went to the other side of the reef and slowly eased my way into large schools of fish, until completely surrounded. When the group unhooked and drifted over to the side I was on, I powered over to the top of the wall they just left. By that time, the sharks had returned and I again slowly worked my way between the sharks at the top of the wall and then precisely adjust my speed to just hold position in the current with sharks 4-6' off each shoulder, also holding position in the current. They did not care a bit that I was there with the DPV motor running, but they wanted absolutely nothing to do with the gaggle of divers, when they were there, and I never had to touch the reef.
If you are looking for sea horses and other small stuff, the DPV is the wrong tool for the job. If you want to find larger things, they are the best tool for the job. In Bonnaire I did a dive off the southern point (Red Slave). The current was ripping, a small family of 4 dolphins swam up next to me, so I dropped the hammer and took off at full speed doing barrel rolls (which is painfully fast on a Genesis with only a thin wetsuit and single tank). The dolphins where swimming right in front of me, crossing back and forth across my path, playing and having a good ol' time, because I could move like a fish, not flail around like a diver.
The key to interacting with most large fish (or large groups of fish) on a DPV is smooth, slow, predictable movements and slow breathing. It really helps to have full variable speed, as sudden speed changes and arm movements spook them. I've even had fish form up a school around me for protection, as I was cruising down a reef. Usually small jacks. When playing with dolphins, go upside down at least once, as it shows you are not a threat. Sea lions don't care, they will play with you, if you can move fast enough to make it amusing for them.
Cheers,
Jon
Stoo
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Well, of course. Isn't the Internet meant for broad sweeping statements? ;-) And I wouldn't actually ban them, but I do find them them pointless toys in the situation I described. I get the appeal, but I think for most people, what they enjoy about diving is a little peace and quiet, which a circling DPV pretty much destroys.
LMAO. Well, it may have been a tad hyperbolic as (a) I don't own a gun and (b) I wouldn't actually shoot someone even if I did. The damn things are annoying as heck in a confined area though. I suppose some people find my incessant flashing annoying too. (Well, my strobes. Not actually me flashing. It's much too cold here for that!)
On the upside, they make for decent photographic subjects.
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I've given all of mine away, save 3. The 3 never get used. Chris gave his back to me when he moved, I'm sure all of the batteries are junk.Is that why you gave one to Chris M?
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