DPV: training.

[Learner Diver]

Is the training methods different for recreational and technical divers? I like the idea of using a scooter and think they are similar to using a jet ski. I've seen images of cave divers using them, as I have seen recreational divers using them. How different is the training and what is the course duration?

 

[Wibble]

To be controversial, DPVs don't need training

You'll learn quite quickly where you need to be careful -- depth changes, adjusting wing, drysuit and loop. Also it's pretty straightforward to learn to control the beast and how to clip it off when not using it, e.g. at deco. Jumping in and getting out is just a matter of trial and error as is adjusting the tow cord.

 

[AJ]

The only thing a DPV course is good for is when you want to rent one. In most cases you have to show your card.

 

[boulderjohn]

You can learn to use a recreational level DPV quickly. My cave DPV training was much more intensive. I had to learn how to do an air share while on scooter. Towing someone with a dead scooter is more of a challenge than you might think. When scootering in a cave with silt, your scooter can stir things up so much you cannot see your way out of the cave and have to use the line--you need to be aware of what your scooter is going to do and adjust your hold on it accordingly. . You have to plan your dive carefully--take your scooter too far into a cave and have it fail, and you won't make it out.

In Ginnie Springs a few years ago, two highly trained and experienced divers took their scooters deep into the cave and went into a silty dive tunnel. The whole tunnel silted out. One of them got out and waited a while for the other to come out. After a while, she headed back to the entrance to get help. He eventually came out without his scooter, because it was buried about 1/3 of the way in silt and he couldn't get it out. With no help in sight, he started to swim back. He almost made it. Once the recovery team got his scooter out of the silt, it worked fine.

 

[BoltSnap]

With no help in sight, he started to swim back. He almost made it. Once the recovery team got his scooter out of the silt, it worked fine.

Did he come out alive or was he a recovery?

 

[PEDiver]

Did he come out alive or was he a recovery?

Recovery.

 

[grantmac]

A DPV won't make up for poor fundamental skills, more like highlight them.

If your buoyancy isn't good enough for a stationary hover then it's not time for a DPV.

I don't personally believe that open water needs training but I recognize that people have and will continue to die using them in open water because they haven't learned the emergency procedures.

 

[Jai Bar]

Like many things, when everything is going fine one doesn't need to know much about how to dive a DPV. In five minutes everyone can do it.

However, not always everything is going fine and **** can happens. In such cases, it is beneficial to have some knowledge what to do. DPV isn't different. Things to consider: how react to various malfunctions (flooding, power stuck on, dead batteries, entanglement, towing buddy, etc.). For some, common sense is sufficient ("Don't stick fingers in rotating thing"). Others require instruction/explanation/training. Since I don't know what I don't know, I prefer seeking guidance where I can practice, ask questions, learn to assemble and disassemble stuff etc.

Lastly, some countries apparently have a trigger-happy lawsuit culture. In these, getting in trouble and not having the proper certification may lead to problems even if it has nothing to do with it.

 

[AJ]

You can learn to use a recreational level DPV quickly. My cave DPV training was much more intensive. I had to learn how to do an air share while on scooter. Towing someone with a dead scooter is more of a challenge than you might think. When scootering in a cave with silt, your scooter can stir things up so much you cannot see your way out of the cave and have to use the line--you need to be aware of what your scooter is going to do and adjust your hold on it accordingly. . You have to plan your dive carefully--take your scooter too far into a cave and have it fail, and you won't make it out.

True, a tech/cave DPV course is something totally different from an rec course. I did GUE DPV 1 and IANTD DPV. Learned a lot. Some buddy's did rec DPV and did not learn all the stuff you mentioned. However, they can rent the same DPV as me.

The question is: what is your goal? Able to rent a DPV or learn to dive a DPV?

 

[AJ]

Same difference. Diving a DPV is not rocket science.

No it's not, but handling a DPV in more complex situations requires more skills.