Question Equipment for Full Cave Course in Mexico

[Graeme Fraser]

Hi folks. Well, I’ve finally relented and signed up for a combined Cavern, Intro and Full Cave course in Mexico, end of April, beginning of May.

Personally I blame my mate for badgering me into it, and @Marie13 for inspiring us with her adventures.

I’m bound to have a ton of questions leading up to it, but a couple briefly spring to mind:

1) wetsuit or drysuit? I exclusively dive dry at home, but wet on holiday. Perfectly happy with both, but imagine being either way too hot dry or possibly cold during some of the longer dives.

2) should I get a canister primary light? I’ve got dozens of torches, but none that’ll give full power for 3hrs+. If so, I was thinking about the Orcatorch D630 as it seems to fit the bill without breaking my already stretched budget.

I’m pretty experienced in other diving disciplines, but strictly a novice when it comes to cave, so welcome any additional suggestions you may have.

 

[Marie13]

Oh, boy, blame it on me! Enjoy! Are you doing class in twins or SM? I don’t remember what you dive.

I’d get the canister. What does your instructor recommend?

 

[Graeme Fraser]

Oh, boy, blame it on me! Enjoy! Are you doing class in twins or SM? I don’t remember what you dive.

I’d get the canister. What does your instructor recommend?

Absolutely. If I screw it up, your ears will be burning

Haven’t yet asked the instructor, but will. Just trying to get a broad opinion. I was erring towards the canister as I was thinking a powerful long burn handheld might be a bit heavy on a Goodman for long periods.

Going twins and will take all my own kit, less cylinder’s and weights obvious.

 

[halocline]

One issue with buying a canister light is the SM-BM dilemma; the glands and cord lengths are typically different. I realize some people hip mount can lights in SM and some use side gland in BM, but it's not ideal. If you're using BM and intend to stay that way, then a good can light might be the way to go. I would consider just using a good handheld for your class and try out as many different lights as possible. I personally would never buy another expensive canister light (or any light, really) without trying it in the water on a few dives. This stuff can be fairly subjective. And using a helmet (typical in SM down there) changes things too, IMO it favors using a handheld.

As far as wet/dry, the general rule of thumb I've heard is to your training in whichever you are more comfortable in. That is totally up to you.

 

[Underwater Tourist]

I just finished my full cave in Mexico

Wetsuit is more than enough, I am on the skinnier side and used 5mm wetsuit + 3mm undersuit for 6 straight days of diving (intro+full cave) and didn't get cold once. So if you have more of "natural body insulation", you will be good just with a 5mm (make sure to bring a hood even if you don't usually dive it. You will need it during blind folded training to protect your head). That said, a lot of people dive drysuits there, just keep in mind that parts of the caves are uber shallow and sometimes you will be less than 3m deep.

If you already have a canister light I would bring it, but if you don't own one, I wouldn't purchase it. I was in the same shoes recently as you are now trying to decide which light to get, and I actually opted to get full cave gear except for the primary light. The reason is that its by far the most expensive part of the gear and I would rather rent a bunch of different primary lights canister/hand-held to see what I really like, and then purchase one. For my entire training I used a handheld bigblue light and it was always more than enough (you simply switch batterties between dives which takes 30 seconds and you are good to go).

Not sure where you will be doing your training, but i did it at protec and one of the great things about them is that you can get full gear rental at 0$ additonal cost. For my first trip when i did SM+cavern, I literally showed up with a pair of regs, fins, and a mask. So if you want to play around with different lights, I am sure if you can ask them to try handheld vs can during your training and see what you like.

 

[J-Vo]

Different perspective on the suit.

Brand New Waterproof 5mm and a 5mm Forthelement hood were just barely enough for intro level dives for me. I'll be considering my drysuit for the next time I go down.

 

[Marie13]

I did full cave in a new 5mm and I was just fine in the fresh water. Below the halocline, I was too hot. I have a high cold tolerance and always dive dry at home.

 

[grantctobin]

Different perspective on the suit.

Brand New Waterproof 5mm and a 5mm Forthelement hood were just barely enough for intro level dives for me. I'll be considering my drysuit for the next time I go down.

Especially with in water time between dives during debriefs and the like, would concur and go drysuit. A new 7mm for a week of easy OC diving and I was calling the last dive day at 3ish hours from cold.

 

[Chris H]

I've been to Mexico cave diving two times for a week each. The caves are unbelievable. If you are comfortable in your drysuit, wear it. We were doing 2 non-training dives a day, about 4hrs, in the water, and I think I would have been cold in a wetsuit. Being cold sucks.

I use a canister light. I have a Light Monkey. They offer a few different lids so you could switch from a sidemount to backmount lid depending on your needs. I guess this also requires an E/O cord, but it offers a lot of versatility. You can change light heads, lids, and canisters.

 

[rddvet]

I say drysuit and can light. You can get away without a dry suit, but you'll be getting in and out of the water multiple times a day, standing around bs'ing. You can definitely dive mexico long term in a wetsuit, but if your eventual goal is to do some long dives there then it's best to have proper warmth protection from the get go. Train how you eventually want to dive. I also recommend a can light. Handhelds have come a long way, but again train for how you want to dive. If you want to do very long dives eventually, a can light is typically better. Add to that, now is the time to learn how to properly use a can light since you're in class. Things like stowing when working, cleaning up the cord, donating without entanglement. If you start your training with a handheld your short changing yourself since you're in class to learn. It's pretty easy to move to a handheld after gaining experience with a can. Plus imo if I dive with someone new, I judge how well the dive may go by how they manage their cord. So many people are sloppy with their can light cords and it says something about them personally. It should be properly stowed and protected when not in use. It sounds judgey as hell, but if I do a first time dive with someone who takes the time to properly prep and stow their cord pre-dive or while working, I know I probably am diving with someone decent. In my experience the people that keep it cleaned up all the time are thinking divers. I prefer to dive in caves with people who can think through issues. If you can't keep your cord clean, when one of us is out of air in a silty passage and you drag your cord through the silt it's going to end badly. (not that that's a common occurence, but I'm making a point).

As an aside, what is your technical diving experience. I would never recommend a class straight through to anyone. It's a recipe for disaster unless you're well put together going into class. I also believe even if you're an amzing tech diver, a zero to hero class is still a bad idea. I believe you should take a class (cave 1, cavern/intro, or intro/apprentice) and then go out and dive and gain experience using your new skills. Get comfortable, then move onto the next class. While not always the case, I find many zero to hero cave divers have a few things they're missing because they were focused on too many skills all at once. I also historically find the zero to hero people stay in the sport for less time. I also believe taking full cave all the way through with one instructor is a poor choice. Different instructors have different ways of teaching things and you will always learn something new from a different instructor. Of course this is all based on opinion and personal experience, so do with it what you will.