Question Equipment for Full Cave Course in Mexico

[halocline]

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. I’m sticking to back mount, so the advice re gland orientation is something to consider. Ta. G

I would really advise anyone to try lights before buying them, especially expensive can lights. I'll bet your instructor can help you find some lights to try. I spent a lot of money on a can light and ended up selling it months later. There was nothing wrong with it, on paper it's way better than the cheap big blue handheld I'm using now. I just like the way the handheld looks in the water, and I don't have to worry about traveling with it.

You're spending all this time and money to dive in these gorgeous caves, and IMO it's really important to have a light that you like the look of in the water. It's subjective. You might even consider borrowing an older HID light. When I was diving BM, I used a LM 21W HID, big canister, and wow did that light look beautiful in the water. It also broke eventually and couldn't be repaired, but I still miss it.

 

[KevinNM]

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.

It is so personal as to your cold tolerance. I remember a Hawaii dive trip where one guy was diving in shorts and a t-shirt and a Russian girl was in two layered 7mm suits.

 

[Merida Cave Diver]

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.

Since I live here I'll share my thoughts...

1. Wet or dry - it doesn't really matter. I'm going to switch to dry but a lot of my cave dives are 2 plus hours. In a 3m wet suit I get cold right around the 2 hr mark. For your school, wet will be fine. The cenotes here are a constant temp of like 26C / 80F.

2. I use the D630 and love it. If you look at my channel www.youtube.com/@meridacavediver you can see my review on the light.

I started reading a bit of the other posts and didn't feel like reading all the drama but there was a post about our caves. Here's the deal.

You can dive a lot of our caves with back mount because they are truly massive. There are also alot of areas where you can increase the complexity with different sized restrictions. There is not just one type here. Further, the caves on the coast are more shallow than the caves here in Merida. The caves in Merida tend to start at 40M but we aren't on the Caribbean coast.

Feel free to ask me whatever you like

 

[PEDiver]

Funny enough I'm the opposite. I used to love sm. I moved to a bm ccr (because I believe it's a better progression than starting on a sm unit) and therefore have reignited my love for oc bm. I like that it's easier to just kit up and go. No fiddling in the water, no adjusting tanks as pressure changes. I still like sm. It's just hard to get me to go back. I like just being in the water once I'm there. Now when I dive sm the back and forth to the water, especially with stages in the heat gets old. As I've aged I've actaully taken my health more seriously and am in better shape than 10 years ago. That's not typical for most people as they age, so I'm sure it changes my viewpoint.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who had a similar experience. I started in BM, dived a lot in BM, and then succumbed to peer pressure to switch to SM. Did a lot of diving in SM and then one day realized I really didn't like SM outside of some specific use cases. Switched back to BM and immediately fell in love with it again. With multiple stages and 1-2 deco bottles, BM is just so much more straightforward IMHO. I do sometimes dive SM, but it's only in environments that require a more streamlined profile. Best tool for the job is now my philosophy.

 

[rddvet]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who had a similar experience. I started in BM, dived a lot in BM, and then succumbed to peer pressure to switch to SM. Did a lot of diving in SM and then one day realized I really didn't like SM outside of some specific use cases. Switched back to BM and immediately fell in love with it again. With multiple stages and 1-2 deco bottles, BM is just so much more straightforward IMHO. I do sometimes dive SM, but it's only in environments that require a more streamlined profile. Best tool for the job is now my philosophy.

When I started cave diving 12ish years ago, sm was becoming cool and I fell for it. I still love sm, but as you it's on a dive to dive basis. Right setup for the dive. I don't enjoy small caves that require sm for the most part, so bm is perfect for me.

 

[BoltSnap]

I don't enjoy small caves that require sm for the most part

As in tight space/restriction moving forward or as in short caves that don't go too far in?

 

[VikingDives]

As a diver who's done all in training in Mexico - wet/dry, can,no can, BM/SM:

1. Wet or dry: I prefer wet. When I was heavier (read, fat) wet was awesome. Now that I'm not fat, I get cold in a 7mm. Go dry and you can't go wrong. FWIW, I used to dive for an hour in a 7mm at 17c, at 136 kilos. Now at 92 Kilos, I won't touch that water without a drysuit...

2. Use a Can. Dive 2 of my intro training I dropped a non-can light into a crevasse that I couldn't recover and my instructor barely reached. You are going to want a can light at some point in your training - start with one. Can lights are a piece of cake in SM if they are routed correctly anyway.

3. BM is way easier than SM and the skills are different... I can't dive BM anymore because I can't reach my valves due to rotator cuff surgery... If I could, I'd have never transitioned to SM, but now that I have, I love it. Just understand that learning SM may be like learning to dive all over again.

3.

 

[halocline]

One thing I really appreciate about SM in Mexican caves is the ease of entry-exit. I got pretty tired of lugging doubles in and out of the water. SM is more fiddly and there is more task loading, so there's pros and cons. I also appreciate SM in the tight stuff because there's way more vertical tightness than horizontal in MX. But I dove BM for years down there and was happy.

 

[Graeme Fraser]

Since I live here I'll share my thoughts...

1. Wet or dry - it doesn't really matter. I'm going to switch to dry but a lot of my cave dives are 2 plus hours. In a 3m wet suit I get cold right around the 2 hr mark. For your school, wet will be fine. The cenotes here are a constant temp of like 26C / 80F.

2. I use the D630 and love it. If you look at my channel www.youtube.com/@meridacavediver you can see my review on the light.

I started reading a bit of the other posts and didn't feel like reading all the drama but there was a post about our caves. Here's the deal.

You can dive a lot of our caves with back mount because they are truly massive. There are also alot of areas where you can increase the complexity with different sized restrictions. There is not just one type here. Further, the caves on the coast are more shallow than the caves here in Merida. The caves in Merida tend to start at 40M but we aren't on the Caribbean coast.

Feel free to ask me whatever you like

Since I live here I'll share my thoughts...

1. Wet or dry - it doesn't really matter. I'm going to switch to dry but a lot of my cave dives are 2 plus hours. In a 3m wet suit I get cold right around the 2 hr mark. For your school, wet will be fine. The cenotes here are a constant temp of like 26C / 80F.

2. I use the D630 and love it. If you look at my channel www.youtube.com/@meridacavediver you can see my review on the light.

I started reading a bit of the other posts and didn't feel like reading all the drama but there was a post about our caves. Here's the deal.

You can dive a lot of our caves with back mount because they are truly massive. There are also alot of areas where you can increase the complexity with different sized restrictions. There is not just one type here. Further, the caves on the coast are more shallow than the caves here in Merida. The caves in Merida tend to start at 40M but we aren't on the Caribbean coast.

Feel free to ask me whatever you like

Thanks for this, much appreciated.

Yes I’ve decided to stick with my 5mm wetsuit, with tech shorts for pocket storage. I’m fine for long periods in 26 degrees and the wetsuit will be more convenient.

Nice review on the Orcatorch D630. I’ve gone ahead and bought one, so I can get used to the feel of the head / lead and incorporate the new procedures into my existing drills before the course. Nice solid, well engineered feel out of the box and I like the weight of the head compared to a high powered handheld.

Yes definitely sticking to BM. I am SM qualified, but don’t see any benefits for me personally. I’m not particularly keen on squeezing through gaps only accessible with SM. Like a cat, if I can’t push my fat arse through with a set of twins on my back, I won’t.

Thanks again for your help. G

 

[Merida Cave Diver]

Thanks for this, much appreciated.

Yes I’ve decided to stick with my 5mm wetsuit, with tech shorts for pocket storage. I’m fine for long periods in 26 degrees and the wetsuit will be more convenient.

Nice review on the Orcatorch D630. I’ve gone ahead and bought one, so I can get used to the feel of the head / lead and incorporate the new procedures into my existing drills before the course. Nice solid, well engineered feel out of the box and I like the weight of the head compared to a high powered handheld.

Yes definitely sticking to BM. I am SM qualified, but don’t see any benefits for me personally. I’m not particularly keen on squeezing through gaps only accessible with SM. Like a cat, if I can’t push my fat arse through with a set of twins on my back, I won’t.

Thanks again for your help. G

I think that's a good solid approach. When I first started, restrictions were not on my list but I went SM because it's what is most prevalent down here. Either way though you will be good. On the D630 I looked at Light Monkey, and I have a friend who has one. It's a good light but side by side I can't see the price difference and at the time when I was buying all my gear it was a real consideration for me.

If you have any questions at all let me know. If you want to see the dives we have here in Merida you can catch my channel on YouTube just look for Merida Cave Diver.

Good luck to you.