Equipment for Wreck Diving

[USMC CPL.]

BRed, can you say more about what "dockside tour" means? I will likely always hire a local company rather than going it on my own, if for no other reason than my wife is not a diver so when travelling, I will not have a diver buddy unless I join a dive company. In general though, I'd much prefer to go down with a local for my own comfort anyways. If you have a primary air failure inside a wreck without a secondary air supply you die. If you have a second/ redundant air as upply it may buy you the time to exit the wreck and return to the surface. A redundant can be a h or y valve with separate regs or a pony bottle. Hope this helps.

I'm cool with buying items that I might classify as "necessary dive accessories." I'm more concerned about what lermontov was referring to like redundant gas systems.

I do understand that wreck diving is a slippery slope to tech diving though, if for no reason than it creates motivation for going deeper and for longer. For now, I'm enrolling in AOW and only ~20 dives, so there is LOTS of time between me and tech diving. My hope is that there is some interesting lesser wreck dives that can be accessible to someone with 25-50 dives if they invest in the right education and some small items.

 

[vinsanity]

Thanks guys!! This is great info.

@geoff w, over Thanksgiving I dove the Sea Tiger, YO-257, and San Pedro off the south coast of Oahu, HI. Since I didn't get to see the inside the Sea Tiger, it was the YO-257/San Pedro trip that sealed it for me.

@Lorenzoid, The simple vs advanced dive classes is really helpful and makes sense. It would be really useful is PADI would be more specific about what their courses cover. A lot of my questions are quickly answered knowing that the PADI class only recommends diving outside and penetrating to distances where depth + penetration <= 130. After that, there are more advanced classes available in the tech world.

For the foreseeable future, I expect that I'll be doing exclusively non-tech dive-master led trips on vacation. I would definitely be interesting in opinions on whether the PADI wreck course is worth the price for that use. There are other courses I would also like to take so I have to prioritize my funds.

 

[Akimbo]

This last weekend I dove to my first wreck in HI, and I'm hooked.

As a recovering Brassoholic, I feel your pain. You might find this thread useful: Wreck Penetration

 

[scubadada]

Hi @vinsanity

The wrecks off Oahu are nice dives. Inside the Sea Tiger is also very nice, including engine room

 

[lermontov]

Thanks guys!! This is great info.

For the foreseeable future, I expect that I'll be doing exclusively non-tech dive-master led trips on vacation. I would definitely be interesting in opinions on whether the PADI wreck course is worth the price for that use. There are other courses I would also like to take so I have to prioritize my funds.

From what I've observed the intro to wreck is a waste of money. you can achieve much of what it covers by reading and watching u tube videos - id recommend working on getting excellent buoyancy control and a few extra finning techniques ( frog kick mandatory) thats your bottom line skills. If you can maintain your buoyancy at say 6m while doing things like getting a notebook out of your pocket -changing a mask and using a reel then you could consider an adv wreck course.

Much of wreck diving is manipulating equipment while maintaining trim etc managing stress and situational awareness - it takes time in the water. you can practice many of those things without even going near a wreck

 

[boulderjohn]

There have been several threads on this in the past year in which I have explained the long discussion I had with PADI about its wording and training in its wreck course. It is very confusing, and I was surprised by what I learned. I proposed different wording for some of the key concepts, and I was told that wording would be incorporated in the future. We'll see. Here are some highlights.

• It is not defined this way in the course, but "penetration" ONLY refers to entering the wreck and leaving the wreck at the same point. FOR THE CLASS, running a line is required for all penetrations. It is taught in the class, but not well enough for my taste.
• Entering the wreck at one point and leaving it at another is NOT a penetration. It is a swim-through. It is neither described nor defined in the course. A swim-through is considered open water. It can be done by anyone who uses good judgment on the challenges of that particular entry.
• The restrictions to penetrations (etc.) in the class are for that level of training and experience only. As your experience grows, you can use good judgment to exceed those restrictions. For example, the restriction on depth, distance and light (light zone only) for penetration can be exceeded when one's total of training and experience allows.

The wording I suggested contained all of that and more. I was told it was "excellent."

 

[geoff w]

@Lorenzoid When I took the PADI wreck specialty, we ran lines into the Yukon, one at a time. Other wreck classes I've DMed for there the same. When I took the TDI advanced wreck, we practiced reel work outside the wreck, but learned other navigation methods for penetrations. Inside, more effort spent on other navigation methods and skills than running lines to find our way out - instructor's priorities and emphasis. I learned a lot from both. The PADI wreck student book has a lot of practical info buried in it, probably more so than the TDI advanced wreck book. Neither class is enough preparation for a Doria penetration, but enough to start exploring wrecks within the limits of training

 

[geoff w]

... It would be really useful is PADI would be more specific about what their courses cover. A lot of my questions are quickly answered knowing that the PADI class only recommends diving outside and penetrating to distances where depth + penetration <= 130...

Spend a couple of bucks, buy the PADI wreck manual, and read it to see what is in the class. PADI is first and foremost a publishing company (every student must have their own copy of the course materials), and in general there is a lot of information in even the relatively thin crew pack books.

A very accomplished tech diver buddy got his wife nitrox certified last year for a vacation and commented to me how surprised and impressed he was with the PADI nitrox manual, something I never expected to hear come out of his mouth

 

[vinsanity]

Spend a couple of bucks, buy the PADI wreck manual, and read it to see what is in the class.

I actually considered exactly that. Buy manuals to some of the specialty classes. If I was excited by the material, take the class to really learn it hands on and be able to ask questions. If not, I still learned some basics. But the classes all come with the material, so it seemed silly to double spend... Maybe I can talk to the shop I would eventually take the class from and try and arrange to buy it from them in such a way that if I eventually take the class, they will credit me the course material I already bought from them?

 

[geoff w]

Reading the student manual is no substitute for getting the proper training. Any reasonable shop should credit you for having the current manual if you sign up for the class. If they are so hung up on selling you a manual you already have, maybe you should find a more customer friendly shop