Congratulations and you live in Venezuela to boot! I guess you will never need a drysuit!:cool2:
Finally got certified, and bought my gear!
- Thread starter sid101
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HAHA ya I hear that I bailed on a dive in a lake here in Florida because the temp was 55F it hurt my head so bad I called it. I did not have a hood. I dont know how people up north do it.
Hello everyone!!! sorry I haven't wrote in here again, made a couple of dives with my new equipment and then went a little sick for a few days so I didn't really sit on my comp. I must way I LOVE IT!!!
The back inflation bcd was surprisingly easy to use, it threw me down in my face in the surface once after I pushed the inflate button too long, just keeping my chin out of the water it was not a problem to move around and float.
The Seawing Nova fins are JUST AWESOOOOME!!! try them if you can.
"Buy AIR not junk per favor" what does it mean?
The back inflation bcd was surprisingly easy to use, it threw me down in my face in the surface once after I pushed the inflate button too long, just keeping my chin out of the water it was not a problem to move around and float.
The Seawing Nova fins are JUST AWESOOOOME!!! try them if you can.
"Buy AIR not junk per favor" what does it mean?
Congratulations on your certification! Overall, I think you've got a nice set of equipment, and the best part is that, owning your own, you can dive more often. And going diving is how you get good at this sport!
A couple more things you can look at, with respect to being pushed forward: If you have your weights toward the front of your body, then you have the empty Aluminum tank pushing up from behind and the weights pulling down in front. If you move the weights as far back as they can go and not end up under the tank, it will help. (If you are using integrated weights, you don't have any choice about this.) Second, if the BC is riding up on your body at all, it will tend to push you forward, too. Make sure it's fastened snugly enough that it doesn't ride up, or if you can't fix it, look into attaching some kind of crotch strap to the BC. (Moving to steel tanks will just about solve the problem, too!)
As far as the "Buy AIR" comment goes, I think knowone was recommending you do a bunch of diving with your money, instead of buying a bunch more scuba gadgets. It's good advice. And unusually easy of interpretation, for one of knowone's posts (which tend to be Zen koans at best).
Just for fun, go have a look on YouTube at the 5thD-X videos. That's the kind of control and buoyancy you want to strive for!
A couple more things you can look at, with respect to being pushed forward: If you have your weights toward the front of your body, then you have the empty Aluminum tank pushing up from behind and the weights pulling down in front. If you move the weights as far back as they can go and not end up under the tank, it will help. (If you are using integrated weights, you don't have any choice about this.) Second, if the BC is riding up on your body at all, it will tend to push you forward, too. Make sure it's fastened snugly enough that it doesn't ride up, or if you can't fix it, look into attaching some kind of crotch strap to the BC. (Moving to steel tanks will just about solve the problem, too!)
As far as the "Buy AIR" comment goes, I think knowone was recommending you do a bunch of diving with your money, instead of buying a bunch more scuba gadgets. It's good advice. And unusually easy of interpretation, for one of knowone's posts (which tend to be Zen koans at best).
Just for fun, go have a look on YouTube at the 5thD-X videos. That's the kind of control and buoyancy you want to strive for!
Thank you man!!! yes the BC has two trim weight pockets in the back and two normal releasable weights on the sides, using 18 pounds of led for now (My instructor told me once I fine tune my buoyancy I could take it down to 16 since I'm only having problems keeping down when my tank goes the last third of gas(I'm 90 kilos right now and losing weight thats about 202 pounds) I'm using 3 pounds in each trim pocket and 6 on each side, once i get to 16 I'm planing on changing the two frontal 3 pounds blocks to 2 pounds so my center of gravity moves to the back, although just inflating enough to have my chin out of the water serves me well 
Ah I see, I understand now, thank you.
Conditions on the coast are kinda harsh right now, diveable but my instructor is waiting it out before taking another OW class down, since I don't have more than 10 logs so I guess I should too :depressed:
Are there any exercises you can do to improve air consumption? I have noticed my breathing rate when relaxed is lower than underwater, I feel at ease and relaxed diving but I think there's something that's not letting my respiration go fully relaxed does this happens when someone is starting out as i am??
Ah I see, I understand now, thank you
.Conditions on the coast are kinda harsh right now, diveable but my instructor is waiting it out before taking another OW class down, since I don't have more than 10 logs so I guess I should too :depressed:
Are there any exercises you can do to improve air consumption? I have noticed my breathing rate when relaxed is lower than underwater, I feel at ease and relaxed diving but I think there's something that's not letting my respiration go fully relaxed does this happens when someone is starting out as i am??
Yes, high gas consumption is pretty typical for new divers. I have an essay I post periodically in threads where people are asking about this, but I'll give you the Cliff Notes version:
Lowering gas consumption is about becoming efficient. Rapid, shallow breathing is typical of anxious new divers, and is very inefficient, because so little gas gets to the gas exchange part of the lungs. Slower, somewhat deeper breaths use gas more efficiently.
Being correctly weighted means it's easier to be stable in the water column. Not having to add and vent gas from the BC is more efficient.
Being horizontal means all the propulsive force you generate by kicking pushes you forward, which is where you want to go. That's more efficient than having part of your kick push you upwards, and having to stay negative all the time because otherwise you'd end up rising in the water column.
Hands are not very efficient for stabilization or propulsion. Learning to use your fins for those purposes reduces effort.
Moving more slowly through the water is much more efficient, because water has such high resistance. But to move slowly, you have to be balanced (because kicking like crazy makes up for a lot of instability). Mastering good posture and distributing your weights correctly will allow you to hang motionless if you want to, which means you only have to move as fast as you really want to.
So, gas consumption goes down as you become more confident, more stable, quieter, slower, and more efficient!
Lowering gas consumption is about becoming efficient. Rapid, shallow breathing is typical of anxious new divers, and is very inefficient, because so little gas gets to the gas exchange part of the lungs. Slower, somewhat deeper breaths use gas more efficiently.
Being correctly weighted means it's easier to be stable in the water column. Not having to add and vent gas from the BC is more efficient.
Being horizontal means all the propulsive force you generate by kicking pushes you forward, which is where you want to go. That's more efficient than having part of your kick push you upwards, and having to stay negative all the time because otherwise you'd end up rising in the water column.
Hands are not very efficient for stabilization or propulsion. Learning to use your fins for those purposes reduces effort.
Moving more slowly through the water is much more efficient, because water has such high resistance. But to move slowly, you have to be balanced (because kicking like crazy makes up for a lot of instability). Mastering good posture and distributing your weights correctly will allow you to hang motionless if you want to, which means you only have to move as fast as you really want to.
So, gas consumption goes down as you become more confident, more stable, quieter, slower, and more efficient!
sid101,
One word of caution, you need to be able to ditch your weights in case of an emergency where you are having a problem staying a float on the surface. To be able to do this effectively, the majority of the weight will need to be in the ditchable weight pockets not the BC's rear pockets. Check your BC manual for instructions. I vaguely remember that you need to have 12lb of weights in the front two pockets (12lb combined) before you put anything in the rear pockets. The rear pockets can take about 5lb each. If you are going to go down to 16lb, I don't think that you should have 10lb in the rear and only 6 in the ditchable pockets. Please double check your BC instructions.
Congratulations and Safe Diving!!
One word of caution, you need to be able to ditch your weights in case of an emergency where you are having a problem staying a float on the surface. To be able to do this effectively, the majority of the weight will need to be in the ditchable weight pockets not the BC's rear pockets. Check your BC manual for instructions. I vaguely remember that you need to have 12lb of weights in the front two pockets (12lb combined) before you put anything in the rear pockets. The rear pockets can take about 5lb each. If you are going to go down to 16lb, I don't think that you should have 10lb in the rear and only 6 in the ditchable pockets. Please double check your BC instructions.
Congratulations and Safe Diving!!
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Ditching weights is overblown. If the BCD fails I doubt you won't be able to stay on the surface with 10 pounds of trim weights after you drop the front pockets.
If for some reason it is, dump the whole bcd. Someone can probably go down and get it later.
To the OP, congrats on your class and enjoy diving your new equipment.
If for some reason it is, dump the whole bcd. Someone can probably go down and get it later.
To the OP, congrats on your class and enjoy diving your new equipment.
sabbath999
Contributor
Congrats and enjoy!
Remember, the only way scuba gear is EVER worth owning is when it gets WET ... so go get your new stuff wet a lot!
Remember, the only way scuba gear is EVER worth owning is when it gets WET ... so go get your new stuff wet a lot!
NuclearOOPS
Contributor
Im sure you may have already bought your slate, since this thread is a few months old, but I fugured i'd still give some input. I first bought a three page wrist slate. I worked great at first. Then It got to the point where I was filling up all three pages in one dive. Writing down things for my logbook and for communication that there was no way to use hand signals. Canstantly having to clean it between each dive got a little annoying too. I just bought the Hollis wetnotes book and like this form much better. Just guessing, but I think its got around 50 pages. I dont have to worry about running out of room during a dive. When you fill up the whole book, they sell refills, and you cant keep the old book as a reference or just trash it.
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