Gaining Experience and Learning Without Taking Courses

[DiverSam123]

I have 24 logged dives and am doing my PADI rescue in a few months. I love the ocean and diving and keep seeing tons of discussions all over different forums about topics and concepts I really don't understand, be it 'USN dive tables' or 'buoyancy swing' and 'neutral jets', where can I learn about things like this, does it come from technical diving or just reading around?

Also, I would love to gain more experience planning and executing my own dives, but everywhere I go (usually because I'm on holiday somewhere) there is always a DM or guide planning and leading a group. How can I improve planning abilities and practice them more in future?

Thanks!

 

[TMHeimer]

To avoid guided dives you may try places like Bonaire (I haven't been there) that have a lot of shore diving. You could plan your own dives. Deep shore diving is harder to find--we have 3 or 4 spots in our area. Local diving in the UK would be an option if you have the exposure suit for it. Buddying with an instructor or DM without it being a course may be a way to pick up info., if you know any in your area that would want to. I always advise newer divers to buddy with experienced ones (for safety as well as learning)--the only problem may be if you pick up bad habits from them. You will pick up a lot of info. in Rescue that will help. I've picked up quite a few things on Scubaboard.

 

[KDAD]

Plan more dives whether DM led or not You can (and should) plan a dive even if the dive is led by a DM. They may do the same dive over and over so it doesn't seem like it was planned but I suspect at some point those DM led dives were planned. Most of the information you need for those dives should be available before you leave for holiday.

Are you Nitrox certified? I learned alot about dive planning in the Nitrox course although it was the TDI version which provides a bit more information on planning than the SDI course which I am guessing is equivalent to PADI's (or it may have been the instructor).

Either way, plan dives that you want to take or may not even be taking. No one says that you have to actually do the dive. How much gas will you need? What is the best mix? How long can you stay at the depth you intend to dive to? These can all be planned.

Use your OW course material as a refresher. Weren't dive tables covered in it? (Wasn't in mine but I knew that going in; it was covered in Nitrox)

 

[tbone1004]

you're in the UK, king of dive clubs. Find one local to you with divers that are like minded and try to find a mentor. Other than that, read read read. If you want to be serious about your dive planning and self sufficiency, I would recommend taking a GUE fundamentals course aka Fundies.

 

[george_austin]

The US Navy pretty much did most of the early and accepted research in decompression theory and wrote a manual for combat frogmen, salvage ops (and others) which was later adopted by Los Angeles County Underwater Instructors - NAUI - PADI(much later) Part of the research included safe bottom times/depth and surface intervals for multi dives - US Navy Tables refers to the calculated Depth/ bottom times at a given depth to protect you from the risk of decompression sickness and death. Learn them and use them. That's the short answer.

Buoyancy swing refers (generally) to the amount of weight for a given amount of gas in a cylinder which you will use during a dive and which will be lost through exhalation e.g. - a steel 72 CF cylinder is approximately 6 pounds negatively buoyant when full but when "empty" is only 2 pounds negatively buoyant - so there's 4 lbs of something missing from the beginning of your dive to the end - where did it go? - exhalation bubbles. That 4 pounds between 2 and 6 is what we call the "swing" - weight yourself accordingly!

Neutral jets? Scubapro Jet Fins are considered to be neutrally buoyant or a little negatively buoyant - they sink (a little) Make sure you ask your instructor all of this too.

Many of us were self taught in subject matter which may or may not go way beyond what you might learn in a classroom setting due to time constraints. As well, lets face it, some of the advanced technical stuff is going to be of little or no interest to the average recreational diver so its kind of a "don't put everyone to sleep" with topics that only a few of us are interested in. I know, sad but that's the way it is.
Nowadays, proper weighting is considered rather unnecessary by some because of the invention of the BCD. The US Navy tables are not known by most because of dive computers and electronic dive "planners" - IMO, fundamentals never go out of style, nuff said

 

[TMHeimer]

If you have tables you can make up dives and review them. PADI's eRDPml is very good for that (and a nice toy), though it IMO is pretty useless unless you have very specific depths and times planned for the multi-level dive.

 

[KeithG]

To learn stuff: read scubaboard and then Google new terms for additional info. It takes time, but you should be able to learn lots over a few years. You will also have to learn how to filter out the BS.

Planning: ALWAYS plan your own buddy team dive even if they are group dives led by a DM. Every now and then you may find that your plan does not match the group plan. Be proactive and tell the DM before the dive that your plan is slightly different. Some will be receptive, others not so much...

 

[EFX]

To get a good base of knowledge I recommend reading the book "The Complete Diver" by Alex Brylske. He covers a wide range of topics in a non-technical style. Armed with this knowledge you will be in a better position to understand the finer points presented by the threads in SB.

 

[TMHeimer]

PADI's Encyclopedia of Rec. Diving is also good. A lot of extra info. you don't need to know, but interesting reading. Plus of course the usual stuff about equipment, DCS, etc.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

User friendly independent dive sites certainly include Bonaire, and also shore diving on Maui. Dive with someone a little (or a lot ) more experienced than you are. The best learning is by doing. You don't need to be in a hurry to be more independent. another 25 dives in the company of others won't hurt you. The big leap in skills and competence comes at the divemaster level. But I know many excellent divers, who can plan and execute safe and challenging dives who have a basic open water or maybe an advanced open water credential. And of course, your can read technical materials and manuals on you own and learn. But having a good dive buddy and diving all you can is better.
DivemasterDennis