GUE DPV 1 - British Columbia

[nadwidny]

Of course I asked Dan that, and although I wasn't completely satisfied with the answer, I learned a long time ago not to question Dan's answers.

Basically he says that it is the easiest way to get the scooter out of your hands and out of your way, while still keeping control over it. To get the scooter back you just reach down and grab the shroud and you're ready to go again. The key being that it's supposed to make life easier for the diver. I found it made things a lot tougher (especially in current), but Dan swears it will become easy with time (sorta like a valve drill). I'll give it a go for a while and see...

Not sure I believe Dan on this one but like you I'll also give it a go.

 

[LiteHedded]

what kind of scooters did you guys use?
I'm not so sure how practical the between the legs thing would be with our gavins

 

[cfenton]

what kind of scooters did you guys use?
I'm not so sure how practical the between the legs thing would be with our gavins

The three of us used x-scooters and Dan used a mini gavin.

I'm also wondering how practical this would be with bottles on a leash. Maybe this technique is only used in the recreational DPV course...?

 

[PfcAJ]

It also seems suspect when you consider adding a tow scooter.

Color me skeptical...

 

[LiteHedded]

these are some of the issues i had once upon a time when I considered taking this class

 

[rjack321]

these are some of the issues i had once upon a time when I considered taking this class

Got alternatives? I don't often tow a spare scooter...

 

[LiteHedded]

Got alternatives? I don't often tow a spare scooter...

the route I went was to not take a class.

but I have had some good mentors doing the kind of diving we do. and i spent some time in the water in a little impromptu dpv workshop dealing with with multiple bottles and tow scooters with a gue instructor that understood my goals

 

[cfenton]

I sent Dan an email asking about this temp position when dealing with multiple bottles, and he said the multiple bottles doesn't change anything.

Interestingly he pointed out that he only had us holding the dpv between our legs during s-drill and valve drills for extra practice - normally he would stow the scooter during drills. Meaning that the temp position is a very short term position, which begins to make better sense to me.

The temp position is only one very small part of the course. And we can all choose to adopt, or not adopt, anything we learn in a course. What I'm getting at is that it is still a worthwhile course.

 

[PfcAJ]

Got alternatives? I don't often tow a spare scooter...

I have a double ender near the front of my scooters (its kinda under the webbing handle, connected to a small loop of bungee. You can see it on the left side of my scooter in my profile pic). When I need the scooter to be out of my hands, yet under control (bottle drops, stage switches), I clip this double ender to my crotch d-ring. The longer tow cord is still clipped off to my crotch, too.

The scooter ends up under my thighs below tow scooters, reels, and out of the way of any leashed stages/ deco bottles.

I've found this to be very handy in high flow caves that tend to pull the scooter into odd places if its not clipped off. You can still swim and back kick (its tougher with tow scoots, naturally). Something to remember is that your profile is still ~14 inches lower than without the scooter, so be mindful of the dirt below you.

You also have a way to clip the scooter to the line that's handy, as well as an easy to access double ender if you drop one.

 

[nadwidny]

Of course I asked Dan that, and although I wasn't completely satisfied with the answer, I learned a long time ago not to question Dan's answers.

Basically he says that it is the easiest way to get the scooter out of your hands and out of your way, while still keeping control over it. To get the scooter back you just reach down and grab the shroud and you're ready to go again. The key being that it's supposed to make life easier for the diver. I found it made things a lot tougher (especially in current), but Dan swears it will become easy with time (sorta like a valve drill). I'll give it a go for a while and see...

So today I tried Dan's way and I liked it. My frog kick and back kick were weak but I can see that with practice (and time on the thighmaster) that they will probably improve.

However I'm not sure how well it would work on a lead acid scooter like a big Gavin or SS.