Funny, I know several that will, ask your instructor for sure. According to the CDS site, a typical BCD is all that's required at the Intro level. I know I took mine in a jacket style BCD.
Help with gear configuration for Intro to Cave class.
- Thread starter Doof
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Funny, I know several that will, ask your instructor for sure. According to the CDS site, a typical BCD is all that's required at the Intro level. I know I took mine in a jacket style BCD.
Just thought I'd fill you all in on how the class went, and what happened with all of my gear.
I got down there, and since I was staying at the same campground as my instructor, I had a lot of time to pick his brain about gear. I showed him my setup, and he was pretty impressed with what I had done with the research I had been doing (mainly stuff I'd read on here).
But.... (there's always a but, right?) at one point he said something that made me wonder if he was really all that happy with it, so I said "What, you don't like my rig?"
"No, I don't. But I'll train you in it if that's what you have."
"You'd rather see me in a backplate and harness."
"Yes."
Ok.... well, nothing I can do about it now. But later, as we were touring EE and Ginnie Springs, a thought started encroaching on my mind.
Long story short, I wound up returning to the campground with a shiny new Halcyon backplate, harness, and Pioneer 36# wing. Oh, yeah, and a credit card that had a slightly higher balance on it that it had before. Oh, well. I was planning on buying this stuff anyway...
So there I was, my first day of Cavern class, at Orange Grove, with a brand new rig. And what a mess it was!
I had set my tank up a tad too high, so my trim was shot all to s&*t. Nothing quite as exciting as trying to tie off a reel when you're standing on your head. All of the exertion of trying to stay horizontal drained that tank fast. I managed to get through the line drills with relative ease. Enough so that my instructor decided to give me a nice mess of tangled lines to navigate with my mask off. He always told me that if you can't see, you need to make DAMN sure that you're still on the right line when you encounter a tie-off or wrap, or worse... another line. So I took my time, and made sure that my little (ok - they're not so little) fingers didn't stray onto the wrong line - and thankfully, I managed just that. So the line drills went relatively well. Not pretty - thanks to my trim problems - but well.
The following day at Ginnie Cavern things were better, although I still wasn't as comfortable in the backplate as I was in my jacket. (getting all tangled up in the guideline didn't help - but that was the first and last time that happened!) While I wasn't necessarily comfortable with it, I could instantly recognize the benefits to the backplate and knew it was just a matter of getting used to it all. Each dive got better and better. By the end of my two week vacation down there, it felt almost like second nature wearing it. I wish I had purchased one right from the beginning.
Of all the skills I had to learn in the Cavern\Intro to Cave classes, I'd say the valve drills were my least favorite. I was using borrowed tanks (lp104's) with H-Valves, and while I got relatively good at getting my hand onto those valves, turning them was a pain. Even on land those valves were kind of stiff, so wearing them on my back underwater was even worse. The first few times I tried it, I wound up doing strange somersaults trying to turn it off. By the end of the week, I was pretty casually reaching up and turning. I can't wait to get valves for my tanks. Hopefully they won't be quite so stiff.
Anyway, I know this is kind of rambling all over the place, but I thought I'd share how things turned out with those of you that gave me pointers in here.
I got down there, and since I was staying at the same campground as my instructor, I had a lot of time to pick his brain about gear. I showed him my setup, and he was pretty impressed with what I had done with the research I had been doing (mainly stuff I'd read on here).
But.... (there's always a but, right?) at one point he said something that made me wonder if he was really all that happy with it, so I said "What, you don't like my rig?"
"No, I don't. But I'll train you in it if that's what you have."
"You'd rather see me in a backplate and harness."
"Yes."
Ok.... well, nothing I can do about it now. But later, as we were touring EE and Ginnie Springs, a thought started encroaching on my mind.
Long story short, I wound up returning to the campground with a shiny new Halcyon backplate, harness, and Pioneer 36# wing. Oh, yeah, and a credit card that had a slightly higher balance on it that it had before. Oh, well. I was planning on buying this stuff anyway...
So there I was, my first day of Cavern class, at Orange Grove, with a brand new rig. And what a mess it was!
I had set my tank up a tad too high, so my trim was shot all to s&*t. Nothing quite as exciting as trying to tie off a reel when you're standing on your head. All of the exertion of trying to stay horizontal drained that tank fast. I managed to get through the line drills with relative ease. Enough so that my instructor decided to give me a nice mess of tangled lines to navigate with my mask off. He always told me that if you can't see, you need to make DAMN sure that you're still on the right line when you encounter a tie-off or wrap, or worse... another line. So I took my time, and made sure that my little (ok - they're not so little) fingers didn't stray onto the wrong line - and thankfully, I managed just that. So the line drills went relatively well. Not pretty - thanks to my trim problems - but well.
The following day at Ginnie Cavern things were better, although I still wasn't as comfortable in the backplate as I was in my jacket. (getting all tangled up in the guideline didn't help - but that was the first and last time that happened!) While I wasn't necessarily comfortable with it, I could instantly recognize the benefits to the backplate and knew it was just a matter of getting used to it all. Each dive got better and better. By the end of my two week vacation down there, it felt almost like second nature wearing it. I wish I had purchased one right from the beginning.
Of all the skills I had to learn in the Cavern\Intro to Cave classes, I'd say the valve drills were my least favorite. I was using borrowed tanks (lp104's) with H-Valves, and while I got relatively good at getting my hand onto those valves, turning them was a pain. Even on land those valves were kind of stiff, so wearing them on my back underwater was even worse. The first few times I tried it, I wound up doing strange somersaults trying to turn it off. By the end of the week, I was pretty casually reaching up and turning. I can't wait to get valves for my tanks. Hopefully they won't be quite so stiff.
Anyway, I know this is kind of rambling all over the place, but I thought I'd share how things turned out with those of you that gave me pointers in here.
Congratulations on the course. What was your favorite dive?
I'd have to say that the most enjoyable dive for me was Peacock I, heading up the Peanut Tunnel. I liked being able to relax and just enjoy the view without having to worry about fighting flow like at Devil's Ear & Eye. Although riding the flow out was fun, too. I just hate burning so much air so quickly. But not having to swim all that distance back out is kind of nice.
I managed an almost 1300' penetration at Peacock. I was using a single lp104, and my instructor (acting as guide at this point since I had finished the course) decided to turn the dive due to distance, since we had gotten in that far and I still hadn't hit thirds. I would have liked to go further, but he's probably right. I should probably be extending my range more slowly. It's just hard to hold back.
ut:
He told me that my comfort level seems to be very high. A little to high for his liking. I don't think he believes I really understand the gravity of the situation that I'm getting myself into. I'm not sure I agree with him. I'm just not a twitchy person, and I've worked really hard the last couple of years at keeping a cool and level head when things don't go smoothly.
Maybe that comfort level will bite me in the ass, and maybe it will save my life someday. Only time will tell.
I also really liked Orange Grove. I don't remember how far in we went, but it was really awesome to do that dive, through that silty floor, without stirring it up, and then exit to find that a class of OW students had destroyed the visibilty outside the cave. It was nice to contrast where I came from (OW student) to where I am now (Intro Cave cert.) like that. When we surfaced, I said to my instructor, "I want to go back in the cave... where I can see!"
I managed an almost 1300' penetration at Peacock. I was using a single lp104, and my instructor (acting as guide at this point since I had finished the course) decided to turn the dive due to distance, since we had gotten in that far and I still hadn't hit thirds. I would have liked to go further, but he's probably right. I should probably be extending my range more slowly. It's just hard to hold back.
ut: He told me that my comfort level seems to be very high. A little to high for his liking. I don't think he believes I really understand the gravity of the situation that I'm getting myself into. I'm not sure I agree with him. I'm just not a twitchy person, and I've worked really hard the last couple of years at keeping a cool and level head when things don't go smoothly.
Maybe that comfort level will bite me in the ass, and maybe it will save my life someday. Only time will tell.
I also really liked Orange Grove. I don't remember how far in we went, but it was really awesome to do that dive, through that silty floor, without stirring it up, and then exit to find that a class of OW students had destroyed the visibilty outside the cave. It was nice to contrast where I came from (OW student) to where I am now (Intro Cave cert.) like that. When we surfaced, I said to my instructor, "I want to go back in the cave... where I can see!"
Doof once bubbled...
I'd have to say that the most enjoyable dive for me was Peacock I, heading up the Peanut Tunnel.
Peanut is a beautiful tunnel.
I would have liked to go further, but he's probably right. I should probably be extending my range more slowly. It's just hard to hold back.
I agree completely
He told me that my comfort level seems to be very high. A little to high for his liking. I don't think he believes I really understand the gravity of the situation that I'm getting myself into. I'm not sure I agree with him.
Sounds very familiar.
Cheers and enjoy cave diving. Are you thinking of doing full cave?
malammon
Guest
Who do you teach through?
Good luck Doof, I hope you enjoy the course as much as I did.
Malammon, I teach independently now and use the services of a couple of shops. Most of my students either have their own equipment or use some of mine, so gear is typically not an issue. I accept referrals from two shops in Gainesville.
I'm starting Cave Instructor "internship" next month and will be fortunate enough to be working with some of the crew from Cave Excursions. These guys know about gas and teaching, so I am very fortunate to be learning from them.
Cheers and safe diving,
Sherpa
Malammon, I teach independently now and use the services of a couple of shops. Most of my students either have their own equipment or use some of mine, so gear is typically not an issue. I accept referrals from two shops in Gainesville.
I'm starting Cave Instructor "internship" next month and will be fortunate enough to be working with some of the crew from Cave Excursions. These guys know about gas and teaching, so I am very fortunate to be learning from them.
Cheers and safe diving,
Sherpa
What do you different in the DIR based course? Is it a GUE course or do just follow DIR protocol?
Good luck with your internship! One more question though...If you intern with the folks at Cave Excursions won't that put you out of faver with the folks on the other side of the tracks?
Post deleted due to the offensive nature to a certain group of far superior individuals.
Jamie
Jamie
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