Info How descend properly?

[100days-a-year]

Are these " articles " clickbait?
They look like clickbait. They sound like clickbait.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Are these " articles " clickbait?
They look like clickbait. They sound like clickbait.

I don't think I'm anything special in that I've descended head first, feet first, flat face down, flat face up. We should be slightly negative with full tanks.

With regards to poorly trained open water students, the only thing I can suggest is remedial training with someone who knows what they are doing (doesn't have to be an instructor). I know people who were trained by people with no formal training (but their last name begins with "C" )

 

[TrimixToo]

To descend, I empty my bladder and then exhale. I also deflate my BCD.

That warm spot you just swam through is called a urinecline.

Pete, I gotta admit, ya got me with that one!

 

[NW Dive Dawg]

Just like Sky Div'n........only a bit slower. And just like Sky Div'n........if something does go wrong, no worries..... cause you got the whole rest of your life to figure it all out!!

 

[Joneill]

Now, most charters, especially those that anchor are going to herd everyone down a line. They'll expect you to signal that your okay once you splash, yadi ya. We seemed to have missed the part about being ready to go (this includes knowing your gear is good and setup/installed properly). For this type of diving, whatever, the descent is trivial.

I've done plenty of charters yet have never gone down or been herded down a line (mooring line - have never seen an anchor used... thankfully). You generally splash and either descend with your buddy when ready and wait for the DM below the boat or wait on the surface and descend when the DM does - that is typical for Carribean boat diving in my experience.

But for deep water or high current diving and trying to get on to a specific reef or wreck, youneed to get to the bottom quick. A good captain is going to position you up current. There's no screwing around on the surface as depicted. You should be, negative, head down and equalizing immediately and often.

I disagree - I always descend head up even with a negative entry as I have trouble equalizing quickly if head down. I'll weight myself appropriately to get down quickly. There is no one way/correct way to fo this - do what works for you!

 

[johndiver999]

I've done plenty of charters yet have never gone down or been herded down a line (mooring line - have never seen an anchor used... thankfully). You generally splash and either descend with your buddy when ready and wait for the DM below the boat or wait on the surface and descend when the DM does - that is typical for Carribean boat diving in my experience.

I disagree - I always descend head up even with a negative entry as I have trouble equalizing quickly if head down. I'll weight myself appropriately to get down quickly. There is no one way/correct way to fo this - do what works for you!

It is good that you have found a work around for your equalization problems, but a head first decent is going to be significantly faster than sinking feet first. This difference could be significant on a deep challenging dive in a lot of current - not in situations where you leisurely wait on the surface for a dive guide. The two different techniques are really not equivalent.

 

[CuzzA]

I disagree - I always descend head up even with a negative entry as I have trouble equalizing quickly if head down. I'll weight myself appropriately to get down quickly. There is no one way/correct way to fo this - do what works for you!

If you're in a current trying to get on a patch reef or wreck you risk getting blown off. Same deal with poor viz, you can lose the jug line quick if you're not swimming down to it.

That's why I said, equalize early and often to avoid that issue.

As for the charters, not all, but I'm trying to do an apples to apples comparison. Obviously Molasses Reef ain't the Duane. But on the latter that is exactly what they would do.

 

[CuzzA]

You just had to open your mouth and remove all doubt, didn't you.

Of course, I seem to be the only one around here that actually has videos to back up the stuff I say instead of grabbing other people's random videos.

So that was a 1 minute descent to 120 feet. If you listen closely you can hear how quick and often I start equalizing.

I think my buddy held his breath the whole way down... I swear that guy needs half the o2 a normal man needs.

 

[Joneill]

If you're in a current trying to get on a patch reef or wreck you risk getting blown off. Same deal with poor viz, you can lose the jug line quick if you're not swimming down to it.

That's why I said, equalize early and often to avoid that issue.

I do equalize early and often but descend head up until I’m probably 30-40’ down - worked fine in wicked currents aiming for split points on sea mounts in Indonesia. I can get down fast but just don’t do it head down.

As for the charters, not all, but I'm trying to do an apples to apples comparison. Obviously Molasses Reef ain't the Duane. But on the latter that is exactly what they would do.

I have not dived from a moored boat in Florida so have never descended on a down line in current - it’s always been free descents everywhere else I’ve been (though most of the Caribbean is not high currents)

 

[Joneill]

It is good that you have found a work around for your equalization problems, but a head first decent is going to be significantly faster than sinking feet first. This difference could be significant on a deep challenging dive in a lot of current - not in situations where you leisurely wait on the surface for a dive guide. The two different techniques are really not equivalent.

It’s not been a problem for me - I’ve had to do fast negative descents in strong currents in both Fiji and Indonesia and have not had an issue - no lingering on the surface at all. I just weight myself appropriately in those situations (a little extra).