DevonDiver
N/A
The problem stems from lack of experience, leading to a lack of ability to effectively self-appraise skills relatively. This could equally be described as over/under-confidence created through ignorance.
This is a common situation for novice divers. Under-confidence, relating to actual skill, is tolerated, because it typically leads to conservative diving practices and increased safety. In contrast, most experienced divers tend to be honest and forthright towards over-confident divers, as this can lead to that diver putting themselves at risk by exceeding their limitations.
Recreational diving is prone to create over-confidence. It is a remarkably safe activity in nature and leads to divers failing to gain awareness of their capability to deal with problems that can arise. A diver can do something dangerous many times and get away with it. Hence, they think that is safe...or within their capabilities. It isn't. It is only because nothing went wrong that they percieve safety and/or capability .... not because of their actual ability to deal with issues or their skill capacity.
That all changes when you enter the realms of technical diving.
All of the technical agencies place a minimum dive and training requirement on their technical courses. That represents the bare minimum. If someone cannot understand the correlation between hours spent underwater...and the experience that provides, then they are beyond logical debate.
That said, it must be remembered that a minimum dive requirement is just a benchmark. Simply because you have achieved that initial benchmark, does not mean that you are ready. Hence why the tech agencies always recommend that the instructor concerned conducts an assessment of the student before initiating the training.
The best way for anyone to understand their likely capacity for training at a higher level is to get an honest appraisal from somebody who is already at that level. That could be either an experienced tech diving mentor, or instructor. It is vital to be receptive to that appraisal. Whether that appraisal in in-water, sat at a table, or over the internet (based on dive count), it is valid. The suggestions given will carry the weight of experience held by the mentor..and will be based upon reality.
Should a diver be unwilling to accept those recommendations, then they are forced to rely upon their own self-appraisal - which is likely to be flawed, due to lack of knowedge (of their skills iand/or the requrements needed at a higher level). Ego can have have a major impact on the accuracy of this self-appraisal also.
Whilst it could only ever be a very inaccurate method of self-appraisal (lacking clarity on the requirements of higher training), the diver could evaluate their own capacity through the attempt of the skills taught at that level. This is obviously dangerous, because if they fall short, then they won't be supervised by anyone who can help them....
Items to 'attempt' could be:
1. Deployment of DSMB,.... whilst maintaining +/- 50cm hover. Blow the hover is a fail..... whilst conducting an ascent at the appropriate rate. Variance from the ascent rate is a fail. Try in blindfolded. Try it with a simulated freeflow. Try conducting shut-down drills in the middle of DSMB deployment...whilst maintaining either/both hover or ascent rate.
2. Maintaining dive awareness by loggin depth and air levels at 2 min intervals throughout the dive (failing to log these exactly could be considered a 'fail').
3. Conduct an ascent and pre-determined stops without a mask. Failure to adhere to the set ascent speed and missing a stop (for correct ime and correct depth) is a fail.
4. Maintain a hover +/- 50cm for 15 minutes, whilst simulataneously carrying out a variety of drills as taught on the OW course (i.e. mask remove and replace, air-sharing, cramp removal, LPI disconnect and reconnect etc etc etc)
5. Conduct dives where you precisely follow your pre-dive plan.... Plan your dives with absolute high detail and see if you are capable of following them. Plan to include ascent rates, stops, descent, multi-leveling etc. Any delays in leaving depth are a failure. And variance in ascent rate is failure. Losing control of bouyancy +/1 50cm is failure...etc etc No excuses for delays. Navigation has to be perfect. Depth control has to be perfect. Self-discipline has to be perfect. See if peer pressure from other divers can sway you from your pre-determined goals.
6. Practise gas changes. Use air in all tanks, but practice swapping between sources according to a simulated schedule. Get it wrong once (breath from the wrong tank at the wrong time) is a failure. Do it enough time so that you get complacent with it. Complacency is what causes errors with this. Do it enough, so it gets easy...and see if you ever make a mistake. Do it whilst ascending. Whilst timing stops. Whilst dealing with mask floods or reg failures. See if the distractions cause errors.
Just remember that a failure in one of these, on a deco dive, could mean life in a wheelchair, or worse.
a final few....
7. Empty your bank account. Take money out and just burn it. Tell your partner that you can no longer afford to eat in nice restaurants. See how you feel when a $100 bill flares into ashes in your hand. If it hurts.... you aren't ready for tech.
8. Ask every diver you know to criticise you. Welcome them to tear apart every aspect of your skill...every procedure you attempt... every second of every dive. Invite them to riddicule your gear. Trash talk your decision making process. Encourage them to tell you what your limitations are. If you get close-minded, or your ego leads you into confrontation or outrage.... then you fail.
Doing something successfully once is not an indication that you could do it successfully every time. That is a miss-appreciation that many divers gain from recreational diving courses (i.e. the PADI definition of 'mastery'). This is one of the big mindset adaptations that you need to understand before attempting to transition into technical diving.
Those should realistically take at least 35-50 + dives to become fluid, instinctive and natural. Quite probably longer for some. Rarely shorter for anyone.
Why do so many tech divers and tech instructors automaticallyjudge someone unready if they have sub-100 dives? Because they know that a recreationally trained diver cannot possibly have the experience required to have absorbed everything necessary for tech training.
Add to that the 'intangible' aspects.... such as a diver's comfort zone, reaction to pressure, ability to deal with stress, problem solving ability and capacity for multi-tasking. These aspects form a critical part of technical diving. A diver can only learn to understand their capacity through increasing experience underwater. More dives = more experience = more problems encountered = better self appraisal of capacity = more knowledge = better problem solving = increased comfort zone = less stress = more deserved confidence etc etc etc
It's impossible to anticipate your reaction to stress. Ego skews your self-awareness of your limitations. A good mentor or instructor in tech diving will make your capacity in these 'intangibles' obvious to you. I've never met anyone who didn't find their first introduction to tech diving to be a humbling experience. Just don't be in a rush to spend $$$'s on training until you have some form of realistic (not ego driven) self-appreciation of your suitability for it.
This is a common situation for novice divers. Under-confidence, relating to actual skill, is tolerated, because it typically leads to conservative diving practices and increased safety. In contrast, most experienced divers tend to be honest and forthright towards over-confident divers, as this can lead to that diver putting themselves at risk by exceeding their limitations.
Recreational diving is prone to create over-confidence. It is a remarkably safe activity in nature and leads to divers failing to gain awareness of their capability to deal with problems that can arise. A diver can do something dangerous many times and get away with it. Hence, they think that is safe...or within their capabilities. It isn't. It is only because nothing went wrong that they percieve safety and/or capability .... not because of their actual ability to deal with issues or their skill capacity.
That all changes when you enter the realms of technical diving.
All of the technical agencies place a minimum dive and training requirement on their technical courses. That represents the bare minimum. If someone cannot understand the correlation between hours spent underwater...and the experience that provides, then they are beyond logical debate.
That said, it must be remembered that a minimum dive requirement is just a benchmark. Simply because you have achieved that initial benchmark, does not mean that you are ready. Hence why the tech agencies always recommend that the instructor concerned conducts an assessment of the student before initiating the training.
The best way for anyone to understand their likely capacity for training at a higher level is to get an honest appraisal from somebody who is already at that level. That could be either an experienced tech diving mentor, or instructor. It is vital to be receptive to that appraisal. Whether that appraisal in in-water, sat at a table, or over the internet (based on dive count), it is valid. The suggestions given will carry the weight of experience held by the mentor..and will be based upon reality.
Should a diver be unwilling to accept those recommendations, then they are forced to rely upon their own self-appraisal - which is likely to be flawed, due to lack of knowedge (of their skills iand/or the requrements needed at a higher level). Ego can have have a major impact on the accuracy of this self-appraisal also.
Whilst it could only ever be a very inaccurate method of self-appraisal (lacking clarity on the requirements of higher training), the diver could evaluate their own capacity through the attempt of the skills taught at that level. This is obviously dangerous, because if they fall short, then they won't be supervised by anyone who can help them....
Items to 'attempt' could be:
1. Deployment of DSMB,.... whilst maintaining +/- 50cm hover. Blow the hover is a fail..... whilst conducting an ascent at the appropriate rate. Variance from the ascent rate is a fail. Try in blindfolded. Try it with a simulated freeflow. Try conducting shut-down drills in the middle of DSMB deployment...whilst maintaining either/both hover or ascent rate.
2. Maintaining dive awareness by loggin depth and air levels at 2 min intervals throughout the dive (failing to log these exactly could be considered a 'fail').
3. Conduct an ascent and pre-determined stops without a mask. Failure to adhere to the set ascent speed and missing a stop (for correct ime and correct depth) is a fail.
4. Maintain a hover +/- 50cm for 15 minutes, whilst simulataneously carrying out a variety of drills as taught on the OW course (i.e. mask remove and replace, air-sharing, cramp removal, LPI disconnect and reconnect etc etc etc)
5. Conduct dives where you precisely follow your pre-dive plan.... Plan your dives with absolute high detail and see if you are capable of following them. Plan to include ascent rates, stops, descent, multi-leveling etc. Any delays in leaving depth are a failure. And variance in ascent rate is failure. Losing control of bouyancy +/1 50cm is failure...etc etc No excuses for delays. Navigation has to be perfect. Depth control has to be perfect. Self-discipline has to be perfect. See if peer pressure from other divers can sway you from your pre-determined goals.
6. Practise gas changes. Use air in all tanks, but practice swapping between sources according to a simulated schedule. Get it wrong once (breath from the wrong tank at the wrong time) is a failure. Do it enough time so that you get complacent with it. Complacency is what causes errors with this. Do it enough, so it gets easy...and see if you ever make a mistake. Do it whilst ascending. Whilst timing stops. Whilst dealing with mask floods or reg failures. See if the distractions cause errors.
Just remember that a failure in one of these, on a deco dive, could mean life in a wheelchair, or worse.
a final few....
7. Empty your bank account. Take money out and just burn it. Tell your partner that you can no longer afford to eat in nice restaurants. See how you feel when a $100 bill flares into ashes in your hand. If it hurts.... you aren't ready for tech.
8. Ask every diver you know to criticise you. Welcome them to tear apart every aspect of your skill...every procedure you attempt... every second of every dive. Invite them to riddicule your gear. Trash talk your decision making process. Encourage them to tell you what your limitations are. If you get close-minded, or your ego leads you into confrontation or outrage.... then you fail.
Doing something successfully once is not an indication that you could do it successfully every time. That is a miss-appreciation that many divers gain from recreational diving courses (i.e. the PADI definition of 'mastery'). This is one of the big mindset adaptations that you need to understand before attempting to transition into technical diving.
Those should realistically take at least 35-50 + dives to become fluid, instinctive and natural. Quite probably longer for some. Rarely shorter for anyone.
Why do so many tech divers and tech instructors automaticallyjudge someone unready if they have sub-100 dives? Because they know that a recreationally trained diver cannot possibly have the experience required to have absorbed everything necessary for tech training.
Add to that the 'intangible' aspects.... such as a diver's comfort zone, reaction to pressure, ability to deal with stress, problem solving ability and capacity for multi-tasking. These aspects form a critical part of technical diving. A diver can only learn to understand their capacity through increasing experience underwater. More dives = more experience = more problems encountered = better self appraisal of capacity = more knowledge = better problem solving = increased comfort zone = less stress = more deserved confidence etc etc etc
It's impossible to anticipate your reaction to stress. Ego skews your self-awareness of your limitations. A good mentor or instructor in tech diving will make your capacity in these 'intangibles' obvious to you. I've never met anyone who didn't find their first introduction to tech diving to be a humbling experience. Just don't be in a rush to spend $$$'s on training until you have some form of realistic (not ego driven) self-appreciation of your suitability for it.
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