How you ID your Deco tanks

[RainPilot]

I suspect that in a gas share event, there would be a high likelihood of rushing to get off your buddies gas and onto your now breathable deco gas. The fight or flight reflex leads to stupid decisions every day. That's where training until it's subconscious and instinctive really makes a difference.

 

[RandomGuy1]

I suspect that in a gas share event, there would be a high likelihood of rushing to get off your buddies gas and onto your now breathable deco gas. The fight or flight reflex leads to stupid decisions every day. That's where training until it's subconscious and instinctive really makes a difference.

I don't think for me at least that just being on a gas share would trigger fight or flight. OOA prior to that probably, but I would hope you would have calmed down before reaching your gas switch depth. I do like the idea of training for a gas swap from a gas share and I think it would add an interesting dynamic. Going to have to incorporate that one.

 

[DevonDiver]

I guess what I am trying to say is wouldn't you deal with all the stuff that has stacked up on you, and then do your gas switch.

That's logical... and correct. But the issue being described is applicable to a non-logical, task overloaded diver.

I'm sure many tech instructors will agree
- some of the most common advice we inevitably give is to slow things down and get back ahead of the curve.

Easier said than done. It's one major issue that most trainee technical divers suffer from on appropriately intensive tech courses.

Even when divers attempt to slow down and focus on the task in hand... that inevitably collapses situational awareness and can lead to a string of subsequent hazardous issues.

What's really required is a high degree of multi-tasking, all of which requirements individually demand significant skill and precision.

You can't afford to get fixated on a single task to the exclusion of everything else. But that's what inevitably happens when overloaded divers try to resolve their situation... and it only causes them further problems.

A flaw in performing any single requirement causes a cascade in stress and subsidiary problems. This can easily collapse a diver beyond their ability to cope effectively, or even remember and apply the most basic, but critical, protocols.

This sort of collapse is the norm amongst trainee technical divers, undertaking appropriately intensive and high standard tech courses.

Its not fight-or-flight. Dealing with air deprivation and other such stress factors are easily remediated in training. It's much harder to rectify an incapacity to deal with task overload and skill deficiency.

I see this all the time... and most of my students are already extremely experienced (000's of dives) recreational divers, divemasters and instructors.

In some ways, the more experienced divers embarking on tech training have the biggest problems... as they put themselves under additional performance pressure because of a need to perform well... and the disappointment when they don't. I've known some very capable, intelligent and high-performing individuals whose completely flunked tech training initially.

Sadly, it's also far from rare amongst more experienced technical divers who attempt dives beyond their capacity.

 

[lv2dive]

I have internalized most of my skills by diving at lower levels than my highest certifications. Maybe not recreational, per se, but the more typical 60-120 minute cave dives are the dives that help me build and and hone my skills to move toward becoming a (primarily) unconsciously competent* diver (obv there are some things about which I must be "conscious" at all times). When the SHTF, unconscious (vs conscious) competence is what saves your bacon. Unfortunately, getting experience primarily through training will NOT enable one to move from conscious competence to unconscious competence.

I highly recommend DIViNG - outside of training - as a way to learn. Diving does not have - and in fact should not, be at ones level, in order to build experience and skills.

*see the conscious competence learning theory:
conscious competence learning model matrix- unconscious incompetence to unconscious competence
Four stages of competence - Wikipedia

Most of my diving I have done is training diving, not as much as rec diving, because I fill I don't learn a Fuc...thing by just diving recreational, and I differ with more you dive better you get, you get more confident that is all, it doesn't mean you are getting better, if I don't push my self to do something different then I don't learn.

How you get to be a better Tec diver, by either finding a buddy that trains drills constantly with you or do Tec dives with different enviroments or more Tec courses.

Finding a Tec buddy is really hard, it has been for me at least, either by my inexperience or because the rest is just rec certified.

Experienced Tec divers will not choose to dive with rookies.

I only get to do courses when money allows it or do Tec dives.

How much rec dives can I do in a year, as many as I want, how many Tec dives you can do in a year, very little.

 

[Michael Guerrero]

This is all relevant to the Dunning-Kruger effect.

View attachment 388295

In respect to technical diving training, the recreational diver - regardless of their internet research, YouTube video watching, self-practice and personal assessment of their own competency - is still very firmly at the start of the graph.

You're painting with a pretty broad brush there.

 

[Remy B.]

There is another option. Not diving as deep is one option... there also the option to do the dive another day with with a few more deep air dives under the belt. Dive sites usually don't go away so there is the option to do a dive on another trip. If you wanna rush it and do it all in one trip, it's more risky than building up to it slowly.

I understand your point, and yes I'm inexperienced, but I will not learn anything additional, of the very small knowledge I have if I do shallower dives, I don't do Tec dives without a target, if I do those shallower dives there is no target at that depth here in Curacao, except the Superior Producer Wreck with penetration to the Engine room that is at 34m, but that one is in my ignorance more dangerous even that it is shallower and I can minimize the N2 with EAN32.

I'm going after two dive targets that have two small tug boats in one spot and one bigger one ( still small ) in another spot, both are at 50m depth, yes I'm exceeding my Certification level of 45m.

 

[lv2dive]

To further clarify, I am not saying that I am an unconsciously competent diver. I am saying that whatever skills I have that ARE unconsciously competent:

• May have been acquired through training (to varying degrees, training supported progress through the first three levels of the model)
• Reached the level of unconscious competence primarily through experience, repetition, practice.

I have internalized most of my skills by diving at lower levels than my highest certifications. Maybe not recreational, per se, but the more typical 60-120 minute cave dives are the dives that help me build and and hone my skills to move toward becoming a (primarily) unconsciously competent* diver (obv there are some things about which I must be "conscious" at all times). When the SHTF, unconscious (vs conscious) competence is what saves your bacon. Unfortunately, getting experience primarily through training will NOT enable one to move from conscious competence to unconscious competence.

I highly recommend DIViNG - outside of training - as a way to learn. Diving does not have - and in fact should not, be at ones level, in order to build experience and skills.

*see the conscious competence learning theory:
conscious competence learning model matrix- unconscious incompetence to unconscious competence
Four stages of competence - Wikipedia

 

[DevonDiver]

You're painting with a pretty broad brush there.

Having taught tech diving for over a decade, it's an accurate brush.

 

[DevonDiver]

. Unfortunately, getting experience primarily through training will NOT enable one to move from conscious competence to unconscious competence.

I highly recommend DIViNG - outside of training - as a way to learn. Diving does not have - and in fact should not, be at ones level, in order to build experience and skills.

One doesn't gain experience through training/dedicated practice... one gains ability.

Experience is about knowledge. Exposure to issues that assist with problem solving and risk awareness etc.

Read:
The Secret to Diving Expertise: Experience versus Ability

 

[Michael Guerrero]

I guess what I am trying to say is wouldn't you deal with all the stuff that has stacked up on you, and then do your gas switch.

You're right in that the physical act of gas switching is descrete. Buddy check the tank if you have one, you check the tank, check your depth, turn the tank on, pull the reg out, check buoyancy, check MOD again, test reg, swap, breath, move on.

But, if your dive has been riddled with problems up to that point, and you're still a bit shaken by the other things you've had to deal with, and feel anxious and want to hurry up and get on the next bottle so you can hurry up and get out of the water, and you're still potentially having to deal with some gear failure(s) that couldn't be fixed under water (because you couldn't reach, or needed tools, or couldn't see to figure it out, had to shoot a bag, drysuit is leaking and you're very cold, your buddy is in trouble, or whatever), that all piles up. And suddenly the simple task of verifying the right bottle and getting the reg in your mouth is eclipsed by all these other things racing through your head.