How you ID your Deco tanks

[KevinNM]

If the instructor knows what they are doing they can task load people way, way beyond what they will run into on a typical dive.

 

[Bennno]

If the instructor knows what they are doing they can task load people way, way beyond what they will run into on a typical dive.

'Typical' dives are not the issue. If nothing goes wrong anyone can do any dive pretty much... you wanna prepare for when the **** hits the fan and you can't create a situation in training that's as 'real' as a real life screw up or issue. ... the problem in really judging someones skill level is, you will only know if somebody is good when **** happens and they get out alive!
It's like Mike Tysen said: 'Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.' I think that's true in diving as well.

 

[DevonDiver]

If the instructor knows what they are doing they can task load people way, way beyond what they will run into on a typical dive.

... and so they should. Technical training is about preparedness for the worst-case scenario, not false confidence under an assumed best-case outcome.

Recreational divers, whose activities are limited to very forgiving potential consequences, are generally fine to persist with believing that their competency is defined by inconsequential and uneventful dives.

A properly trained technical diver intimately understands their real limits of physical and psychological capacity when something or everything goes wrong.

 

[Remy B.]

As Andy mention.

We were 3 in our course, and it took us about 20+ dives to get things timely, ascent rate, deploy SMB, keep buoyancy, follow buddy protocol, check DC, Gauges, Dive plan, follow Dive plan to the letter, as well passing on your stage bottles, valve drills, right in that exercise, the Instructor go out of air, and all that not losing you buoyancy, we were denigrated ( in a good way during the course ), there is when I noticed that I was really learning to dive.

we were doing 3 courses in one, AN, DP, Helitrox, when the time of the real Deco dives came, which are the Exam dives, 1 did not pass the Helitrox, which was the last day of the two days exams.

day one of the Exam, I had a free flow, day two I had another one on the same regulator, so I got bonus learning scenarios, because these were not drills, it scarred the shait out of me the first day I had the free flow at 40m, still shait my drysuit the second day at 45m but was not so bad.

First free flow I aborted the dive, and other diver as well as he was very uncomfortable at depth we signaled our intentions to the INST, we followed the Deco plan and got out, the INST stayed with the other diver and completed the dive, both started with different buddies and ended with a different one, we got some arsh chewing, but give us one more opportunity, second Deco dive of the day went good, 2nd day of the Exam I got another free flow gain, now my instructor just looked at me like what are you going to do, I knew I had to continue or I was not going to pass the Exam.

Second day of the Exam my buddy was my Instructor, but ended up with the other Buddy as the other diver got unconfortable in the descent and aborted the dive again.

A lot go thru your mind, when all that shait happen, it is stressful and the instructor put more pressure on that moment, which is good, but it pays a toll.

1st day of the Exam after the free flow and arsh chewing, I got demoralized to a point that I didn't want to continue, but me and the instructor got a short talk to go thru everything and I continue and finished my courses.

 

[Remy B.]

Especially when they're doing dives to 180' on air and feel anxious on every decent, as he said he does in another thread a couple of days ago. Anxiety and task loading don't go together well.
In a training situation it's always easier.

Before you continue as Scuba Police, read again that same thread I started and put the full explanation out when you want to re-direct here, not only your part of the Story how you see things, very easy to speculate and assume behind a key board.

 

[Bennno]

... very easy to speculate...

I'm not speculating about anything. You said it!

Yesterday I did a deep dive with air from a boat, I have noticed that everytime on descent, when I do a deep dive I breath heavily, most likely by anxiety, after I reach the target depth I calm down and lower my breathing rate.

It was my 1st time with air and that deep, I normally do Helitrox and didn't go beyond 46m and the mixes of 25/25 or 21/30, yesterday just air

When you're narced and/or anxious, everything is harder, you won't be able to focus properly and you're more prone to make mistakes... I know that you don't want to hear that, but it's true.

 

[DevonDiver]

I got demoralized to a point that I didn't want to continue...

Same thing happened to me on my first technical training (with Mark Powell). I was a BSAC instructor and PADI DM with over 300 dives and (mistakenly) thought I was a reasonably skillful diver... I'd taken dive skills seriously up to that point.

Mark made me feel like an unskilled idiot... and I was tempted to quit after the first weekend of training. My performance was unexpectedly (by me) terrible.

I persisted with training and got the courses finished. But I was humbled... and had no illusions that I was barely competent as a basic technical diver. However, I then knew what was expected of me and had the standards by which to golf myself against and continue the... long... process of development towards gaining relaxed competency. Many years later, I still push myself and constantly strive for improvement. There's no end-point.

As a technical instructor, even though I might be extremely demanding and critical, I do have a fundamental and deep respect for my students who put in a lot of effort and have the robust mental strength to overcome the ego-bruising and sheer mental / physical fatigue associated with quality tech training.

The first ego lesson recreational divers learn in tech class is that whilst they may have been a 'big fish' in the recreational pond, they become a 'tiny fish' in the tech pond. And there's always a bigger pond and much bigger fish every time you step up in levels...

Nobody should breeze through technical training... at any level. Even after many years of non-stop focused hard work developing my skills (as a full-time tech diver and instructor) I'd still be disappointed by a tech course / instructor that didn't challenge me and reveal weaknesses in my game. That's what I pay for... the harsh lesson...the real development.

I don't blame recreational divers for not understanding the realities of technical diving training.... nothing in the recreational syllabus or nature of recreational training schemes truly prepares one for taking that big step up.

 

[Remy B.]

I'm not speculating about anything. You said it!





When you're narced and/or anxious, everything is harder, you won't be able to focus properly and you're more prone to make mistakes... I know that you don't want to hear that, but it's true.

You are getting better, but that is not the full story, please read what you put before and see what you put now, do you see the difference ?

 

[DevonDiver]

You are getting better, but that is not the full story, please read what you put before and see what you put now, do you see the difference ?

Me? There's no inconsistency. Can you quote what's confusing you please?

 

[RainPilot]

He was replying to Bennno, Andy.