All,
A recent e-mail exchange with a diver who took the same university PE scuba course I did about 15 years after I had taken it, started me thinking about the value of the skills we were expected to successfully complete.
I'd like to know which particular confined water training skill (pool skill) or open water training skill you had to complete, you consider among the most indelible and meaningful to you. Please describe.
For me, there were several. One of these was called the "gear checkout." This was a several hours-long skill which took place a few days before a student was to leave for the open water check-out part of his training. The student was not permitted to go on the open water check-out until he had successfully completed this gear checkout. Here's a description:
The student and his buddy came to the pool for the first time with all of the gear they would be using during their open water check-out (a five-day dive trip). The student very probably had never before used much of this gear (e.g., full farmer John and shorty wetsuit with hood, boots, and gloves, open-heel fins, power inflator and octopus 2nd stage or AIR II, dive knive, dive light, etc). A TA would discuss in detail all of the gear with the buddy pair, carefully explaining and/or reviewing, carefully demonstrating how one should always set up and test his kit before commencing a dive. Then the TA would watch and assist the students as they helped each other set up their kit, thoroughly answering any questions they might have. Then the TA would watch as the students broke down their kit, reviewing/explaining do's and don'ts.
The students were sent away, and the TA "messed up" their kit, introducing problems which could all be discovered by the students only if the students were very deliberate when they again set up their kit. The students were brought back to poolside and asked to set up their gear. The idea was, they had to ensure that their own and their buddy's gear was safe to dive: They had to discover the introduced problems.
Some of the problems, once discovered, could easily be fixed poolside by the student. Other problems could only be fixed with simple tools. But the idea was, the student had to discover the problems, and then the TA would discuss the problems and perhaps how they could be fixed.
When the students had successfully discovered the introduced problems, and the problems subsequently fixed, the students donned their full wetsuits and their kit, and determined their correct weight (i.e., did a weight check). Next, the students took a long dive in the pool, using this gear that they would use on their open water checkout, working on a few new skills (e.g., breathing off an AIR II, disconnecting a power inflator/AIR II, ascending and descending using a power inflator/AIR II, etc.)
The skill ended after the students had thoroughly rinsed/washed their gear and broken it down.
I think of this gear checkout skill every time I dive. My pre-dive routine incorporates steps I learned from this skill. I was a TA for several semesters for this university PE course, and I always looked forward to this skill, even though it meant a very long and exhausting day for us TA's (if we TA-ed a pair of divers in the morning and a pair in the afternoon, our usual schedule, and sometimes a third pair later that day).
Please describe a confined water training skill (pool skill) or open water training skill you had to complete that you consider among the most indelible and meaningful to you.
Safe Diving,
Ronald
A recent e-mail exchange with a diver who took the same university PE scuba course I did about 15 years after I had taken it, started me thinking about the value of the skills we were expected to successfully complete.
I'd like to know which particular confined water training skill (pool skill) or open water training skill you had to complete, you consider among the most indelible and meaningful to you. Please describe.
For me, there were several. One of these was called the "gear checkout." This was a several hours-long skill which took place a few days before a student was to leave for the open water check-out part of his training. The student was not permitted to go on the open water check-out until he had successfully completed this gear checkout. Here's a description:
The student and his buddy came to the pool for the first time with all of the gear they would be using during their open water check-out (a five-day dive trip). The student very probably had never before used much of this gear (e.g., full farmer John and shorty wetsuit with hood, boots, and gloves, open-heel fins, power inflator and octopus 2nd stage or AIR II, dive knive, dive light, etc). A TA would discuss in detail all of the gear with the buddy pair, carefully explaining and/or reviewing, carefully demonstrating how one should always set up and test his kit before commencing a dive. Then the TA would watch and assist the students as they helped each other set up their kit, thoroughly answering any questions they might have. Then the TA would watch as the students broke down their kit, reviewing/explaining do's and don'ts.
The students were sent away, and the TA "messed up" their kit, introducing problems which could all be discovered by the students only if the students were very deliberate when they again set up their kit. The students were brought back to poolside and asked to set up their gear. The idea was, they had to ensure that their own and their buddy's gear was safe to dive: They had to discover the introduced problems.
Some of the problems, once discovered, could easily be fixed poolside by the student. Other problems could only be fixed with simple tools. But the idea was, the student had to discover the problems, and then the TA would discuss the problems and perhaps how they could be fixed.
When the students had successfully discovered the introduced problems, and the problems subsequently fixed, the students donned their full wetsuits and their kit, and determined their correct weight (i.e., did a weight check). Next, the students took a long dive in the pool, using this gear that they would use on their open water checkout, working on a few new skills (e.g., breathing off an AIR II, disconnecting a power inflator/AIR II, ascending and descending using a power inflator/AIR II, etc.)
The skill ended after the students had thoroughly rinsed/washed their gear and broken it down.
I think of this gear checkout skill every time I dive. My pre-dive routine incorporates steps I learned from this skill. I was a TA for several semesters for this university PE course, and I always looked forward to this skill, even though it meant a very long and exhausting day for us TA's (if we TA-ed a pair of divers in the morning and a pair in the afternoon, our usual schedule, and sometimes a third pair later that day).
Please describe a confined water training skill (pool skill) or open water training skill you had to complete that you consider among the most indelible and meaningful to you.
Safe Diving,
Ronald
