Interested in snuba or mini-b type diving

[TropicalSue]

Thanks Saxplayer. Great info! I'm taking notes & learning! Very cool stuff. I also just downloaded a free 161 page pdf from airline website (sass pdf).

I saw on mini-b usa site that the cost range around $600, up to over $1100.

I will check out the links you gave here. I have to go walk my dog now & get a bite to eat.

Thanks again, be back shortly, TS & Kelly

 

[herman]

Sue, one thing to keep in mind, compressed air is compressed air reguardless of where it comes from, be it a tank on your back or a hooka rig on the surface. As far as the physics are concerned, they act the same way and the dangers of a hooka are exactly the same as they are for scuba. Don't be fooled by the touchy feely adds of the hooka salesman, they can be just as dangerous as scuba.....maybe more so becaue of the lack of respect the touchy feely sale promos give you.



Knucklehead...... quit sucking on that octopuss, take that panzy BC off and come dive like a real man.
(Sue, just in case it's not obvious, we know each other and dive together- this is good natured messing with each other....guy stuff )

 

[Randynfla]

Hello and welcome to SB sue.

 

[TropicalSue]

Thanks Randy, and Herman, thank you too. I'm glad you mentioned that. Because I may of been not aware of that, even though it may be obvious (the compressed air). And I find it cute & entertaining that you guys joke with each other..

Sue & Kelly k9

 

[tbone1004]

You should see me and Herman in person.... It's even better. A couple weeks ago we were quite a site. He's there in a double hose regulator with no BC. I'm in a full tech setup for sidemount. Not diving together, but ran into each other. Quite a comical site.

Hence all the knucklehead comments. We have fun though, best part of scuba is the camaraderie that you build with other divers.

As far as compressed air, the biggest affect that you'll probably see is the AGE-blown lung. Cue scuba's cardinal rule-Don't hold your breath.

If I were you, I'd just take a basic intro to Scuba course and then you can do pretty much anything with any of the setups you mentioned above. Scuba 1 pretty much teaches you the basic principles and you get all the necessary practice on your own

 

[TropicalSue]

Hi Saxplayer, you guys sound great! I have been reading some books on diving and they stress to Not hold your breath during ascent. When I was a kid doing free dive, I never had any lessons. I just did what came natural, followed my natural instincts. I could of been seriously injured or killed when I was a kid doing free diving!! I was very athletic and was in the water almost every day each summer, and on weekends during winter (so cal).

I like the idea of getting basic scuba certified. I will be looking into that. I see where they have the classroom portions online, so you can learn at your own pace, then bring the material, certificate, etc.. to your instructor & do the actual suit up & dive learning.

I am a long haul truck driver (for now) and can only be home once a month for 4 days!! I applied for a local trucking job which will have me off eves & weekends. I hope I get the job!! Then I can focus more attention on my chosen hobby.

As the online classroom courses go, you can learn at your own pace. Which would be good for my erratic trucking schedule.

Thanks for the info.
Susan and Kelly k9

 

[joe8mofo]

Hi Saxplayer, you guys sound great! I have been reading some books on diving and they stress to Not hold your breath during ascent. When I was a kid doing free dive, I never had any lessons. I just did what came natural, followed my natural instincts. I could of been seriously injured or killed when I was a kid doing free diving!!
Susan and Kelly k9

Sue,

Holding your breathe while free-diving is not a problem as you take the air into your lungs at the surface, so the air compresses as you descend and then it expands as you ascend, back to the same pressure at which the breath was taken. The danger of holding your breath while on SCUBA is when you take a breath at depth and ascend, you are taking a breath at a higher pressure and that volume of gas in your lungs will expand as you ascend as the pressure decreases, causing injury.


While in Hawaii earlier this year I met a man who was diving with a mini-b system and the downside was that he was having only a few minutes in the water at a time due to the small capacity of the tank. Also he had to carry AL-80 Cylinders with him so he could fill the smaller cylinder; it seemed like a lot more work than having a regular gear setup.

 

[muddiver]

Hi Sue,

I think that Mini-b thing is halarious, and I feel sorry for anyone ignorant enough to buy one.

Personally I would go on eBay and buy either a standard scuba BC or a harness without the BC like this http://www.scuba.com/shop/display.asp_id_004037 and then strap a small scuba cylinder on it like a 30 cubic foot or 40 cubic foot cylinder. I did that once in the pool during the Scientific Diver class I assist teaching and I got about 1 1/2 hours out of my 30 cu cylinder. The pool is 14' at the deepest point.

Anyway, you can get a regulator off eBay for a lot less than retail. Just get it serviced and your off digging in the mud.

Like everyone else has stated, a basic scuba class would be the first thing you do so that you can continue to talk to use on ScubaBoard after your first shallow water scuba dive.

Snuba and Hooka are ok if you don't mind having to drag a floating object around behind you. It will blow with the wind and cause more drag than a scuba setup. Been there, done that, got the tee shirt.

The reason snuba is popular over hooka is that with snuba you just have a scuba cylinder that you take to a shop and get filled. With hooka, you have to maintain the motor and have it serviced. Gas units have to be fueled and electric unit, well, they need electricity so you have to be near an outlet.

Regardless, at 10' to 15' you don't need a BC and you only wear weight if you have a wet suit on. The weight compensates for the buoyancy of the neoprene of the wet suit so you can dive. I don't get the impression you don't wear a wet suit so you probably don't need any weights.

If you have a load for the west coast, drop me a line and we can chat over coffee.

 

[danvolker]

Sue, take a look at this link
VS Floating Systems
Brownies has always been the leader in hooka diving, and this new floating electric model is way cool. For diving less than 40 feet, in relatively benign ocean conditions, the Brownie units are awesome. I have used the gas powered Brownies on dives in Palm Beach, on sites like Horseshoe ( 38 feet to 70 feet) and found it to be great---except when the gulfstream intrudes heavily and the current really starts to blast--in huge currents, there is no getting out of the current like a scuba tank wearing diver can do when bellying up to the bottom. However, this is a ocean condition probably very UNLIKE the conditions where you are going to be diving.

I particularly like diving Brownie units in the Bahamas..the diving there is ideal for this approach to diving.

Regards,
DanV

 

[TropicalSue]

Thank you Dan, Mud & Joe. Joe, aaahhhh!!! No wonder I did pretty good as a free diver!! lol... thanks for telling me about the breathing at depth with the regulator, etc... I guess it would seem obvious, but I am a total newbie. I read in scuba books to let breath out while ascending, and you explain it good also. I will definately take lessons.

MUD: If I ever get back out west, I'll hollar at you. Thanks for the info too.

Dan: you too. Thanks for the info.

The more I read & speak w/people, the more I learn & am deciding on which setup to go. I thought of the snuba or hookah and the dragging the float on top, & possiblly tangle with people in the water, drag, etc..

I think I'll go with just plain scuba with perhaps a smaller bottle (weight?). And I have worn wetsuits in So Cal when I was a kid skin diving & surfing. And I would need a wetsuit in Florida in winter. Even 70 degree water is too cold for too long. On the upside, there would be far less if any people in the water in winter. In places a bit north of Miami, etc..

I will have to learn weather or not I'll need a bc & weights while digging for finds underwater. I'm sure when I'm certified, I'll have a better idea of how I will do my setup.

I think I'll start out with online classes money wise, then save up for the in the water scuba classes too. With not much time in between the two.

Anyone know of any good places to learn scuba in Gainesville, Florida???

ttyl, susan and my beach dog...Kelly