DIR- GUE Is it worth taking Fundamentals this late in the game?

[Ez E]

Practice with your eyes closed.

Will do.

 

[crofrog]

Will do.

If you want to get really crazy. I'd practice at night with the lights out in the pool with no primary and just use your computer for reference to depth.

 

[The Chairman]

If you want to get really crazy. I'd practice at night with the lights out in the pool with no primary and just use your computer for reference to depth.

No need. Position yourself 6 inches above the bottom. Neutral? In trim? Still? Comfy? No just close your eyes. Start with 15 seconds. Open your eyes and see where you're at. Adjust weight around to compensate for being off trim. Keep at it until you maintain your resting trim for a minute or two with your eyes closed. Once you've gotten your resting trim down, you're golden.

 

[crofrog]

No need. Position yourself 6 inches above the bottom. Neutral? In trim? Still? Comfy? No just close your eyes. Start with 15 seconds. Open your eyes and see where you're at. Adjust weight around to compensate for being off trim. Keep at it until you maintain your resting trim for a minute or two with your eyes closed. Once you've gotten your resting trim down, you're golden.

That’s great for trim but a lot of the work in fundies is learning how to hold a depth on your computer, the best way to do that is to get far enough away from the bottom so that you need to use your computer to hold position in the water column

 

[flymolo]

That’s great for trim but a lot of the work in fundies is learning how to hold a depth on your computer, the best way to do that is to get far enough away from the bottom so that you need to use your computer to hold position in the water column

is that true? i find staring at the computer throws me more than it helps. maybe i just need to practice it more though

 

[inquis]

i find staring at the computer throws me more than it helps

Same for me, probably due to the inherent lag. I switched to using the tiny particulates in the water as the primary reference once at a desired depth.

 

[flymolo]

Same for me, probably due to the inherent lag. I switched to using the tiny particulates in the water as the primary reference once at a desired depth.

yup. or a teammate if the water is gin-clear. if my teammate isn't super stable i might glance at the computer occasionally and just try not to overshoot with any changes in buoyancy, which seems to work well enough

 

[The Chairman]

That’s great for trim but a lot of the work in fundies is learning how to hold a depth on your computer,

If you don't have that down, trying to hold depth with a PDC becomes a lot harder.

 

[crofrog]

is that true? i find staring at the computer throws me more than it helps. maybe i just need to practice it more though

On a tech dive you need to be able to hold your depth +/- 1.5ft in the blue. Someone in the team has be using the computer and flying the instruments.

Same for me, probably due to the inherent lag. I switched to using the tiny particulates in the water as the primary reference once at a desired depth.

Yes the lag is an issue, it's something that can be learned and compensated for, it's like flying an airplane on the instruments. It needs to be part of your scan, you need to learn the cues and anticipate what changes are going to be needed. One thing I've found and this isn't required, but is something worth noting using a computer in either meters that displays 10ths of a meter, or a computer that displays 10th of a feet. Provides feedback more quickly than a one that only displays whole feet and rounds.

You should absolutely be using other cues as well, but in my opinion your computer is the source of truth for where you are.

yup. or a teammate if the water is gin-clear. if my teammate isn't super stable i might glance at the computer occasionally and just try not to overshoot with any changes in buoyancy, which seems to work well enough

In a 3 person team this gets easier if everyone is stable, but in a 2 person team doing something like an s-drill you better be frequently cross-referencing your gauges or it's real easy for the whole team to move down 2-3 feet together. Inside our team we have visual cues we use for who's responsible for maintaining the depth of the team, with whoever is responsible clearly bringing their computer into their line of sight with the computer directly in front of them with the elbow bent at 90ish degree angle.

This is the signal to the rest of the team that they can use that person for the depth reference. It also makes sure the computer is at a consistent depth, so that you're not responding to moving your arm around. It's easier to swing a computer through a 1-2ft depth range by just moving your arm. Also by having it in your line of sight you don't need to move your eyes as far to scan between what your team is mate is doing when you're monitoring them doing a gas switch or valve drill, and your depth.

 

[flymolo]

On a tech dive you need to be able to hold your depth +/- 1.5ft in the blue. Someone in the team has be using the computer and flying the instruments.

can't say much else except that it's harder on a rebreather and more than an occasional glance at the computer to reference depth seems to hinder that