PerroneFord
Contributor
Man, do I know that feeling. I felt it for the first time in January....
MASK CHECK!!
MASK CHECK!!
Dive-aholic:
Looking for a Cave Instructor
- Thread starter furore
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Thanks for all the referrals. I'm not in contact with any caving instructor at the moment, but I do want to buy some equipment to practice on first. Can anyone recommend any good models of bp/w and regs to get?
A few names come to mind oms/halycon/diverite.
What do you prefer?
A few names come to mind oms/halycon/diverite.
What do you prefer?
PerroneFord
Contributor
For a variety of reasons, I am going to make a STRONG suggestion that if you intend to pursue cave training in florida, you purchase DSS gear.
As for regs, hard to go wrong with ScubaPro. Apeks are also popular, but many are not purchasing AquaLung products any more for political reasons. Your call. You will not find much OMS down here.
You have gotten some recommendations on instructors. I too am looking at cave instructors and have some strong feelings. My first class will be with Jeff Bauer. I will be taking cavern with him. Some have suggest Rick Murcar for cave. I've met Rick and consider him to be a stand-up guy and have heard great things about his teaching. You might also consider Larry Green who has been voted NACD instructor of the year two years running (you better have your stuff together before you take his class though). You might consider David Rhea. Jim Wyatt is also an excellent instructor from what I have heard. Heather Choat is also a very good instructor from what I hear from my friends, and she is very active in the dive community. There are undoubtedly others who are also good.
One of the things you will have to do is to pick one of the agencies with which to get your training. The most popular seem to be NACD, NSSCDS, and GUE. I am not sure if TDI do cave training or not, though I know Larry Green is affiliated with TDI. Be forewarned. There is a LOT of political baggage between the organizations so you'll be dealing with that to a degree. I suggest you try to find the best instructor you can afford, prepare well for class, show up and work hard. Discuss gear choices with them. They will assist you.
One last thing. Though this may be somewhat controversial, I would suggest you NOT try to do cavern through full cave in one shot. I'm not saying it can't be done, but there is SO much going on in the training, from my perspective it seems best to get some real diving experience between each of the levels and let the training sink in a bit before going on. I intend to get 50-100 dives between the levels if possible. Of course I have easy access to the caves so that is tempering my decision.
Regardless, best of luck to you in doing this. And dive safe.
As for regs, hard to go wrong with ScubaPro. Apeks are also popular, but many are not purchasing AquaLung products any more for political reasons. Your call. You will not find much OMS down here.
You have gotten some recommendations on instructors. I too am looking at cave instructors and have some strong feelings. My first class will be with Jeff Bauer. I will be taking cavern with him. Some have suggest Rick Murcar for cave. I've met Rick and consider him to be a stand-up guy and have heard great things about his teaching. You might also consider Larry Green who has been voted NACD instructor of the year two years running (you better have your stuff together before you take his class though). You might consider David Rhea. Jim Wyatt is also an excellent instructor from what I have heard. Heather Choat is also a very good instructor from what I hear from my friends, and she is very active in the dive community. There are undoubtedly others who are also good.
One of the things you will have to do is to pick one of the agencies with which to get your training. The most popular seem to be NACD, NSSCDS, and GUE. I am not sure if TDI do cave training or not, though I know Larry Green is affiliated with TDI. Be forewarned. There is a LOT of political baggage between the organizations so you'll be dealing with that to a degree. I suggest you try to find the best instructor you can afford, prepare well for class, show up and work hard. Discuss gear choices with them. They will assist you.
One last thing. Though this may be somewhat controversial, I would suggest you NOT try to do cavern through full cave in one shot. I'm not saying it can't be done, but there is SO much going on in the training, from my perspective it seems best to get some real diving experience between each of the levels and let the training sink in a bit before going on. I intend to get 50-100 dives between the levels if possible. Of course I have easy access to the caves so that is tempering my decision.
Regardless, best of luck to you in doing this. And dive safe.
Thanks perrone.
Regarding the gear you mentioned. Are your recommendations specifically geared towards cave diving? ie. gear cave divers would prefer? Because I have some equipment with me now and what I'd really want to know is what constitutes and effective reg / bp/w for caving.
I think you're right on the cavern --> cave thing. I'm not counting on doing it in 1 week. I'm thinkin of cavern + intro one summer. and the rest in the next year, with plenty of practice in between.
Waddyall think?
Regarding the gear you mentioned. Are your recommendations specifically geared towards cave diving? ie. gear cave divers would prefer? Because I have some equipment with me now and what I'd really want to know is what constitutes and effective reg / bp/w for caving.
I think you're right on the cavern --> cave thing. I'm not counting on doing it in 1 week. I'm thinkin of cavern + intro one summer. and the rest in the next year, with plenty of practice in between.
Waddyall think?
in_cavediver
Contributor
furore:
Why don't you post what you have?
I have to disagree with perrone. I don't have any DSS gear. In fact, I haven't seen that DSS is all that predominant. Granted, I'm only in Florida 2-3 times a year, but those are my observations. I dive a FredT bp with Oxycheq wings. I dive Aqualung Legend regs. I've breathed through a few different regs and haven't found a better one. I don't care about the politics. It's how they breathe. Also, some cave instructors, such as Johnny Richards, will cert either NACD or NSS-CDS. His class is the same. The card looks different.
I do agree that you shouldn't do cavern through full cave in one shot. You need time to practice what you learn, especially after cavern. Cavern is where you get most of the information. The rest just build on it.
I do agree that you shouldn't do cavern through full cave in one shot. You need time to practice what you learn, especially after cavern. Cavern is where you get most of the information. The rest just build on it.
Okay, if you think buoyancy control is something you only have to learn once and after this you are perfect, think again. Buoyancy control is a never ending challenge, and Mexico is the place to really start appreciating this. High flow is a very simple part in comparison, deco is nothing.MikeFerrara:
maarten
Kate Lewis: katemlewis@yahoo.com (I have to warn you, Kate is not very good at answering e-mail.)furore:
Robbie Schnittner: Xibalba Diving
Bill Philips: bil@speleotech.com
Danny Riordan : http://www.dir-mexico.com/
maarten
mart1:
I think you misunderstood Mike. I'm sure the intention was that buoyancy control must not be given thought for the first time in the cave. You need to start working on it and improving it in OW.
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