Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
I have a good friend who recently got certified by SSI (I think).
He's been skin diving for a few years (free diving - but I like the old school term).
The skin diving is to get abalone and spear fishing.
He practices in a pool and he's getting some good leg power with those long fins.
He want's to dive with me and my group of minimalists. I told him we'd love to take him aboard. "One thing" I told him half joking, " You need to learn to dive minimalist with no BC if you want to dive with us". Without the slightest pause he said "Sure man, no problem, I'll do it, let's go."
I thought, wow, cool, finally someone who we get to start off and bypass all the traps of the industry fleecing machine.
I gave him a list of the basic gear he needs to get started. This stuff is the bare basic equipment which will yield the same end result as all the stuff that costs hundreds or thousands more. I had him go to the LDS that certified him. I told him that if he wanted to spend money spend it on the reg.
He already has a good wetsuit, fins, mask, and straight snorkel.
I'm going to set him up with one of my plates. I'll get him a wing but I won't let him use it just yet.
He's getting a basic Glass & brass SPG and a basic wrist compass. He wanted the latest and greatest computer but I told him if he wanted a computer to just get a half way decent wrist computer that you can use in guage mode and that has nitrox mode(he's going to learn tables for his own good).
I'm going to start him off doing some skin dives to get his breath hold times and stamina up and gradually get him into some bigger water for conditions training. Then I'm going to put the bare pack on him and start him off back packing from the get go. We're going to keep an eye on him and get his weighting right on. I want him to get a lot of backpack dives under his belt before he even thinks of putting that wing on. Once he gets to use the wing he probably won't even remember to puff air into it at first because he'll forget it's even there. This is when I'll know that he really knows how to dive.
I'm really looking foreward to getting this kid under our wings (or backpacks). Actually he's not a kid, he's 44 years old, but he has all the wonder and excitement of a kid, and he's skinny, so I forget he's not a kid. But we call him the kid.
He's been skin diving for a few years (free diving - but I like the old school term).
The skin diving is to get abalone and spear fishing.
He practices in a pool and he's getting some good leg power with those long fins.
He want's to dive with me and my group of minimalists. I told him we'd love to take him aboard. "One thing" I told him half joking, " You need to learn to dive minimalist with no BC if you want to dive with us". Without the slightest pause he said "Sure man, no problem, I'll do it, let's go."
I thought, wow, cool, finally someone who we get to start off and bypass all the traps of the industry fleecing machine.
I gave him a list of the basic gear he needs to get started. This stuff is the bare basic equipment which will yield the same end result as all the stuff that costs hundreds or thousands more. I had him go to the LDS that certified him. I told him that if he wanted to spend money spend it on the reg.
He already has a good wetsuit, fins, mask, and straight snorkel.
I'm going to set him up with one of my plates. I'll get him a wing but I won't let him use it just yet.
He's getting a basic Glass & brass SPG and a basic wrist compass. He wanted the latest and greatest computer but I told him if he wanted a computer to just get a half way decent wrist computer that you can use in guage mode and that has nitrox mode(he's going to learn tables for his own good).
I'm going to start him off doing some skin dives to get his breath hold times and stamina up and gradually get him into some bigger water for conditions training. Then I'm going to put the bare pack on him and start him off back packing from the get go. We're going to keep an eye on him and get his weighting right on. I want him to get a lot of backpack dives under his belt before he even thinks of putting that wing on. Once he gets to use the wing he probably won't even remember to puff air into it at first because he'll forget it's even there. This is when I'll know that he really knows how to dive.
I'm really looking foreward to getting this kid under our wings (or backpacks). Actually he's not a kid, he's 44 years old, but he has all the wonder and excitement of a kid, and he's skinny, so I forget he's not a kid. But we call him the kid.