Most dangerous newbie mistakes

[nereas]

This is always the last thing I do before jumping in. ALWAYS. I am the most absent minded person on the planet. I have jumped in without fins, swam 200 yards out from shore to discover my weights were at home, no computer. All of these things are surviveable. No air is the one thing I can't live without so no matter how sure I am that I have turned my air on and that there is air in the tank - four breaths out of the primary while watching the guage - then jump in.

Agreed, although I also try to learn from my mistakes.

I have jumped in without my fins too, on a dive boat in Fiji. So I had to call back to the DM on the boat and say, "Excuse me, could you hand me my fins?" I don't know what I was thinking at the time, or not thinking!

I have also driven half way to the dive site and then remembered I had forgotten my tank straps. I had taken them off the wing to dry them, and left them hanging in the bathroom.

So now I simply prepare and stack everything the day before, and load the vehicle the night before, noting everything that I will need as I visualize gearing up for the dive.

The visualization drill goes something like this:

wool sox
thermals
drysuit
hood
gloves
weight belt
computers
slate
backplate/wing
STA/straps or doubles
tanks
regs
lights
knife
SMB & spool
backup SMB
reels
fins/masks/snorkel
defogger
DPV
batteries
spear / metal detector
towell
logbook & pen
C-card, med ins card, DAN ins card, credit card, drivers licence
beach chair and tarp
hat
energy drinks
snack
binos

Basically, I am visualizing myself gearing up and going into the water, the the surface interval, and the repetitive dives. Then I am checking to see that I have loaded everything that I have visualized. You cannot do this in a hurry nor distracted. It takes time and concentration.

Notice I said "backplate/wing." If the O/P is ready for a backplate/wing, then this would indeed be the ideal solution for a large diver (I am relatively large too, over 200 lbs). Alternatively, a back-inflation B/C would work well also.

You don't just put on a BPW. Someone needs to show you how to weave the harness. And you need to adjust it to your liking. And you need to practice with it in a pool before you go into the open water. It helps to have a tech instructor who can teach you all that first, before you run out and buy on your own.

 

[Stu S.]

Forgetful? A tip from 30 years ago is to "build a diver". The instructor said to lay everything out on the floor in the shape of a diver. Fins and boots on the bottom, mask and hood on top.

Look over this diver-without-body and you can easily notice if something is missing.

 

[ChrisA]

Appreciate the excellent feedback! I know "a thing or two" will eventually go wrong (Mr.Murphy is alive and well), I just hope I'm trained for it, and don't panic. I'm usually a calm person during emergencies (old ICU nurse) topside, but that's my comfort zone.
Bainbridge Quarry will be the place for our check out dives. How deep is the lagoon? My potential instructor says the visibility is around 45ft. - I bet it's cold in May.
Off to do a Walter search on panic!
Thanks again,
Ben

One one beginner mistake: Thinking that the watr near their house is only for "checkout dives". No, unless you have the time and moeny to fly off to someplace every few weeks and dive you will be doing most of your dives near where you live. If it is cold buy a drysuit.

You talked about doing well "in your comfort zone" in the ICU. The same can happen underwater. If you dive frequently enough and long enough then being underwater will become your comfort zone. It takes a while but some of my dive buddie and I remarked how odd it was to be 80 feet under water at night in the dark in about 8 feet of vis and think "this is normal". It is really no surprice because we all do this every week.

One of the biggest mistakea a new diver does. I think it is the most common mistake and the root cause of many acident is this: they don't dive. Yes simply not diving is a mistake.

You have to dive frequently enough to develope and maintain your skill and to make being under water seem "normal". For a beginner right out of Open water, I'd say waiting three weeks is to long, new divers need to get right into diving soon after class. At that early stage skill are not deeply implanted and will be lost quickly. A diver with 1,500 dives and 10 years experiance could take 6 mounts off and not loose anything.

I'd like to see the scuba industry move away from lifetime certifications and folow the aviation industry's lead and have a rul like "if you have not done 2 dives in the last 8 weeks you can only dive under supervision of an instructor. The instructor wold them have to sign your log book says that you ar "ok" to dive agin on your own. Some one who dives every month could still continue forever but the twice a year vaction divers would need those checkouts.

So I'll say it again, the biggest mistake s simply not diving.

 

[Ben_Ayers]

Chris,

Thanks for the thought provoking post. I think you are right about diving allot to become comfortable and proficient. I don't think requiring 2 dives every 8 weeks would be fair for those that live in cold climates and are basically vacation divers. In some places the water gets really hard in the winter!LOL
I might be amenable to requiring a refresher in a person that has not had a dive in 2-3 years, and recertification if no dives in 5-6 years. Of course it could be argued that this would possible put people in the water that don't belong there simply because they don't want to lose their cert. And then you have those that will simple lie.

It doesn't seem right that someone like me who was certified 25 years ago, and hasn't had a dive since, can get some air and jump in the water and kill myself. I have choices. I can just wing-it. I can spend $95 for a refresher, or I can spend $500 on recertification. I'm not one for outside agencies telling me I can't kill myself, but it seems some regulation might make the "sport" safer. But again, how do you enforce?

So, it looks like I'll be spending some serious time in the local quarry. I know every one is different, but at what water temp would most consider exchanging their 7mm for a drysuit?

Thanks,
Ben

 

[TSandM]

water temp would most consider exchanging their 7mm for a drysuit?

Anything below 65 and I'm dry. I don't own a 7 mil wetsuit, because I won't dive wet in any water that requires one. And now that White's has the Fusion, there's simply no reason not to dive dry.

 

[nereas]

Me too, TSM. I own a 1/2 mm, a 3 mm, and a dry-suit!

 

[Darnold9999]

Same here - 1/2 shortie 2/3 shortie 3 mil full and a couple of dry suits. Gave up diving wet - cold 25 years ago and won't go back.

 

[Darnold9999]

I have to say it's not always so black and white... I've also had it happen that I jump into the water... take a deep breath...and no air...

Reason why... I always religiously will check my pressure and take some breaths from my regulator. EXCEPT.. during winter times... where breathing out of the water from your regulator will increase the risk of freezing and freeflow.

During Winter I will normaly setup my gear... open the valves and check manometer but won't breath from my regulator until I'm in the water (my 1st stage under water). In these situations you could forget...

True, but the OP isn't there yet. In fact I have a secondary that is tested at the begining of every dive day and a pony tested the same way. Have yet to have a first stage freeze, but have had a backup freeze and freeflow the tank almost dry. Very annoying. One of the benefits of the new fusion is that I can reach my valves - just could not get there in my previous siut.

 

[dcs917]

Ben - you are never too old! I was certified at 42 with my 16 year old son as my dive buddy, received my Divemaster in 2007, and just received my instructor this year approaching my 52nd Birthday.


A couple of Newbie mistakes from my perspective:

• Trying to keep up with "the other guy"
• Diving beyond your training (deep, wreck, etc.)
• Diving in conditions you are not familiar with (current, tides, surge, etc.)
• Diving with gear you are not familiar with
• Diving with gear not suited to the dive environment you are in (redundancy)
• Failure to maintain bouyancy
• Failure to monitor Gas supply
• Failure to monitor No Decompression Limits
• Failure to make safe ascents & safety stops
• Failure to maintain awareness of Buddy
• Failure to keep hydrated!

Bottom line - progress slowly at a pace you are comfortable with, and do not let anybody push you beyond your comfort level. Focus and master the basic skills (mask clearing, Regulator Recovery, Air Sharing, Swimming Ascent, Bouyancy, etc.). As a Cavern Instructor once told me, "Anybody can call the dive at ANY TIME, no questions, no recriminations." If you are not comfortable, call the dive.

Hang in there, and Dive Safe.

 

[halocline]

The big newbie mistakes that I see over and over are poor buoyancy and poor buddy skills; come to think of it, those are not limited to newbies by any means.

If you're thinking about panic before even starting diving again, that could either be a good sign of caution and respect for the possible dangers or a not-so-good indication that you have some significant anxiety connected with diving, maybe from your prior injury. You might not know until you get in the water which (if either) of those is the case. Either way it's not difficult to deal with and far better to having totally unexpected severe anxiety when you get in the water!