Welshman
senior member
Diving Bear
Well done. I take my hat off to you for your perserverance. The fact is that diving is not a natural activity - just look at the kit you have to put on to keep you alive. Just about everyone must suffer from feelings of anxiety when they learn. I remember my first ever dive. It was a try dive and the instructor explained that in order to do it I had to remove the second stage underwater blow out some bubbles and then replace the second stage. At this point my head is about 1" under the surface and can I do this - it took at least 4 attempts and I can remember the feeling of panic when I took the second stage out of my mouth. Eventually I managed it went on the try dive and enjoyed it so much that we (my wife also did the try dive) signed up for the OW course starting the next day.
You certainly need to feel confident with the regulator - I would feel most nervous if it felt like "sucking through a straw", but the regulator doesn't need to be adjustable. I have an Oceanic CDX Alpha 7. This is a non adjustable relatively inexpensive reg but it breathes really well. You may find that as you get more experience you use less air and therefore demand less from the regulator. However at the depths you will have been operating at in your training any regulator properly serviced should have been delivering enough air without undue effort on your part.
If you feel that you are definitely into scuba for the duration you might want to check out getting your own reg set even at this early stage. Knowing that it is yours will give you more confidence. It's nice biting on your own mouthpiece knowing that no one has been there before.
Well done. I take my hat off to you for your perserverance. The fact is that diving is not a natural activity - just look at the kit you have to put on to keep you alive. Just about everyone must suffer from feelings of anxiety when they learn. I remember my first ever dive. It was a try dive and the instructor explained that in order to do it I had to remove the second stage underwater blow out some bubbles and then replace the second stage. At this point my head is about 1" under the surface and can I do this - it took at least 4 attempts and I can remember the feeling of panic when I took the second stage out of my mouth. Eventually I managed it went on the try dive and enjoyed it so much that we (my wife also did the try dive) signed up for the OW course starting the next day.
You certainly need to feel confident with the regulator - I would feel most nervous if it felt like "sucking through a straw", but the regulator doesn't need to be adjustable. I have an Oceanic CDX Alpha 7. This is a non adjustable relatively inexpensive reg but it breathes really well. You may find that as you get more experience you use less air and therefore demand less from the regulator. However at the depths you will have been operating at in your training any regulator properly serviced should have been delivering enough air without undue effort on your part.
If you feel that you are definitely into scuba for the duration you might want to check out getting your own reg set even at this early stage. Knowing that it is yours will give you more confidence. It's nice biting on your own mouthpiece knowing that no one has been there before.