Must read -- the Six Skills by Steve Lewis

[bygolly]

It could also be titled, “The Philosophy of Good Diving” by Steve Lewis. Neither condescending nor pontificating in his style he instead uses his wit to inject a humorous flavour which makes it always an engaging read. I found it hard to put down. I was delighted to see that his writing style paralleled a personal hero of mine, the late physicist Richard Feynman. Feynman had the ability to use his own philosophy of things “physical” to tease out the points and processes that really mattered and morph them into an enthusiastic presentation understandable by the neophyte or lay individual. Steve Lewis has done the same with things “diving” in this book.

This book is clearly directed at those who are or who intend to be technical divers but I think it should be a volume that any experienced diver should read and keep handy for reference. Even though I already want to improve my own skills and pursue diving safety to a higher degree I find myself further motivated by this book to attain a higher degree of fitness, learn how to really breathe, master trim and positioning and to throw away erroneous terms such as negative or positive buoyancy. Some readers may even develop an appreciation for the SI system of measurement.

Although it is sprinkled with a few spelling errors they take very little away from the book and in one case some unintentional humour gets injected. I found out for instance that a favourite aging aunt of his may fuel her great wit with liberal doses of Vitamin C. Read the book to find out what I am alluding to here but mainly buy and read the book to see what a great treatise on diving it really is.

 

[Buoyant1]

I have to get this book! I had a great opportunity to hear Steve talk twice at Beneath the sea this weekend, and enjoyed it...

 

[terrylowe]

Lynne,
I don't read posts with the intention of "grading" writing style, but you are gifted. Are you a writer? If not, you need to give it a shot. I complimented you before on your writing skill here on SB and your review here is ..... well....it is just well done.

 

[Rhone Man]

I received my copy earlier in the week (autographed and all - thank you Steve!), and raced through it, so I will add my thoughts to Lynne's.

It is a very entertainingly written book; Steve constantly deprecates his own writing style, but it is pretty engaging and accessible. Humour is well placed without being overdone. Like Lynne I also thought the proof readers maybe could have done a better job (what is it about diving texts that proof readers seem to be sleepier than usual?).

The book is very much written in the format of a lecture series, which has the strong benefit of being able to pick up, put down and "dip" as needed. It is all in metric, so if like me you are used to imperial, you may have to put your thinking boots on a bit for some of the examples, but there is no hard core maths. It is not, and does not purport to be, a textbook or manual.

It is kind of hard to pigeon hole the target audience. I suspect many experienced technical divers would regard the guidance as perhaps a bit basic. The best value is probably for less experience tec divers like myself, and tec-curious people. Much of it reminded me of Jablonski's Fundamentals of Better Diving. Tech emphasis, but clearly useful lessons all around for any experienced diver.

It was interesting that Lynne was positive, because reading it I worried that DIR divers might be hostile to some of the messages (quite a bit of emphasis on personal preference, and "doing what works"). Equally Steve does stress the importance of the team, physical fitness and having the team all using the same configuration, so maybe it all balances.

Overall: I thought a valuable and entertaining read, but divers who are either too inexperienced or are serious hard core tec divers may get less out of it.

 

[Dhboner]

I guess I fit the description of "tech curious" so I ordered a copy of the book. I have read it through three times now (it warrants a re-read or two in my opinion to fully digest the content). I thoroughly enjoyed the book and have taken away a lot of useful information that is now part of my diving routine. There is stuff in there that may not be relevant at this point in my dive career but soon will be, so the book has been lovingly set aside for future reading/study.

Job well done!

 

[Rhone Man]

Although it is sprinkled with a few spelling errors they take very little away from the book and in one case some unintentional humour gets injected. I found out for instance that a favourite aging aunt of his may fuel her great wit with liberal doses of Vitamin C.

Yes, that was a pretty amusing typo!

 

[davetowz]

I have also read this book and I cannot write a review that compares to a few already posted here. I am most certainly rec who will end up tec when I am ready. Thanks Steve for the insight and helping me develop my dive "thoughts". Great book, interesting concepts.

 

[divermike1011]

My copy just arrived (and signed too, thanks Mr Lewis!) can't wait to read it.

Michael

 

[Doppler]

Thanks very much folks... appreciate the feedback and that so many of you, both tech and sport, are getting something useful out of it.

Had some minor shipping issues at first but those are sorted now and orders via my website and amazon seem to be flowing smoothly. Still having some time issues with sales to Europe and Australia, but hope to have a solution for that in the next month or so.

Thanks again!

 

[Jax]

Steve, I loves ya, Man! You are my most favorite person in the whole wide world today!

My husband, who just isn't "into" diving and had no interest in continuing education, finally read your book and now wants to see about more training!

Steve's New Book!