My Journey into UTD Ratio Deco

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Hi, would you mind sharing with us what was your previous (decompression) training? Thanks

Sure. My previous training was from a very thorough instructor. My TDI Intro to tech and Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures course was spread over many months. It comprised of 4 pool sessions, 6 open water quarry sessions and 2 open water dives. In between there was a lot of reading and home work outside of TDI texts and we would meet to exchange notes and have discussions on decompression, dive planning and accident analysis etc. I think there will be very few people who would have had a technical diving course which was that thorough.

My UTD course focuses on the same skills but is extremely demanding in terms of detail and precision. Sometimes I am of two minds whether such emphasis on micro-details is even necessary since a lot of people are already doing safe technical diving with far less training dives than what I already have but that has to do with the agency philosophy. Most training agencies design courses that train you up to the level where you can do a safe dive but actual mastery of skills is what you will develop through real world experience in real ocean conditions. UTD on the other hand demands that you demonstrate mastery of skill before jumping in. This takes UTD off on a different training track than everyone else and you will end up doing pool after pool after pool and quarry after quarry after quarry and thus it gets the term "boot camp." When you jump in for your first dive, your in water experience will be vastly superior to someone trained in the first methodology because you would have accumulated a lot of muscle memory from constant repetition.

In short, UTD is about training to a very exact skill level and that is why you will find me in a swimming pool trying to swim the whole length of the pool backwards with full deco-gear.

 

[RainPilot]

you will find me in a swimming pool trying to swim the whole length of the pool backwards with full deco-gear.

I thought I was the only nutcase.

 

[divad]

In short, UTD is about training to a very exact skill level and that is why you will find me in a swimming pool trying to swim the whole length of the pool backwards with full deco-gear.

I'd look for a shorter pool.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

A majority of states in the US recommended Trump but look where that got us.

Take it to the PUB where a spirited discussion can be had. This forum is not meant for butth*rt discussions and such...

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Update: I have been meaning to write an update but I was out of the water due to a back surgery so there was not much to report. Prior to back surgery I went to Lake Phoenix for 2 days camping in which I practiced mostly back kicks and valve shutdowns in drysuit. When people say "FUN-DIES" then I can partly relate to that. Hovering in 15 feet water and shutting down valves for two days is not as entertaining as doing a fun dive but is still better than sitting on the surface. I used to have serious problems reaching valves with drysuit on. Those have been corrected and I am able to do all valve shutdowns as easily in drysuit as I was doing them in wetsuit.

Even though after these two days I feel like I have built sufficient muscle memory for these movements, my instructor tells me that I am not at the UTD skill level yet because my clipping and unclipping of second stages is still clumsy. He wants me to replace my primary second stage with one hand, use the same hand while clipping the primary to the d-ring while the left hand stays out of the drill. I had done all of this in my ANDP course but I am used to using the right hand to remove my primary from the mouth, left to feed the bungeed octo. Besides this little difference the precision and details that UTD course demands were not there. Manipulating clips in cold water with gloves on had added to the "clumsiness" that my instructor was referring to but I am moving past that stage.

Now that I am cleared to dive, I will be jumping in tomorrow (hopefully) and fine tune these micro details. UTD has been a pretty butt kicking and humbling experience so far and I look forward to completing it.

 

[Kevrumbo]

He wants me to replace my primary second stage with one hand, use the same hand while clipping the primary to the d-ring while the left hand stays out of the drill.

Great demo by the late Bil Phillips on the one-handed remove & replace during the S-Drill:

 

[_Ralph]

Great demo by the late Bil Phillips on the one-handed remove & replace during the S-Drill:

While it may be 'great' someone is out of gas, and you have gas.... don't spend time not giving them gas.

You have lots of time to get your ref back into your mouth. The diver without access to gas, doesn't have that luxury.

Same with continuing in the drill nearly ripping out that gas source you just gave him....

Yup, I could only get in 10s of this clip.

_R

 

[Kevrumbo]

While it may be 'great' someone is out of gas, and you have gas.... don't spend time not giving them gas.

You have lots of time to get your ref back into your mouth. The diver without access to gas, doesn't have that luxury.

Same with continuing in the drill nearly ripping out that gas source you just gave him....

Yup, I could only get in 10s of this clip.

_R

No. There's a better more objective perspective than the comment above, because in an overhead, in that OOG scenario, the two most important tasks in that moment -at that instant- is to give your teammate breathing gas with one hand AND referencing the reel line with your primary "torch" hand leading to egress/exit.

You have to practice this -be slow & certain and deliberate about the team protocol & technique when first learning it- especially if you're the lead teammate on the penetration laying line with the reel. . .

 

[_Ralph]

No. There's a better more objective perspective than the comment above, because in an overhead, in that OOG scenario, the two most important tasks in that moment -at that instant- is to give your teammate breathing gas with one hand AND referencing the reel line with your primary "torch" hand leading to egress/exit.

You have to practice this -be slow & certain and deliberate about the team protocol & technique when first learning it- especially if you're the lead teammate on the penetration laying line with the reel. . .

My bad for the comment above.

I didn't see you say overhead, following a line on an exit.


Wait you didn't.

_R

 

[RainPilot]

My bad for the comment above.

I didn't see you say overhead, following a line on an exit.


Wait you didn't.

_R

Train the way you intend to dive. UTD and GUE are predominantly cave and overhead focused. That’s why all drills are done one handed so faulty muscle memory won’t let you down at the worst time.

Also handy when hanging on a line in a string current with no overhead.