My NTEC Class Disaster

[Flightlead]

This weekend I took the in-water portion of the NAUI NTEC class, I guess this is somewhat equivalent to a DIR-F or intro to tech type class. Its all about the "uniform", how its worn and operated, and basic water skills including trim, buoyancy, propulsion, air sharing, valve shutdowns, shooting a bag, clipping, carrying and upclipping stages.

It was an utter disaster for me from the moment I got to the quarry. I was running 30 mins late and was feeling hurried when I arrived. I was even more hurried - four divers waiting on me - when I discovered a leaking reg and had to swap out a 2nd stage even though I tested the night before.

Finally got into the water and was having buoyancy issues with my new D/S and undergarments - first dive with these (I had planned to dive on New Years day, but bailed under pressure from the spouse).

Started to set my buoyancy in the suit and almost immediately got severe leg cramps - suffered from these all day long just about anytime I started to demonstrate a skill and had to abort and stretch. I take a good multi-vitamin + 1100mg potassium gluconate every day but that is only 5% RDA.

I was also having problems with my new hood filling with air, pushing on my regulator and causing mask issues as well as affecting my buoyancy.

My D/S buoyancy problems prevented me from achieving proper trim - possibly because I was not used to the different feel rather than any actual issues, but every time I bent my knees I felt my feet heading to the surface.

I found it next to impossible to reach my valves to perform the valve shutdowns. Even in a vertical, head down position, waist and crotch strap loose, it was extremely difficult. This is where I almost drowned myself. I finally managed to shut off the isolator and right post when simulating a free flowing primary reg, but when I went to switch to my backup, my hood which didn't fit properly slid up over my mouth preventing me from putting in the reg. I thought I was gonna breath water before I finally managed to get it in.

I was also getting frustrated as I had thought there would be more instruction in how to perform the tasks, instead it was more just me attempting to demonstrate capability.

I thumbed the last dive, what a nightmare.

Now some time has passed and I've thought about it, it has boiled down to several issues:

1) diving with new, untested, unfamiliar gear - DOH!. I have now trimmed my hood and enlarged the hole on top. I've switched to a steel backplate. I was about neutrally buoyant at 1,600 psi. The Worthington X8 are 119 cu ft at 3442, so 28.924 psi/cu ft or 14.462 psi / cu ft for doubles. 1,600 psi is therefore 110 cu ft which weighs 9 lbs. The steel backplate is about 6 lbs heavier than the AL, so I'll add 2x 2lbs on a weight belt which might also help the "feet floatiness" problem.

2) leg cramps. no clue. I was well hydrated. I was not cold - quite the opposite. I have a reasonable diet. Plenty of sleep the night before, no alcohol for several days prior, the afore mentioned dietary supplements....I have picked up 30lbs of fat in the last three years - going from 6 pack abs to blubber man - guess its a sign to get my butt back in shape again. stretching and weights started today (at 6am groan).

3) reaching valves. no idea here. Some additional air in the d/s might help, as I was pinched a bit to avoid the buoyancy problems noted above. but honestly I'm not sure that will really help much, need suggestions here.

4) I cannot for the life of me fin backwards. frog, modified frog, helicopter turns, etc all no prob (well, when I don't have all the other issues) but I was finning my fat butt off and not moving an inch in any direction.

I think the answer to 3 and 4 is some (more) instruction.

I WILL be successful at this, but darn that was a bad start to it.

 

[Rick Murchison]

I recommend ten hours pool time.
I think most of your problems will resolve on their own - if you still have questions after that then the answers will likely be more useful than anything you'll get today
Oh, one thing... punch three holes in the top of your hood.
Rick

 

[PCBCaptChris]

Sounds like some good old fashioned task loading. I'd suggest, when you start to get stress and feel rushed, to just ask to take a few minutes to chill out. A good instructor will work with that, even if your late...

 

[Flightlead]

I recommend ten hours pool time.
Oh, one thing... punch three holes in the top of your hood.

Thanks Rick. Three? I assume in a line from front to back?

 

[Flightlead]

Sounds like some good old fashioned task loading. I'd suggest, when you start to get stress and feel rushed, to just ask to take a few minutes to chill out. A good instructor will work with that, even if your late...

task loaded for sure I didn't even mention the other miscellaneous stuff that went wrong in my most, like mask strap coming off etc that just added to it.

a big part of my frustration relates to your last sentence....I think there was a big mismatch of expectation on the INSTRUCTION....IOW I was expecting some Pool time prior to the quarry would have been well spent.

 

[Mike Edmonston]

Thanks Rick. Three? I assume in a line from front to back?

If the water's not that cold, and you're not uncomfortable, I'd say forget the hood for now, and work on your valve drills. Also, maybe your new DS was "bunched up" under the shoulder straps, and making it difficult to reach the valves.

I second what Rick said, just practice in the pool, no task loading, and learn to become friends with the new gear.

Good luck and safe diving.

 

[Flightlead]

Took it off, instant "ice cream headache"

 

[TSandM]

Flightlead, I feel for you! Making major changes in your gear right before diving (sorry) into some heavy duty task loading was almost guaranteed to make the experience more frustrating than it was going to be anyway. And all tech oriented classes tend to be pretty frustrating under optimal conditions.

For the cramping, you might benefit from reading THIS article on Cameron Martz's website. Potassium is of limited or no help, but stretching and strengthening is very useful.

On the same website, divefitness.com, are another article on cramping, and a very good article with some shoulder stretches.

Reaching valves is one of the biggest challenges a lot of us face when we start diving doubles. There are a lot of variables that go into it. There is an EXCELLENT essay on reaching valves on the Yorkshire Divers site somewhere, but I couldn't put my cursor on it this morning. To summarize very briefly and poorly:

Make sure your exposure protection isn't the problem. With your dry suit and undergarments on, you should be able to reach back behind and below the big knob on the back of your neck. If your exposure protection doesn't permit that, no other change you can make is likely to solve the problem.

Make sure your harness is adjusted correctly. The top of the backplate should be just below that knob (which is the C7 spinous process). If the plate is too low, you may not be able to reach; if it is too high, you'll generally notice you're jamming the back of your head into the isolator knob.

It may be helpful to rotate the isolator knob a few degrees toward your head. Too much can make it harder to turn.

There is a technique issue, too. Most people, when they reach back, put their elbow out to their side, so the forearm is pretty much in the plane of their torso. This actually limits your reach. When you go to stretch back, make sure your elbow is as close to in front of your face as you can get it. If you try this out of the water, you'll notice you get a couple of INCHES more range of motion by doing it this way. It's very hard to remember to do this in the water.

Make sure you're in trim. If you are pitched up, your tanks hang down your back and are harder to get to.

You do need some air in the dry suit to get to your valves. If you are diving excessively squeezed, it can be impossible.

And a couple of personal insights: For me, reaching my valves in my heavy dry suit requires that I be diligent throughout the entire gearing-up process to make sure I have as much fabric as possible worked up toward my head. I have to pull as much up as I can when I put the suit on, then repeat the process after putting on my weight belt, and then, after I get into the rig, I do some arm stretches up over my head against the car. Finally, when I get in the water, I float on the surface, go a little head down, and stretch again.

And the second personal insight is that being nervous about getting the job done makes me tighten up and not be able to do it. I've had so many times that I aborted a valve drill because it wasn't working, and then five minutes later, I could go through it easily. Until I got the confidence that I COULD do it, it was always hit or miss.

Good luck with the rest of the class. The training is worth it, but it isn't easy.

 

[texdiveguy]

Flightlead.....Welcome to the 'world' of entry level technical dive training.....sounds like you have a handle on the areas you need to practice and improve on....PRACTICE!....some good advise from the other posters so will not go into that.

Hang tough and stay after it....it gets easier and the rewards are worth it!!

Have FUN and be safe.

 

[TSandM]

One final thing about reaching valves . . . In the effort to get to them, lots of people more or less "hump" their backs. This pulls your shoulders (and thus your arms) away from the tanks, and makes reaching the valves more difficult. You want to keep your back flat or a little arched, or even think about pushing your butt up a little bit, to shove the tanks up and into your back.