Negative Entries

[Divin'Papaw]

I don't change my weighting at all for a hot drop. We do them quite a bit in Palm Beach County FL. I've never heard any briefing encouraging being overweighted nor have I noticed anyone adding lead. The key is no air in the wing and begin your descent immediately upon entry. Make absolutely sure your BCD/Wing are empty. That is key.

 

[AdivingBel]

Make absolutely sure your BCD/Wing are empty.

^^^This^^^ Make good use of your momentum from your entry.

 

[johndiver999]

Clear your ears before the descent. The proper way to do it is to enter the water upside down with your leg(s) extended above the water surface. It is the same as a surface dive that freedivers do.

If you start the dive like that and then kick hard down to 10 feet and exhale for the 3-5 seconds that it takes to accomplish this, you should be well on your way toward a rapid descent. At 10-12 feet, clear your ears, take half a breath, exhale quickly and kick moderately hard to 20 feet.

At that point, any residual air in BC should be pretty crushed and if you are weighted properly, you will be 5 or 10 lbs negative (or more depending on wetsuit) , and should be able to sink, more or less passively in a vertical and streamlined manner. A little gentle kicking will help and you can resume breathing with a normal lung volume at this point.

Sounds like a lot, but if you just learn to initiate the descent with a duck dive or a proper backward roll, it is pretty simple. There is no real need to carry more lead than you would normally require, unless you are hitting a small target, deep in a screaming current and even, then, it is more about technique.

 

[Tripp]

The OP asked about negative entry, not a rapid descent from the surface, although all good suggestions.

 

[Diverlady13]

Yeah well you didn’t see a video of my finning. Was horrified to see myself screwing that up too with bicycle kicks. But that’s for a different thread. LOL.

It all just takes practice. I'm sure you weren't screwing up as much as you may want to expand your repertoire of finning techniques. I'm sure my finning wasn't the best. I learned a lot by watching some of the extremely experienced divers on the LOB I did in Belize. The one thing that has greatly improved my finning is cavern diving. Actually, it also really helped my buoyancy as well since one really has to focus (at least at first) on staying both above the silty floor and below all of the stalactites and other cave features. Anyway, from doing that I have learned how to frog kick pretty well. I'd say it's now my preferred method of finning, but I haven't done it in the ocean yet. Trying it out next week.

 

[BlueTrin]

@Jafo19D out of curiosity, what type of entry were you using?

 

[Jafo19D]

@Jafo19D out of curiosity, what type of entry were you using?

Hi BlueTrin, I was doing a backroll.

 

[johndiver999]

The OP asked about negative entry, not a rapid descent from the surface, although all good suggestions.

The whole concept of a negative entry is to facilitate a rapid descent. As I tried to explain, an efficient and rapid descent can be attained without carrying excessive amounts of ballast.

He now mentions he is doing a back roll entry. If you watch people who are good at it, they tend to roll off, then extend their legs and immediately position their body vertically. This allows them to use the momentum of the fall to very quickly drive them downward, in a head first position . They basically "open up" on entry. In one second their head is maybe 8 feet deep and the fins are below the water surface and a few kicks and they are GONE.

To be honest, it took me a while to get comfortable doing it. I was disoriented from the roll and spin and used to get a touch of vertigo from just a half spin. I swear it took 50 entries before I felt comfortable, now it feels normal and easy.

 

[scubadada]

Personally, the negative decent from a back roll is the easiest of any entry. Roll back, do a half roll and head on down.

 

[rongoodman]

He now mentions he is doing a back roll entry. If you watch people who are good at it, they tend to roll off, then extend their legs and immediately position their body vertically. This allows them to use the momentum of the fall to very quickly drive them downward, in a head first position . They basically "open up" on entry. In one second their head is maybe 8 feet deep and the fins are below the water surface and a few kicks and they are GONE. .

A couple of years ago on the Palau Agressor I had a lady complaining that I had kicked her. I think she was doing her back roll right to top of me and was too close when I was kicking down.