Practicing Skills

[redrover]

I have found that the people who argue against practice are usually the ones who need it the most.

Do people really argue against practicing? Did you mean to say, don’t practice?

 

[Uncle Pug]

Here is one that Shane and I used to do all the time... though it's been a while:

Flash your light wildly, or however you would signal to get the attention of your dive buddy. Pick a time when they are looking away from you or you have intentionally slipped behind and maybe even a little above.

When they finally look your way (keep track of how long this takes) give them an out of air signal. This looks more convincing if you are not blowing bubbles BTW (more on this later.) If they never do look your way you might need to reassess a few things.

See how long it takes them to 1. realize that you are out of air and 2. do something about it. Do they offer you their primary working regulator? Do they stare at you blankly? Do they give you the thumbs up and head up themselves without giving you any air? Do they give you an octopus regulator? Is it full of mud? Is it still in its scum ball... full of scum? Do they shake their head "No"?

To make this all tje more realistic, from the time you start the drill (that is: attempt to get your buddy's attention) do not take a breath off of your own regulator.

IF and when they do initiate air sharing with you, remain on their regulator. Try to maintain both of your buoyancy and resist popping directly to the surface. See if you can both make a controlled air sharing ascent.

Shane and I've done this to one another many times, even when separated by 40' and riding scooters full throttle.

To take this drill up a notch don't initiate the drill by signaling... instead cap or turn off your light... or just fall behind and go limp.

Of course, it goes without saying...

Oh well, I'll say it anyway: these kinds of drills should only be practiced with buddies who are into skill drills and have been put on notice that an impromptu out of air drill might be involved in a particular dive. If they decline then it should not be done.

 

[jeckyll]

...

If they decline then it should not be done.

By it you mean the dive, right?

One question, if I try this and don't breath the reg, I'm going to become buoyant even if slowly breathing out. How do you adjust for that UP?

Thanks

Bjorn

 

[dsteding]

Pick a time when they are looking away from you or you have intentionally slipped behind and maybe even a little above.

Some of the most fun you can have on a dive is waiting until your buddy gets complacent and then hitting them with and s-drill (assuming you are both the types that do such things).

I remember one air share where Lynne seemed a bit spaced out trying to figure out where Richard and his buddy where going at EUP (we were diving two teams, Richard and buddy in lead, Lynne, myself and pick-up buddy behind). I swam over signalling with reg out of mouth. She admittedly wasn't expecting it, but it went pretty well--although the pick-up buddy that was along with us was a bit confused (sometimes I forget that others don't regularly do such things, he was attentive however, figured out it was a drill, and patiently waited for us to finish with our fun).

Regarding when to practice, some dives I admittedly just want to relax and enjoy the dive (Friday night, end-of-work-week-dives in particular). Some dives--like my plans for next weekend--I try to schedule as skills only. Some are in between, like diving with Lynne (I love diving with Lynne in general, and we do bond on doing skills together, because we both enjoy it). I'm probably not as agro about things as I was 20 dives ago, now I realize that things are baby steps, and that regular diving to build experience combined with an awareness of the need to develop skills is my personal path to making me a better diver.

So, skill work is a balance for me, and it is driven not only be my short-term dive plans, but my long term goals.

For instance, in two weekends we are going to Nanaimo. I'll be diving new sites, and some wrecks that are fairly deep. So, next weekend, I'm going to get in the water to tune up some skills. My list to work on includes air share ascents, shooting bags, mask drills, and I want to start working on valve drills. I know my dive buddies will also have skills they want to work on, so we'll work together to cover all our goals. This will take me into the following weekend a bit more relaxed and sure of my skill level. My guess is I won't be springing many OOAs on my buddies in Nanaimo, but I bet I'll be shooting a bag or two, and doing ascents in relatively blue water.

Combined, both weekends will be educational, and both give me structure to set goals and work on skills. Most importantly, both will be fun. I'm really looking forward to Nanaimo, and Bob and I are diving together next Saturday. Diving with Bob is always enjoyable.

Regarding my long term diving objectives, I'd love to go visit some of the deeper wrecks around here. Seeing a cloud sponge at 150 feet and being able to remember it with a clear head is also a long term goal. Those dives will require additional training and skills. So, my short term diving seems to be helping me achieve those goals--I know what skills I'll need to do those dives, and eventually I'll develop the proficiency to move on to tech training.

But, I'm not really in a hurry to get to tech training. Rather, I'll take baby steps, having fun the whole way.

 

[markfm]

Pool skills session for me today, while Monday should be a funsie drysuit dive on the St. Lawrence.
(LDS makes the pool available, I try to use it on a regular basis, as I recommend others do.)

 

[TSandM]

Maskless ascents are also good ones. If you get your mask kicked off at 100' on a wall, can you and your buddy get you to the surface in good order?

Ascent drills -- in blue (or green) water, can you do an ascent with 10 (or 5, or whatever) foot stops, holding position and keeping your buddy in sight, holding stops plus or minus three feet (or one foot, or whatever you decide for a goal)? Can you do the same thing and shoot and reel up an SMB?

Lately, Kirk and I have been practicing line skills -- laying line, and then following it with our eyes closed. (One follows, the other monitors for safety.) That's fantastic buoyancy control practice! One of these days, I know Kirk's going to up the ante on me and throw an OOA my way just when I'm trying to put a tie in . . . It's all just about handling task loading without losing one's underwater composure.

 

[joe rock]

Those of you that practice in the water, would you please share some specific skills that apply to single tank, recreational diving?

Personally, during the safety stop when the tank is low I'm working on replacing the air in the tank I used up by blowing hard into the reg. Not much success yet - I think I'm not blowing hard enough.

I also like to spit the reg out and hopefully find it again, take my mask off (but hold on to it), use my SMB even if the dive leader is using one too, undo the hose to my BCD, practice different kicks. Boyancy control is part of the dive so I don't consider it practice

What other skills do you practice?

Steve, you're from NY. Do you dive wrecks off LI, RI or NJ? How proficient are you with your wreck reel and lift bag? Great things to practice. Also, to dive in those areas with a single tank you need a pony (no comments please all has been said on other threads ). If you have one do you feel comfortable using it? And all the other things mentioned before this.

 

[BabyDuck]

up, do/did you ever just mug your buddy for his/her reg? that's what we do! nothing like having the dern thing ripped out of your mouth just before an inhalation! we call it 'diving with murphy', though that's also our nickname for a guy who loves-loves-loves to do that when he thinks you aren't paying enough attention to what you're doing.

and i love to practice skills. a lot of my enjoyment in diving is in concentrating so hard that it's actually effortless - being 'in the zone'. swimming 3-6 inches above the bottom, then stopping & making sure i don't rise or sink. trying to do a heck-darned back kick without doing the baby shrimp dance. i have a buddy (jeandiver) who regularly starts dives without her mask on & puts it on at some point. we've done lights out/touch contact on the line for fun...

skills dives are great! try backing up and shooting footage of that fish coming at you! see how slow you can come up from your safety stop! run lines in the quarry! what a joy!

 

[TSandM]

One question, if I try this and don't breath the reg, I'm going to become buoyant even if slowly breathing out. How do you adjust for that UP?

When I did this drill with my husband in Maui, I stopped my breathing at the end of an exhalation, because that's when you're going to find out that your reg is no longer delivering air. It's unlikely you'd figure that out at the end of an inhale. And you are right, stopping at the end of an exhalation DOES affect your buoyancy, and as I swam to my husband, who was about 20 feet away, I had to swim both over and UP, adding to the exertion and the stress. By the time I got to him, got his attention, had him realize I was OOA and deliver a reg, I was just about ready to go back on my own regulator. It was a sobering experience, to be sure.

 

[lamont]

Some of the most fun you can have on a dive is waiting until your buddy gets complacent and then hitting them with and s-drill (assuming you are both the types that do such things).

I had a buddy in MX throw one on me as we were exiting the cavern zone. I should have debriefed afterwards, but I didn't really think about it hard until long after I got home. I think he threw the OOA on me because I was in front, was not paying as much attention to the team as I should and probably appeared distracted. It all went well -- but the reason why I was distracted is that I was coming down with a cold and my sinuses were blocked up and every 2-3 feet I ascended I had to stop and wait for my sinuses to go "squeeeeeeeesh" and relieve the pressure and the pain -- so, yeah, I was a bit distracted... Which is the peril of doing an OOA on someone when they appear distracted and not team-focused -- it may be a real issue -- although I should have signalled an issue when I started having trouble equalizing...

Communication problems while team diving seem to bewhere some of the steepest learning curve is...