Proper ascent

[khacken]

OK, this last weekend I tried both the horizontal ascent and also the oral inflator open on ascent tip. I must say that it made a huge difference!! Also, the oral inflator trick is sooo cool. Once you get the hang of it, it really cuts down on the task load during ascent. One less thing to think about. Also, it is much easier than it sounds. Just read the posts above and practice it. I think it is also a good lesson on how critical the 10 feet are. The air trickled out for me up to ten feet, then seemed to start blasting out. At six feet it was a steady stream.

I think that really goes to show why you dont hold your breath on ascent, especially the last 10 feet. Now I am amazed that more people don't get hurt during the pool sessions. I mean I read all about this, but to see what is really going on is a good learning experience.

 

[Thalassamania]

The only problem I've seen my student have with the oral inflator trick is moving it in the wrong direction. Did you find it straightforward or a little confusing at first?

 

[khacken]

It was actually easier than how I was trained in OW. The big thing with the normal dump method was know when and how much to dump. Only took me two tries to really get it down. I wish I was taught this in OW as it made a huge difference. I think the training I got on ascents was really skimpy.

 

[Thalassamania]

Roger that. Ascent training is, I fear, something many instructors fear and shy away from. I'm really glad that you like this approach ... I think it's great fun.

 

[thomjinx]

One thing about a wrist mount computer that I have noticed, is that when you are in the vertical position, just the act of raising your arm to look at the computer can sometimes cause it to say you are ascending too fast. The computer is ascending about 2 feet more than you are, and that can cause it to 'think' you are ascending faster than you really are.

In posting this, I am in no way disagreeing with all of the other excellent advice thus posted.

Thomjinx

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

The air trickled out for me up to ten feet, then seemed to start blasting out. At six feet it was a steady stream.
.

It sounds like you got some valuable experience from this. One thing to consider is if you have quite a bit of air in your BC at 6 feet you are probably overweighed. Getting rid of excess air will make your buoyancy more stable during assent since there will be less of a volume change in your BC. Ideally you should be neutrally buoyant with an empty BC and a near empty tank at your safety stop. Of course if your local diving is shallow you will need few extra pounds to stay under. You might want to try dropping a couple pounds next time and see if you can dive with less air in your BC. Good luck.

 

[khacken]

Yeah, I have been dropping weights, and I am now down to 6 pounds with a full 3mm with a 2.5 mm vest. The normal dive depth is around 20 feet, so I am taking a cautious approach to dropping weights. I am putting four taps of air in at 20 feet. Next dive I will try out 4lbs and see how that goes.

 

[Lead_carrier]

Why not just release it in small amounts? To me the term dump air means getting rid of all of it. If I'm at 100ft and I dump the air in my bc, I'm going real negative real quick. I release small amounts as I swim toward the surface. If I start ascending to quickly, I quit finning. I stop. I need to go up a few feet, I fin. If I need to stay stationary, I just reestablish neutral bouyancy. Either with my lungs or bc. Don't DUMP the air. Just release small amounts.

 

[khacken]

Lead carrier,

I used the wrong term there. "Dump" should have been "release". I agree that "dump" should be used to refer to getting rid of large amounts of air from the bc.

What we are talking about is keeping the oral inflate button depressed and these hose horizontal, thus letting air escape from the bc as it expands. This keeps the ascent rate even, and the only variable at that point would be the lungs. Thus, the diver can control the ascent only using the lungs.

 

[Thalassamania]

That's a better explaination that the one I started with, thanks.