Rec Diving Then vs. Now

[diver 85]

Certified in '85 here----theory is the same, I just use a computer now---along with a BI BC of some sort ie Zeagle or BP/W...Even use my same analog gauges from '85 & use same SP 1st & 2nd stage regulator from ~'88 as my primary rig.....I'm a firm believer in if it ain't broke, don't fix it...

oops, sorry, the theory has changed a bit----ascend slower now(60'/minute vs slower than my smallest bubble....---& I do a half safety stop & a 4 to 5 minute 15' safety stop on deeper dives...

 

[gypsyjim]

Between 1970 and today many changes. BCD's, SPG's, alternate air source, BP/W, Drysuit, less emphasis on buddy breathing (see alternate air source), safety stops, computers, easier to use tables...... some small changes ,some larger, and a lot of equipment changes over time,

 

[gypsyjim]

A lot more choice in available dive buddies these days too!!!

 

[danvolker]

rx7: I got certified orginally in 1986 as well by NAUI. The biggest differences I notice are with gear. I used a horseshoe BC (they weren't called BCD's back then and a farmer john wetsuit. Now it seems that not many use farmer john anymore, the horseshoe BCs are a thing of the past, and heck even jacket-style seems to be phasing out in favor of back inflate and backplate/wings. Everyone seems to dive nitrox and computers are the norm. And I never heard of integrated weights back then...it was a belt only.

As far as training, that has changes somewhat as well. I was trained to do the emergency ascent by removing the reg and blowing small bubbles. When I re-certed as AOW back in October, I was told to keep it in and hum.

danvolker: you stated "I would say that the industry is much better at selling you a lot less instruction for the money....and in many cases for new divers what is taught is a bad joke." I was actually going to say the opposite! As I stated I orginally certified with NAUI in 1986, then I recertified with PADI this past October. I have to say the instruction/training I got with PADI this past October was WAY more detailed and better then what I received with NAUI in '86!
I just shows that it depends on the place, institution and instructor.

Skarn

Hi Skarn,
There is no doubt that today you can find an instructor that "can" take the time and use the resources of today, to do a much better job of teaching than occurred in the 80's and 90's....When I was certified NAUI back in 1972, the skill levels you HAD to MASTER were far higher than today--from an agency or statistical perspective.
While individual instructors today can do a great job on this as well, the guidelines and the industry are pushing a horrifying lack of skill mastery, as just fine for BOW or Advanced OW.
Even at instructor levels there are huge problems today. When we go to the BHB dives for Sandra's macro photography, we see huge numbers of divers (including instructors), that swim head up and feet dragging in the sand, leaving a dense silt cloud behind them.
They are too heavy, they don't know what "trim" is, and they are not even aware that you have a silty bottom that should not be stirred up by their form of diving. I even see instructors with classes "kneeling" down in the silty bottom sand; this in front of a class of impossibly underskilled divers bouncing up and down off the bottom like kangaroos. With the instructor as a role model, kneeling in silty sand, I do not believe they have much chance. The industry is fine with this. All these people have good credit card swiping skills.
Who cares if the viz goes from 60 feet to 8 feet? ... OK , rant over for now

 

[rx7diver]

DanVolker,

I'm really interested to know if the way you, personally, rec dive has changed since the mid 1980's/early 1990's. If so, how and why? I think we could all learn a lot from this.

Thanks,

Ronald

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

I was certified in 1976.

Then: Steel 72's, no BC, no octo, wrist watch and depth gauge, USN Tables, J-valve or spg. Training was longer. Buddy breathing was taught (and required... octos were rare).

Now: BC's with 7.5 D-rings per square inch and 1/2 ton of lift and 20 lbs of padding; octo inflators, dive computers that will also complete your tax returns, and SPARE AIR!!!

Sigh.

But diving is still diving, thank goodness.

I did break down and by the most basic computer I could find 2 years ago. I just use it in gauge mode. And.... horrors, I have BP/WING... sometimes I remember to inflate the wing on the surface... often not... even less often inflated underwater

I've completely sold out I guess.......

Interesting topic however.

Best wishes

 

[pnw_diver]

Nobody told us that we would "die" when diving deeper that 40m (130ft)

I get what you're saying here, but to be fair, I've got to step in. I certified in 1/2001 (almost exactly 10 years to the day), diving isn't that much different now than it was then, except that computers have become much more common.

I wasn't told that I would "die" if I exceeded 40m/130ft. What I was told was that within the training limits of no-stop diving, the extremely limited bottom times, significant narcosis, and increased risk of DCS made it inadvisable (when no-stop diving using tables). I looked at the numbers and saw the logic in it. I had a healthy respect for the risk factors in going deep from day one - which I think is a good thing.

Maybe I just had reasonable instructors. What is generally taught today, I have no idea - haven't sat in on an OW class. Amongst the instructors I dive with, I doubt seriously any of them would make such a remark, but instead would explain it in much the same way it was explained to me. I'm certain it's not within any agency's training standards to tell students they're going to die if they exceed current recreational depth limits.

 

[Belce]

I would say that the industry is much better at selling you a lot less instruction for the money....and in many cases for new divers what is taught is a bad joke.
As to gear, the best stuff now is more like what we dived in the 70's than what was being sold in the 80's and 90's---gear like bp/wings appeared in the 70's and resurfaced with Halcyon around 1998 or so, as much smarter than the ad driven nonsense being pushed by the industry in the 90's.

Also, a computer is no big deal, and many good divers prefer a bottom timer and depth guage to a computer. Learn ratio deco and you would never want a computer.

The worst gear to come out was in fins....the industry began selling fins created for the physically challenged ( great for someone with a real problem, but for lazy people in poor shape, it was an excuse to remain in poor shape . For the people who were always cramping and unable to push their fins easily, they were sold biofins and other splitfins---essentially a tiny gear ( compared to the bigger gear of a useful fin) , so that they would use a high kick turnover to propel themselves, albeit quite a bit slower than a diver should be able to swim. If they really wanted less work, they could have saved the money and just dived barefoot, this providing even less stress and only being a tiny bit slower than split fins.

This is all about recreational diving and none of what you have posted here applies. NONE.

If you are a rec diver like me, then apply opposites to the above poster for reality, I am thinking you prefer talking out your mouth than the opposite.

 

[Belce]

I was certified in 1976.

Then: Steel 72's, no BC, no octo, wrist watch and depth gauge, USN Tables, J-valve or spg. Training was longer. Buddy breathing was taught (and required... octos were rare).

Now: BC's with 7.5 D-rings per square inch and 1/2 ton of lift and 20 lbs of padding; octo inflators, dive computers that will also complete your tax returns, and SPARE AIR!!!

Sigh.

But diving is still diving, thank goodness.

I did break down and by the most basic computer I could find 2 years ago. I just use it in gauge mode. And.... horrors, I have BP/WING... sometimes I remember to inflate the wing on the surface... often not... even less often inflated underwater

I've completely sold out I guess.......

Interesting topic however.

Best wishes

Hey look horse >>> water


you choose to drink, horse

The difference between a surface dive plan and computer running dive plan is the computer is right. And unfortunately no surface dive plan surives contact with the water, entirely. You are better served by solid state eletronics shown to work using Newtonian physics than sitting somewhere trying to grep dive tables.

 

[TMHeimer]

Certified in '05. Changes-- online courses, almost everyone uses a dive computer. Tables are on the way out. Nitrox is big, though my dive vacation in Panama was at a dive op that says it's way too dangerous--like what I read about the early '90s.