recommended reference material for DM's

[bracko]

Hello! I'm doing the DM cpurse currently and will be doing the IDC... but I'm a mechanical engineer and have an avid interest in physics (obviously)

so... this little DMC has seen a few equations that he saw in his undergrad and is now more interested in dive theory.

now i want to read and learn, but I'm looking for the best reference books that are technically advanced for rec diving... i don't want graphics and pictures and rubbish, just theory. I'm more than happy to pay for quality, but I don't want to be ripped

so... any ideas? I'm interested in 2 things, serious dive theory and diving teaching/coaching techniques.

 

[String]

Most of which way over DMT level but interesting none-the-less.

"Deco for Divers" a good grounding in decompression theory
"Diving in darkness" for some cave diving stories
"Deeper into Diving".

Plenty more depending on exactly what you're interested in.

 

[Peter Guy]

The OP wrote

I'm doing the DM cpurse currently and will be doing the IDC

And though NOT asked by the OP, I'm going to add a free lecture anyway!

OP, why do you think that you have the experience and experiences to become an instructor?

IF your profile is accurate, you have less than 100 dives and thus can't have much experience or many diving experiences. Would not YOU want your instructor to have a well rounded education before taking a class from her?

So, as far as references go, I'd suggest you DIVE -- in different situations and under different conditions -- not to mention different types of diving. Before doing your IDC, be a DM for at least a year and work with several classes at various levels and/or lead some boat charters. Take an Intro-to-Tech class to see if there is a higher standard of diving than you have seen so far.

Then, after a year of being a DM and having been shown, perhaps, a different standard of dive skills, think about doing the IDC.

 

[Crowley]

I disagree with Peter in that I have seen instructors with hundreds of dives under their weightbelts who would be better suited to a more sedentary pastime such as - for example - watching TV - and I have seen DMs and instructors with the bare minimum requirements perform phenomenally underwater because they have the intelligence and common sense to get on with the job. Yes, for sure, experience counts for a lot but this is off topic.

The Encyclopaedia of Recreational Diving you have as part of the DM course is one of the best references for the recreational diver, and if you can find it, "the recreational diver's guide to dive computers and decompression theory" is well worth a read, even though it is outdated and out of print. If you have a more complicated brain, Buhlmann's decompression work is freely available on the internet, and if you can cut out all the crap, Scubaboard ain't so bad either!

C.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Also look at the US Navy Dive manual, the NOAA manual, and Tom Mount's Tao of Survival Underwater.

 

[TSandM]

I'll make a second, strong recommendation for Deco for Divers -- but if you still have the math (I've lost most of mine) Bruce Wienke's books will give you a real look at the physics and mathematics behind decompression models.

If you are interested in reading material about technique, and about diving philosphy, I'd highly recommend buying the GUE Open Water manual, and Jablonski's book, Fundamentals of Better Diving. Although a lot of people might disagree with some of what's in either book, there is a lot of food for thought there, and some ideas you might not have encountered elsewhere.

I would also highly recommend you take a look at the 5thD-X videos on YouTube.

I was like you when I had your experience -- highly motivated to keep training and become an instructor. I had found I adored diving, and I thought helping other people discover it would be a wonderful thing to do. Then I dove with some people who knew how to dive . . . and realized how little I knew, and how pathetic my own skills were. Five years later, after a LOT of classes and a LOT of varied diving in varied environments, I finally feel as though I really have something to bring to the table in teaching people.

If you read the threads here about training, you'll find a common theme that one of the problems with dive training is people who are encouraged to become instructors too quickly, with too little experience, and with poor role models; they then pass on their own shortcomings to their students. I'm not suggesting that you are a bad diver. I'm just highly suspicious that you may not have seen just how much there is to learn.

 

[randytay]

The NAUI Master Scuba Diver textbook is full of those theories....

 

[Divemastersintraining]

Great topic ... I'd love to hear of any good books. Anythign but manuals would be of interest to me. Thanks for the great titles that have already been listed here cheers!

 

[herman]

On a slightly different direction but still something a well rounded DM/instructor should know IMO is regulator theory and design.....and most have no clue how their "life support" gear works. Get a copy of "Regulator Savvy", while it's not deep theory or math it will educate you on regulators.

 

[Tortuga68]

Amazon.com: Deep Diving, Revised: An Advanced Guide to Physiology, Procedures and Systems (9780922769315): Bret Gilliam: Books