So there is nothing in diving that cannot be derived via common sense? ICD? Which way to route hoses? How to do a proper weight check? How to reach your valves? The order to close your valves? The best mix for your shallow bailout? The best mix for your deep bailout?
I think I go on courses fairly clued up. I always learn something new and surprising.
Also the books and even course manuals leave a lot out. For example what ppO2 to use for the deep bailout. 1.6? 1.4? 1.2? The manual might discuss the pros and cons of each but the instructor will have a value that he uses and a reason why. There can be many common sense arguments for each, but one that is best in your circumstances. Talking to a proper and responsible expert is how you get detail like this.
*** disclaimer: This will hurt the feelings of people that think you need an instructor to learn how to continue diving ***
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I'll bite, but just because I'm really bored, and tired of the "muh pay to train or die" spirit that's coming up here...
I said it's common sense to figure out what makes sense in an argument you'll find online and what does not. So let's discuss, and answer your questions, simply for the sake of it, even if it's not what I was talking about.
ICD? How many cases of that are there? I'm too bored to go look it up in deco for divers, my bet is that there's enough info in there for anyone to make his mind up about "Can I swich from normoxic trimix to Nx32" (which funnily is almost the first google hit on "deco for divers ICD", and points to a rather funny thread about ICD on a 45m dive)
Which way to route hoses? Which one do you want? Hog? Type in google: "Hogarthian hose routing", probably one of the first 3 links will do that for you, with an explanation. Oh, btw, Hog is not the only way of doing it. If you have a look at the guys in the French lakes, they do things differently.
A proper weight check? Really? You want to be neutral at the end of the dive, that's gonna be seriously difficult, "scuba weight check" absolutely gives NOTHING that makes sense on Google here, damn, you got me.
How to reach the valves? Well, there's at least a dozen threads on google that are gonna show up.
The order? You mean GUE V-drill, some other fancy thing, something invented by some other guys that prefered doing it that way, or finally the "turn all the valves you can get approach" that is often taught?
Best mix? Is it that complicated? Easy way out: grab standard gases, boom! No more worries about "Should I get 31 or 32% of Helium? What if the blender gets the O2 wrong by 1% and I have to make a whole scene because now I'll dive a pO2 of 1.42 and I really can't do that?!"
But I guess, since the instructor "uses a value and why" is sufficient to say that the manual is useless and that it is worth nothing ?
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