Reviewing my first dives

[brnt999]

I am a new diver. Over a 3 month time period I was certified and completed 25 dives. I am back home where it is cold and am planning out my dive trip for next winter and I am reviewing my experiences. I have a few questions/comments.

I was taught to descend feet first. I always felt unstable and a little out of control descending feet first. The weight of the tank and my weight belt was pulling me back and my feet would want to come up. I had to fight this. Along the way I noticed the experienced divers were descending on their stomach-horizontally. So as soon as all of the air was out of my BCD I started flipping over onto my stomach and immediately I felt more stable and in control. I could speed up my descent by putting my head forward or I could slow it down by going horizontal. When I was on my stomach and stable I could look down and see where I was going and I could look up and around me and see where the other divers were. If I was drifting away from the drop point I could kick and direct myself. I always had to put some air in my bcd to become nuetral at the bottom, and on my stomach I could slow my descent down and put a puff or two of air into my bcd until I was hovering 2 or 3 feet off the bottom. ( we usually descended onto a sandy bottom and then swam over to the reef/wall). Maybe it is supposed to be self evident to flip onto your stomach on the descent but there is no mention of it in the course. I see other new divers descending feet first until they are near the bottom and it looks to me like they are experiencing the same thing I was--instability. So why isnt this taught as part of the ow course.

 

[kelemvor]

The NAUI OW book says (pp 73-74) that feet first descent helps you maintain contact with your buddy and makes it easier to equalize. It also says it's supposed to give you better control of your speed and buoyancy. I'm guessing as you build skill, other method might start to make more sense.

 

[PhilaDallas]

Subscribed! Thanks for asking the question, I have been doing some reading and in one of the books it mentions descending horizontally while in my ow class it was emphasized to descend vertically.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

It's nonsense to do vertical descents and even ascents for more than say ten feet going down at the most and ten to fifteen coming up depending on conditions. It is actually much easier to control both from a horizontal position as people soon find out. Just as it is easier to do skills that way in midwater than on the knees. Or as I call it "praying I survive this" position.

Vertical does make sense for instructors to teach who themselves have poor buoyancy control, overweight students, and plant them on the bottom. And even then only to a point as overweighting significantly increases the risk of an uncontrolled descent and ascent.

Maintaining buddy contact is also easier in a horizontal position and responding to issues a buddy may have. But then again some instructors don't know how to teach proper buddy skills as they dive under the false impression that students can't be good buddies and they are essentially diving solo. Or they talk about it and then demonstrate that it is not important by not pairing students in the pool and leading them on single file dives.

The first descent my students do on scuba is a horizontal one. They lay out on the surface and after we have done proper weight checks let air out of their BC to settle gently down in the shallow end on their stomachs where they just breathe for a few minutes. Then they slowly add air to float up in the same position. They don't do a vertical descent or ascent until session three or four where we start working towards the doff and don exercise.

Think about it. Why were you told that if you ever found yourself in a rapid ascent to get horizontal and flare out to slow it? Because it offers greater control. Why not be that way to start?

Also why would you descend in a position where you can't see the bottom? Only to possibly land on a stonefish, stingray, sharp rock, another diver, piece of broken glass, or shard of metal? Common sense says by being in a horizontal position looking down, where you can clearly see what's beneath you is a much smarter, safer, and more sensible way to do it.

 

[fnfalman]

What Jim said.

Vertical descension makes sense for the first ten feet or so unless you're the type that really has issues with equalizing. When you descend verrtically, you can tilt your head up high and the Eustasian Tube would be nearly straight up and that helps equalization. However, once you've equalized, get on the horizontal position for better control.

As far as getting pulled backward because of tank and weight... First of all, make sure you're properly weighted and not overweighted. Secondly, curl up your legs behind you so that your fins will act like drag rudders. They are going to go down slower than your body because of the drag and helps tilt you forward into a belly position. Also, if you still feel unstable at this point, point your right arm straight out to the side. If that doesn't work, then point your left arm out too. Once you get stable, you can manipulate the inflator. If you're properly weighted, then you're not going to sink like a rock. I once saw a guy who was well weighted and though his initial descension was all mesed up (falling backward), his descension rate was slow enough that he can flip around on his belly.

 

[beaverdivers]

Welcome to the next level!

 

[TSandM]

I really think the issue is one of whether you dive neutral or not. If you are always negative (dumped all the air out of the BC on descent, dumped the BC and swam up on ascent) then a vertical position is the only one in which you can control your depth, because your only control is with your fins.

Horizontal descents and ascents must be managed by remaining very close to neutral buoyancy (although you can certainly DO a horizontal descent very negative, and simply arrest it near the bottom, but that takes a fair bit of practice, not to overshoot your inflation and end up rising). Neutral buoyancy is a skill that isn't taught very well in a lot of dive classes (sadly) so teaching students to do their descents and ascents vertical makes sense.

In warm water, with an aluminum tank that cycles around neutral, and minimal to no weight, generally the tendency to fall on one's back is not terribly pronounced. In cold water, it can be awful. I did all my early descents by falling on my back until I hit the bottom, because nobody had taught me how to control myself and I wasn't having any luck figuring it out. One dive with NW Grateful Diver, where he showed me the utility of bending the knees so that the fins catch and push you onto your stomach, and the problem was solved. By that time, I had done OW, AOW and a couple of specialties, and none of my instructors had addressed this.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

First off, to brnt999- Good for you for being new diver and getting in substantial bottom time. I am sure your skills have improved dramatically over the past months. As to descent and ascent positions, while I personally agree with JimLapenta and fnfallman, I think they are being too dogmatic. For recreational divers, I suggest doing what works best for you. Be sure you are properly weighted, and then use whatever ascending or descending position is comfortable and affords YOU the best control. As conditions vary, so too may the position you select. Visibility and current are the two that impact my choice the most. Bottom conditions ( sand, coral, mud or silt, or no bottom, also has an impact. And of course, variations in equipment due to conditions also impact my choices. ( Different bc and exposure suit for teaching and training in cold water vs that for "fun" dives in the tropics.)
DivemasterDennis

 

[Quero]

I teach my own students to initiate their descent feet first
• to make equalization easier (head down descents are much harder on the ears)
• to provide an overview of the direction of travel and surroundings
• maintain buddy contact if one buddy is slightly deeper than the other (easier to look up) when one has paused or ascended e.g., to fix ears

But that's only for the initial descent--the first few meters. I tell newer divers to stay feet down for the first 7 meters, which in my experience will attenuate most equalization issues. After those first 7 meters, I tell them to change to a horizontal descent so that they can see exactly where they're going and perhaps even begin swimming in the direction of travel while still descending. Once they've got a good awareness of their own ears and at what depth they find equalization less immediately pressing, they can switch to a horizontal descent earlier if they like.

 

[TMHeimer]

All good advice from the experienced. I can't recall my OW checkout dives (20 fsw) but was probably taught feet first. That's what is taught at the shop. On the Deep course I was taught to descend without pulling myself down the anchor line--to maintain a 45 degree or so half horizontal position head raised close to the line of course. This is to allow you to see the bottom and maintain proper buoyancy for descent, and to not slam into the bottom at 120'. On most boat dives I do pull myself down the anchor line (in current or not) as fast as possible (buddy allowing). I am lucky that equalising is always a breeze, and I make sure to be neutrally buoyant well above the bottom, slowing my descent at that point quite a bit to be sure. The sooner you get down there the more time you have rather than spending a lot descending. But as pointed out, whatever works well for you.