scuba for the blind

[pasley]

I should mention here (OFF TOPIC A BIT) that on 13 October 2010 I went to the California School for the Blind and with help of 3 local volunteers (who were invaluable, I could not have done it with out them) and a local (Santa Cruz) dive shop we conducted a DISCOVER SCUBA. In the water 7.5 hours the 4 of us and unfortunatly some students were told they would have to do it another day as we were at capacity. We will go back. The kids and the volunteers and I had a blast.

 

[dixiedan]

Keep up the good work!

 

[brighteyes]

hi
thanks that was really interesting, I now have a talking dive computer orca pilot audio, nytrox version, you need sight to set it up but once in the water speaks depth time been down.
i'm starting my training next wednesday provisionally
I went for a pool dive a couple of wednesdays ago at my local pool, which was good I was told i was a natural as I got and held neutral boyency after about 15 minutes.
I'll have a look for the sonic reserves, at least i'll know if all else failes i've got got a warning to say low tank
thanks I'll let you know how i get on
cheers rob

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Rob,

You won't find any new regulators that do this. There is one Healthways sonic currently on E-Bay, but they want much too much for it. There are two Scubapro Mk 7 first stages on E-Bay, and they have a "buy it now" price of $69.99. Here is the link:

Scubapro MK7 MK 7 VII First Stage Regulator Honker - eBay (item 130451453414 end time Nov-10-10 20:52:26 PST)

My experience with the Scubapro Mk7 is that it needs a specific Scubapro second stage in order for the sonic feature to work well. So simply getting the first stage may not be all that is necessary. But the metal Scubapro second stage may be necessary for the sonic reserve to work. It has to do with the harmonics of the system, I believe. But once it is in place, it works very well. There are two low pressure ports on this first stage, and the sonic part only works on one of those ports. However, it is not difficult to get a Scubapro second stage either.

Here is a second stage, from E-bay, which right now is at $9.99. However, it does say that they only ship to the USA and Canada. But maybe you could talk to them about that too.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Scubapro-Regulator-Hose-/270660859992?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f04a4f858



SeaRat

 

[captbillncostarica]

Hi guys,,,

here is something you might enjoy,,,when i had my dive shop in the Florida Keys many years ago, about 1973 or so..
i got a call from a person who was asking me all sorts of questions about learning to dive. i figured he had lost a arm or leg. so i talked to him and finally i asked what was his situation? he said he was totally blind from birth.,,,,,i had taught 2 people to dive already that were disabled and all went well with them,

i said to him,,'if you can find ME here in the Florida Keys i will teach you to dive'.

he said OK,,, and he was calling from Canada,,,about 3 weeks later the Trailways bus stopped out front of the shop and a person got along with the driver,got his bags and headed my way
and in his hand was a red/white pole to help with his walking. i ran out to lend a hand and help him carry his bags once i figured out who he was,,

he said well i found you Captbill, now TEACH me to DIVE.

well i did teach him to dive,, and then got him a job singing and playing the piano at one of the places on the water. had him move up into my diver dorm and he lived with us for 2 YEARS and DOVE every day out on the reef,,
helped in the shop selling gear and even help me teach a few classes. he was some guy!

but he was always joking with me,,,one time he called in on the radio from our 48 ft dive boat,saying Captain John was down checking the diesel over and given him the wheel and said go for it,,,well he called and said,,he could not see where he was! could i help him!

so one day to get even,,,,
i set his watch fast and charged him for a Night dive in front of my customers,,,i told them he was blind and wouldn't know the difference!

we had a great time for those 2 years joking back and forth,,,

one day he got a call from England about a job,,,i said great what was it ? he said cleaning out pipe lines used for out flow,,,have you ever cleaned one of those? i have and it is very dark and
you get a phobia for sure,,,but Jim didn,t have the fear that most of us have being up a pipe 1000 feet.
so i guess he is still there or maybe retired!

so just a story about a good friend and a better diver than most.

 

[brighteyes]

hi
thanks for that.
that sounds grate.
my diver training isn't happening at the minute as i can't get there due to the snow and lots of it.
Hopefully, any 1 wants some let me know
lol
might be able to go this week maybe.

 

[pasley]

That is too bad. Rough weather around the world it seems. Mudslides, locust, snow, rains from the east to the west and from the north to the south. Kind of reminds you of a Biblical story. But as we often say in SCUBA this is always next week. Good luck with your training.

 

[captbillncostarica]

glad you enjoyed that story,,,as i have been diving and teaching for years many crazy things have happened to me in the diving field,,,most of them good.

 

[pasley]

I started a new student last Saturday who is blind. A fish in water during the swim test, and the first time he had been in a pool in a long time. It will be fun as we explore the world of SCUBA. We were talking about where we will go for the first dives and why. Visibility for once will not be a concern, but as always we will want calm conditons.

 

[АлександрД]

some more DIY equipment for Blind Divers - equipment for blind divers