Unified Team Diving
Contributor
Guys
I wanted to share with you my thoughts and impressions from teaching the ZUBA Jr. Open Water program.
Here are some fun pictures before you read. http://www.zubadiving.com/photo/album/show?id=6514049%3AAlbum%3A171...
First of all, if you don't know what ZUBA is here is a link to the website... zubadiving.com. Secondly, as some of you may or may not know, it has always being UTD's position NOT to train or teach children under the age of 16 years old because of the 4 main reasons listed here: 1. The mental capacity and aptitude if the children get lost and/or separated from the parents. 2. The weight of the equipment (tanks on their back), especially when getting in and out of the water. 3. The unknown long term effects of nitrogen absorption and/or decompression Illness on their developing bones and bone plates. 4. Lung over expansion injuries if they panic while underwater.
Now you may also know that other agencies are currently allowing and promoting SCUBA certifications to 10 years olds and older but we did not agree with their position. Our ever growing number of students and members have being asking us for several years for a UTD/DIR solution to teaching their children or even adult significant others who are concerned with the same issues as I listed above (weight, dcs, so on). So, with that in mind and now knowing the advantages of side-mount diving we developed ZUBA diving. Keep in mind that side-mount diving has huge advantages when getting in and out of the water without the tanks on your back. It is also about 1 000 000 000 times more stable and streamline than traditional back-mount. So three years ago, UTD developed the Z-Side-Mount System to be make side-mount diving compatible, scalable and consistent within our UTD/DIR community. However the Z-side-mount system did not combat all the issues mentioned above when teaching children, it certainly provided the platform on which we could build the perfect solution. With the Z-Side-Mount system as the platform we could have a super adjustable Z-harness, that fits people from size XXXXSmall to XXXXXLarge, all with the same harness. We have an integrated buoyancy system (wings) that can accommodate any size person and lift. We have a way to distribute gas to the primary regulator, the back-up regulator, the BCD and even a drysuit. So, when we developed the ZUBA system all it we had to do was develop a float system for the tank and extend the drive hose from 24"/65cm to 25'/7.5m and away we go. We could now leave the tank on the surface and the divers could be below at no deeper than 20'/6m. The ZUBA system then solved 3 of the 4 concerns we had when teaching children. They are tethered to the raft, so getting lost is impossible, plus their parents are tethered to the raft, the heavy equipment is on the surface and carried in and out of the water by an adult , they can't go deeper than 20'/6m so Nitrogen absorption is not a problem. So, all we have left is lung over expansion injuries which can be solved through a proper training and certification program such as one Unified Team Diving has developed.
Speaking of which, today was pool day of the ZUBA Jr. Open Water certification. I had 6 kids ranging in age from 10 - 20 years old. I must tell you it was truly amazing and such an honor to teach them. With all my experience of teaching for the the last 20 years from basic, to tech, to trimix to cave to rebreather, this pool session just lit me up. I was so excited to see their faces and their joy of being underwater. It's just so inspirational to know that you are part of bringing SCUBA diving to a child's life without being concerned of the risks that might be involved. It was amazing to see how quickly they learn. Honestly, within the first 15 mins of the pool session, I had them surface swimming, duck diving, ear clearing and mask clearing, of course not of the ZUBA units yet. Then, we donned the Z-Systems and put ZUBA units in the water, plugged them in and with 5 minutes they were underwater, zooming around having the time of their life.
Now it's not all fun and games, some work has to be done
So we did some real underwater scuba skills, we worked not their trim, buoyancy and kicking techniques as well as basic 6 - remove and replace regulator, regulator exchange, modified S-Drills, clearing their mask and mask removal and replacement. It was amazing to see how quickly they learned to remove their masks and swim around for 5 mins being lead by their team mates. Of course they then replaced and cleared them effortlessly. We also concluded a barge of emergency skills such as air sharing drills, emergency swimming ascents and so on. Of course they learned a lot of subtle skills during the pool session, such as buoyancy skills, BCD drills, oral inflation of the BCD, use of the opv to dump gas and so much more. Honestly they KICKED ASS. It is hard to believe how fantastic they were and what an amazing experience this was for me.
Tomorrow, we are off to Catalina Island to go ZUBA diving in the fantastic kelp beds of the islands. The kids will be in 7mm wetsuits, dressed in full Z-Systems and wearing enough weight to sink them. Of course, I am not worried as they will be tethered to the rafts, have full BCD's to maintain their buoyancy and float on the surface when the dives are done. They will also have primary and secondary regulators to conduct all their "SCUBA LIKE" skills and drills, most importantly they will be 100% consistent and compatible with not only each other but with their parents who are diving Z-Side-mount systems. Tomorrow is going to be an exciting and historic day, so stay tuned.
AG
P.S. The 20 year old boy (Picture ) decided he wanted to try SCUBA, so we unplugged his ZUBA Drive hose, attached a side-mount tank, plugged in the 24" drive hose and away he went scuba diving - side-mount style. Such an incredible system.
I wanted to share with you my thoughts and impressions from teaching the ZUBA Jr. Open Water program.
Here are some fun pictures before you read. http://www.zubadiving.com/photo/album/show?id=6514049%3AAlbum%3A171...
First of all, if you don't know what ZUBA is here is a link to the website... zubadiving.com. Secondly, as some of you may or may not know, it has always being UTD's position NOT to train or teach children under the age of 16 years old because of the 4 main reasons listed here: 1. The mental capacity and aptitude if the children get lost and/or separated from the parents. 2. The weight of the equipment (tanks on their back), especially when getting in and out of the water. 3. The unknown long term effects of nitrogen absorption and/or decompression Illness on their developing bones and bone plates. 4. Lung over expansion injuries if they panic while underwater.
Now you may also know that other agencies are currently allowing and promoting SCUBA certifications to 10 years olds and older but we did not agree with their position. Our ever growing number of students and members have being asking us for several years for a UTD/DIR solution to teaching their children or even adult significant others who are concerned with the same issues as I listed above (weight, dcs, so on). So, with that in mind and now knowing the advantages of side-mount diving we developed ZUBA diving. Keep in mind that side-mount diving has huge advantages when getting in and out of the water without the tanks on your back. It is also about 1 000 000 000 times more stable and streamline than traditional back-mount. So three years ago, UTD developed the Z-Side-Mount System to be make side-mount diving compatible, scalable and consistent within our UTD/DIR community. However the Z-side-mount system did not combat all the issues mentioned above when teaching children, it certainly provided the platform on which we could build the perfect solution. With the Z-Side-Mount system as the platform we could have a super adjustable Z-harness, that fits people from size XXXXSmall to XXXXXLarge, all with the same harness. We have an integrated buoyancy system (wings) that can accommodate any size person and lift. We have a way to distribute gas to the primary regulator, the back-up regulator, the BCD and even a drysuit. So, when we developed the ZUBA system all it we had to do was develop a float system for the tank and extend the drive hose from 24"/65cm to 25'/7.5m and away we go. We could now leave the tank on the surface and the divers could be below at no deeper than 20'/6m. The ZUBA system then solved 3 of the 4 concerns we had when teaching children. They are tethered to the raft, so getting lost is impossible, plus their parents are tethered to the raft, the heavy equipment is on the surface and carried in and out of the water by an adult , they can't go deeper than 20'/6m so Nitrogen absorption is not a problem. So, all we have left is lung over expansion injuries which can be solved through a proper training and certification program such as one Unified Team Diving has developed.
Speaking of which, today was pool day of the ZUBA Jr. Open Water certification. I had 6 kids ranging in age from 10 - 20 years old. I must tell you it was truly amazing and such an honor to teach them. With all my experience of teaching for the the last 20 years from basic, to tech, to trimix to cave to rebreather, this pool session just lit me up. I was so excited to see their faces and their joy of being underwater. It's just so inspirational to know that you are part of bringing SCUBA diving to a child's life without being concerned of the risks that might be involved. It was amazing to see how quickly they learn. Honestly, within the first 15 mins of the pool session, I had them surface swimming, duck diving, ear clearing and mask clearing, of course not of the ZUBA units yet. Then, we donned the Z-Systems and put ZUBA units in the water, plugged them in and with 5 minutes they were underwater, zooming around having the time of their life.
Now it's not all fun and games, some work has to be done
So we did some real underwater scuba skills, we worked not their trim, buoyancy and kicking techniques as well as basic 6 - remove and replace regulator, regulator exchange, modified S-Drills, clearing their mask and mask removal and replacement. It was amazing to see how quickly they learned to remove their masks and swim around for 5 mins being lead by their team mates. Of course they then replaced and cleared them effortlessly. We also concluded a barge of emergency skills such as air sharing drills, emergency swimming ascents and so on. Of course they learned a lot of subtle skills during the pool session, such as buoyancy skills, BCD drills, oral inflation of the BCD, use of the opv to dump gas and so much more. Honestly they KICKED ASS. It is hard to believe how fantastic they were and what an amazing experience this was for me. Tomorrow, we are off to Catalina Island to go ZUBA diving in the fantastic kelp beds of the islands. The kids will be in 7mm wetsuits, dressed in full Z-Systems and wearing enough weight to sink them. Of course, I am not worried as they will be tethered to the rafts, have full BCD's to maintain their buoyancy and float on the surface when the dives are done. They will also have primary and secondary regulators to conduct all their "SCUBA LIKE" skills and drills, most importantly they will be 100% consistent and compatible with not only each other but with their parents who are diving Z-Side-mount systems. Tomorrow is going to be an exciting and historic day, so stay tuned.
AG
P.S. The 20 year old boy (Picture ) decided he wanted to try SCUBA, so we unplugged his ZUBA Drive hose, attached a side-mount tank, plugged in the 24" drive hose and away he went scuba diving - side-mount style. Such an incredible system.
