Silly video: UTD Stage Mini

[Gombessa]

A couple of us recently took a stage mini from Don. The class was great, we learned a ton, and most fun of all, we came away with tons and tons of footage laying in plain sight all the good and bad that everyone who's had a video debrief is personally familiar with.

Instead of regaling everyone with 71 minutes and 35 seconds of raw skills footage, I put together a montage that is hopefully entertaining for you and not extremely damning for us

[youtubehq]oQ9KnAmIpGY[/youtubehq]​

 

[liuk3]

Thanks for sharing the video. You guys look great in the water.

I'm just curious. Where does this class fall in your dive progression or how do you plan to progress? From your profile, I noticed that you had taken both GUE Fundamentals and UTD Essentials. Is this mini in preparation for, a part of, or in lieu of a technical dive class? Please forgive my ignorance, as I am not as familiar with the progression in UTD? Is this a certification class or more of a workshop type format? Thanks. Looks like you guys had fun.

 

[Divenomad]

That was great video. And cool bunnies. What was the music, I'd like to know so I can look for it.

And cool bunnies. I did mention the bunnies, did I not?

Nomad

 

[Beyond_Diving]

nice!

 

[TSandM]

A DIR semi-tech diving attorney with . . . bunnies. It's too funny. It's ALWAYS too funny.

I was interested to see how much your stages wobble back and forth when you kick -- I wonder if you should wrap the rear snap under the handle to shorten the cord? I can't remember who it was who showed me how to do that (it might have been David Rhea).

Wait until you try to pick up that O2 bottle and clip it on with the stage already in place. Want to talk about the frustration circular fin dance . . .

 

[Gombessa]

Hi Ken,

Thanks for the kind words. The stage mini is a workshop format that seems to slot in well between fundies and tech1/rec3 on the gue scale. We're kind of stuck in techreational purgatory now, we have our tech passes and know we want to go r3/t1 next, but we've also been on a bit of a roller coaster of classes, and I think we need to think about timing--there are a ton of local recreational sites we simply haven't even seen yet. That's the trap of diving Point Lobos so much I think

Lynne- Don mentioned the clip-under-the-line tightening technique to us as well. A full stage is certainly a lesson in conservation of momentum! The interesting thing is that the gray stage is a luxfer and the blue is a Catalina. As far as I could see, the Catalina rides identically and starts goin butt-up even faster than the lux.

Nomad-the funny thing is, I'm not the only California DIR diver named Ken with rabbits, but mo2vation, who shall remain unnamed, doesn't talk about his very often.

 

[kathydee]

Nice job! Thanks for sharing. I love the music & of course the bunnies ;-).

 

[ae3753]

Gombessa, great video! Funny storyline and very dramatic ending.

It was a lot of fun to dive with you guys.

 

[TSandM]

Yeah, the other Ken has bunnies, too, but it kind of goes along with his long-haired drummer decodivingonasingle130 persona. DIRattorneyindoublesandastage and bunnies is just a very humorous exercise in cognitive dissonance

 

[liuk3]

Thanks for your reply. I think that you and I have been diving for about the same amount of time, and we're both just trying to figure out how best to progress in our diving. I had to go through similar mental gymnastics before finally picking my desired pathway. I think that it is cool that you got some practice with the stage/deco bottle. I certainly would have found it helpful. You guys looked really comfortable in the water, and you're lucky to have Lobos so close. I look forward to getting the chance to dive there one day.