"There's a man in the ladies room" the tale of my Intro to Tech class Day 1 and now 2

[crpntr133]

Throw a slung deco bottle into the mess and things can really be interesting. We did most of our dives with the bottle since the two of us were going on to adv nitrox/ deco

Sounds like you had a good class.

 

[Steve_Dives]

OK, I might as well post my comments in the same thread.

Cool class, and now I want to convert my single 80's over to doubles. Great, another reason to spend money on dive gear!

I enjoyed ppo2_diver (he's in my friends list if you want to find him) as an instructor. The style was relaxed, yet I didn't feel like we were wasting time. Response to email and provides complete answers.

Having used both Ber's double steel 100's and a set of double AL80's, I'll say the difference in the water is huge. Rolling onto my side was easy in the AL80's, but try that in Ber's tanks and you can easily turtle.

Having 4 sets of gear together was good. We had at least 3 different reg sets, 3 different tank sizes, 3 different wings, and a couple other variations. That helped show how hose routing can be done a little differently in each case.

My back kick stinks. I was so tired of practicing it and going nowhere that at one point I stood on my head and spun around for awhile. The frog kick will need some work, but I think I improved over the 2 days. Oddly enough I can helicopter turn decently. So I can't go forward or backwards, but I can spin. Yay.

Of the basic 5, my depth changed too much for my satisfaction on the mask removal. Looks like I'll be working on that. Dreading the chlorine.

The air share drills don't bother me. I'm happy to hand off a reg and generally forget to put my octo in my mouth until I've completely exhaled. Duane did caution me about switching to a reg after I had shut down a post; I just hate to waste nitrox. Oh, and Ber's reg did feel like it breathed a little hard. The crack seemed OK, but it seemed to draw a little hard.

Shooting the bag was fun. I too brought a lift bag rather than SMB. My bag has no oral inflation option, so I had to slip my exhaust under the bag. Well, the first exhale mostly went around the bag. So I exhaled again and this time got a massive amount of air in the thing! I managed to release it without getting my head caught in the loop! Reeling it back down was interesting since I could feel the lift changing as the air compressed.

Our proximity to each other suffered a little as Ber mentioned. Moving through trees is a real difficulty. Best option seems to be to go single file since you can remain close. Separate and you and your buddy may get forced further apart.

One highlight was the debut of Ber's inflatable air mattresses. I got to test drive one, briefly, before the evil bunny kicked me out. Friggin Rabbit, expects to sleep on her own bed! Sheesch! (Duane got the other mattress.) Way more comfy than the cot + pad option and it doesn't creak every time your heart beats. Now that's another piece of dive gear I need.

 

[crpntr133]

Shooting the bag was fun. I too brought a lift bag rather than SMB. My bag has no oral inflation option, so I had to slip my exhaust under the bag. Well, the first exhale mostly went around the bag. So I exhaled again and this time got a massive amount of air in the thing! I managed to release it without getting my head caught in the loop! Reeling it back down was interesting since I could feel the lift changing as the air compressed.

If you want some good practice on deploying a bag do like we did at Gilboa. One person stays on the dock, we used the first dock. Blow the bag a few feet away from the dock and swim it in. The person on the dock deflates it and you real it in...repeat

One highlight was the debut of Ber's inflatable air mattresses. I got to test drive one, briefly, before the evil bunny kicked me out. Friggin Rabbit, expects to sleep on her own bed! Sheesch! (Duane got the other mattress.) Way more comfy than the cot + pad option and it doesn't creak every time your heart beats. Now that's another piece of dive gear I need.

How did you manage to inflate the mattress UW??

 

[Steve_Dives]

How did you manage to inflate the mattress UW??

Hmm, there's an idea! An SMB so large you can sit on it and paddle it to shore! Oh buddy...can I borrow your mattress for a bit???

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Great reports Ber and Steve. Duane's a top notch instructor and it's no surprise that you guys enjoyed your course so much. One thing to be careful of is that Duane now has videos of you and he's not above extortion.

The biggest surprise I had reading your summaries is that Duane made it to Gilboa. Duane .... at Gilboa?! Will wonders never cease!

 

[TSandM]

If you use a small SMB, somebody with big tanks can be negative enough to haul it down and deflate it for re-shooting -- We did that "assembly line" bag shooting a few times while practicing for tech passes for Fundies!

I think my husband found the best way to master the back kick. He went to the pool, no gear, and worked on it without fins on the surface. Pretty quickly, he could swim laps backwards. Then he added fins and continued on the surface until he had that down, too. Then he put on gear and presto! Back kick!

 

[Ber Rabbit]

I enjoyed ppo2_diver (he's in my friends list if you want to find him) as an instructor. The style was relaxed, yet I didn't feel like we were wasting time.

This statement proves Duane is some sort of magician, teaching a slow learning rabbit while an engineer doesn't feel like time is being wasted.

Having used both Ber's double steel 100's and a set of double AL80's, I'll say the difference in the water is huge. Rolling onto my side was easy in the AL80's, but try that in Ber's tanks and you can easily turtle.

I would like to try 80's one day. Eliminate the need to roll onto your side and the problem goes away Besides if you start to turtle in my tanks you just use the momentum to your advantage and complete the roll...I'm pretty sure there's some video of that...somewhere

Our proximity to each other suffered a little as Ber mentioned. Moving through trees is a real difficulty. Best option seems to be to go single file since you can remain close. Separate and you and your buddy may get forced further apart.

Here I disagree, single file without lights for commuication means you might as well be a mile away from your buddy. Separating to the side while you go around a tree that's 6 inches wide means you can still look to the side and check on your buddies without going head first into a tree yourself.

We did get busted for going under a line instead of over it. I LIKE going under them, it's how I work on my awareness of where my gear is in relation to my environment. I don't know if the guys consciously checked to see if they could clear the line but I had checked all three of us as we approached and went under to ensure there would be no entanglement.

How did you manage to inflate the mattress UW??

LP hose attachment :blinking:

Great reports Ber and Steve. Duane's a top notch instructor and it's no surprise that you guys enjoyed your course so much. One thing to be careful of is that Duane now has videos of you and he's not above extortion.

The biggest surprise I had reading your summaries is that Duane made it to Gilboa. Duane .... at Gilboa?! Will wonders never cease!

Luckily I've never said I was anything other than a clumsy dork so all he's got is footage to prove me right

Hopefully we were able to spoil him enough that he's willing to come back to Gilboa

If you use a small SMB, somebody with big tanks can be negative enough to haul it down and deflate it for re-shooting -- We did that "assembly line" bag shooting a few times while practicing for tech passes for Fundies!

I think my husband found the best way to master the back kick. He went to the pool, no gear, and worked on it without fins on the surface. Pretty quickly, he could swim laps backwards. Then he added fins and continued on the surface until he had that down, too. Then he put on gear and presto! Back kick!

I could haul the lift bag down but couldn't get the water out of it I like the pool practice idea for the back kick. I'm going to need some serious help
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Gombessa]

We typically use a small (4lb) lift bag for practice - we've never hauled it back down but I can't imagine it would be too positive to do so.

Another possibility--if you're just looking to practice the mechanics of the deployment--is to underinflate it; it'll still go to the surface, but won't be so buoyant that you can't pull it back down safely.

Also, just getting in the pool with all your gear is a great way to practice back kicks. With no current or surge of any kind, and plenty of reference points from the small area and unlimited viz, it becomes quite easy to "quiet yourself," get in position and practice. I've found that my back kick is almost 100% dependent on having proper trim. Ever since moving to the double-80s recently, I've lost it, and have been trying to get it back.

 

[Standingbear56]

Hi Ber,
Congratulations on your Intro course. As usual, your narration left me LMAO. Trust me, it gets easier with practice - LOTS of practice. You may want to look into smaller tanks, might make things a bit easier. Ya gotta post a pic of "Tech Diver with Ears on Both Ends"!
Take Care,
George

 

[Ber Rabbit]

We typically use a small (4lb) lift bag for practice - we've never hauled it back down but I can't imagine it would be too positive to do so.

Also, just getting in the pool with all your gear is a great way to practice back kicks. With no current or surge of any kind, and plenty of reference points from the small area and unlimited viz, it becomes quite easy to "quiet yourself," get in position and practice. I've found that my back kick is almost 100% dependent on having proper trim. Ever since moving to the double-80s recently, I've lost it, and have been trying to get it back.

Mine is a 50 pound lift bag and I didn't put much air in it so it wasn't hard to get it to come back down. I mainly had to watch to make sure I didn't tangle myself or others in the line.

Getting quiet and focused is where I struggle the most. Once I can chill out I generally do pretty well, I have generated backward propulsion before in open water and in the pool. It may not have been a pretty back kick but whatever I was doing was sending me backward. I need to focus on one thing at a time, being a good buddy and back kicking just aren't going to happen for me yet. I need a buddy team to babysit me while I practice when I'm in open water.

Hi Ber,
Congratulations on your Intro course. As usual, your narration left me LMAO. Trust me, it gets easier with practice - LOTS of practice. You may want to look into smaller tanks, might make things a bit easier. Ya gotta post a pic of "Tech Diver with Ears on Both Ends"!
Take Care,
George

Smaller tanks? WHAT?! I'm a big tank junkie, I like the workout aspect of carrying them around. I was drooling over Duane's double 130's...they are SO not practical for me but I'm into lifting heavy things Besides, one of these days heavy is going to cease to be fun THEN I can consider smaller tanks
Ber :lilbunny: