Three thoughts on the night between open water cert dives

[feldomatic]

1. This is still the most amazing physical activity I've ever done.
2. The breathing-buoyancy relationship is hard.
3. Scuba Hell is other divers.

To elaborate point 3:
The same one kid who showed up late, was always the last one geared up, and thumbed the second dive early because he started with 2000psi and didn't tell anybody. Good on him for making it 20 minutes on 500 pounds though, the rest of us averaged double that.

Is it odd to find a 7mil too warm in the low 50s (Henderson Thermoprene)? I'm now leaning more toward the 5mil Bare Velocity Ultra

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Regarding finding the 7mm too warm for the low 50s, yes, that’s a bit unusual. But everyone’s cold tolerance varies. I wear a Bare 7mm in the low 70s down to upper 60s. Below that I’m in a drysuit. But I HATE being cold & get cold easily. You need to find what works for you. That’s all that matter.

As to point #3, you’ve learned a common frustration for many divers.

 

[Aura]

You'll probably be less warm when you've gained more experience and your dives become more effortless.

Being late and entering the water with low tank pressure isn't great. But I'll try to never be annoyed at a new diver being slow at gearing up. It is far better to be slow when gearing up but doing it right, than to rush it and make even one mistake.

 

[Robert H. Diver]

1. Diving really is amazing.

2. You’ll get there…dive dive dive, practice practice practice.

3. Understandable…but he may have been nervous and too shy to let the instructor know his cylinder wasn’t full? Some people learn/move slower than others and that’s ok. Better to take an extra few minutes than be rushed and forget a piece of kit or worse forget to check your gear and something go wrong that should have been caught.

Yea definitely strange that you’re too warm in a 7mm in 50 degree water, if it’s below 72 I’m in a dry suit but everyone has different cold tolerances…I’m a big baby when the water is “cold.”

 

[BoltSnap]

As an instructor, I'd NEVER let my students into the water, pool or sea, without checking their equipment AND their air pressure with my own eyes, each single one of them before EVERY single dive (I also check and confirm their dive plan). Also, if somebody is "slow" in getting ready, this calls for my attention and me finding out why he is slow. Being slow in the openwater phase after all of the training in confined water means many things including the student's not knowing how to do something, nervousness, physical condition that maybe contradictory with diving including hangover, etc. In all scenarios, I must know why and determine what to do with this slow student. It maybe just a person who is naturally slow and nothing to worry about or there is something for me to be concerned with.

I was helping a fellow instructor in a training session with his students many years ago in Boston and I was working with a student who was very slow. I became suspicious with his slowness and had a talk with my instructor friend. I took this "slow" student aside and interrogated him (in an indirect way) only to find out that he is diabetic (he lied in his medical form) and was not feeling well. Long story short, this student didn't continue with the course since his medical condition did not allow him to dive (after checking with physicians expert in the subject). In another scenario, teaching university students and in their openwater day, a student was acting "slow" and after investigating, it turned out that he was up all night and drinking all night before coming to his openwater day. He was dismissed from class and told to call somebody to take him home.

The moral of the story here, the instructor must be vigilant dealing with the students and he must ascertain that the students are not only doing things right, but also that they are behaving properly. If there are any anomalies or unusual behavior, the instructor must investigate.

 

[feldomatic]

Yea definitely strange that you’re too warm in a 7mm in 50 degree water, if it’s below 72 I’m in a dry suit but everyone has different cold tolerances…I’m a big baby when the water is “cold.”

It's so weird, because I have generally been a wimp about swimming in anything below 75 (my wife is from Maine and this is her favorite joke to make at my expense). My theory is the wetsuit takes the "shock" out of it, because the cold definitely hit during my mask flooding drills

In air I'm pretty much hot as long as I'm moving, even a little, and always leave puddles, ponds and other bodies of water behind me at the gym.

 

[Pressurehead]

and thumbed the second dive early because he started with 2000psi and didn't tell anybody.

I have to ask [I am sure someone will], was the instructor aware that he started with 2,000 psi ?

And again, I am too slow.

 

[feldomatic]

I have to ask [I am sure someone will], was the instructor aware that he started with 2,000 psi ?

And again, I am too slow.

As I recall it, student was having an o-ring issue with his tank, the DM went over and the instructor followed. Everyone else was starting on a fresh tank (and this guy should have been, maybe he lost some gas troubleshooting the o-ring?)

But right after that, we walked down to the dock and briefed a 30 minute dive, so wires were crossed somewhere.

 

[TMHeimer]

1. For me the most physical aspect has usually been gearing up & down (and rinsing all the junk off).
2. Breathing/buoyancy should be pretty much locked in after you do maybe 5-10 dives-- assuming there isn't months between them.
3. After you're certified you can pick your buddies for shore dives so no one holds things up like in the course.
4. Yes, cold tolerance varies. I was pretty much "immuned" when I started, having moved to NS from Canada's sub Arctic. Not AT ALL so much 18 years later....

 

[undrwater]

My theory is the wetsuit takes the "shock" out of it, because the cold definitely hit during my mask flooding drills

A brand new wetsuit will be quite a bit warmer than an "experienced" one. If you keep this one, it will get more comfortable over time as it compresses. You could wear a thinner hood or gloves for now.