When does it make sense to learn sidemount?

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My fault for making assumptions. I assumed you were already diving a Nitrox computer and was thinking some more in-depth background reading would be more useful than plastic tables. Given the stuff you're doing now, it's easy to forget how new this is for you.
 
My fault for making assumptions. I assumed you were already diving a Nitrox computer and was thinking some more in-depth background reading would be more useful than plastic tables. Given the stuff you're doing now, it's easy to forget how new this is for you.

Well isn't a computer supposed to be one of my next purchase to come first?

im up for more in depth reading as long as it also covers the basics because I'm sure once I got the book I will have forgotten all of the stuff I just did

So you don't think I need plastic tables as long as I have a computer and understand the theory? What about decompression tables, they are in this book but I don't know how to use them. Would t it be a good idea to have plastic deco tables to take down with you?
 
Class is going pretty well. Only problem is my damn feet! I have size 12 boots so they are really buoyant - i started with my Cressi frog plus which are way to buoyant. Then tried Hogs - too heavy. Jet Fins don´t fit. Dive Rite exps are too light but best so far ( bus when my tanks get low, plus the light fins then my feet go up ). Both too heavy and too light mess up my trim, and I just go up when backfinning with light fins and frog kicks don´t work well with the heavy ones. We´ve tried weight on the butt with light fins and weight at the top with heavy fins but doesn´t really help. Any ideas?

Trim, especially for an inexperienced diver, can be rather tricky to get dialed in. Weight of the fins can make an impact on trim, yet I have found that with SM generally most any fin can be dialed in with the rest of the rig. It is normal for divers new to the back kick and go shallower as they perform the kick. It will take time and practice to get control over your depth while doing that kick.

The heavier fins tend to require a softer input with all kicks so they will seem inefficient at first. A way to think about it is the difference between cracking a whip or having a 2 pound weight on the end of a rope. Both can be very affective but trying to crack the rope with the weight on it like the whip would be the wrong way to use it. My experience has been that the fin that best fits your foot is what is most important. That being said you do want a stiff paddle fin if you are going in the tech direction. Softer fins tend to fold and loose their efficiency when you pile on gear and loose streamlining.

When my better half moved into technical diving we struggled with her trim for a while. Her build is very different from mine and we both had a learning curve while getting her dialed in. She was also light in the feet and we tried things like weighting her lower to trim her out which only made the issue worse. What we found in the end was that she was over compensating for being a little leg heavy. She would hold a slightly head down attitude and when she would go perfectly still this would cause her to go more head down. We figured out that with her very narrow shoulders her rig was moving around up high and that we had the weight centered too low on her. We tightened her rig up on her shoulders and moved the weight higher on her and she instantly trimmed out. I don't know if this will help you but is was surprising when we figured out that the weight issue was the opposite of what we thought it was in relation to her trim.
 
You're not qualified to do decompression dives right? If so, just stick to the no deco tables til you get trained for deco dives. Read books all you like but doin deco dives is probably not a good idea yet...

No, sorry, I didn't mean that I want to do deco dives. There are these other tables in the back of the manual, which I've never seen and don't know what they are - I thought they were deco tables and that I was supposed to know how to use them and bring plastic ones on dives if I somehow went into deco and needed to figure out deco stops to ascend safely, or am i just crazy

cometely missed your post bobby! Thanks for the explanation
 
You could get a cheap timer/gauge like the Uwatec 330m and use that with tables. That will not cost you much and will grow with your diving when you start learning about decompression dives.
From what you are saying it sounds like this is the path you will eventually take... So I wouldn't recommend going for a cheap recreational computer with no gauge mode that you will have to ditch when you undertake mixed gas diving. You could also go straight for a decompression dive computer like the Shearwater, but it may be tricky to understand without much knowledge of dive physiology and decompression theory...
 
You could get a cheap timer/gauge like the Uwatec 330m and use that with tables. That will not cost you much and will grow with your diving when you start learning about decompression dives.
From what you are saying it sounds like this is the path you will eventually take... So I wouldn't recommend going for a cheap recreational computer with no gauge mode that you will have to ditch when you undertake mixed gas diving. You could also go straight for a decompression dive computer like the Shearwater, but it may be tricky to understand without much knowledge of dive physiology and decompression theory...

I will do a lot more research on computers once I am home (I´ll probably start a thread about that at some point!..).

You said to use a timer/gauge with the tables. I´m still confused as to whether I should be given plastic tables with this course or buy separately or are you just saying to use the paper tables in the book to plan the dive?

Also, since Protec pretty much never teaches basic nitrox, I think this book is really old ( meaning maybe I shouldn´t buy it ). It´s by Dick Rutkowki and is from August 1997, the fifth edition. On the cover is a girl in a pink wet suit holding a Nassau Grouper ( makes me angry! ) with 3 little pictures across the bottom of people with corals.
 
Did they cover the formulas for calculating max depth?
Back to the question of trim. We've already talked about how important body position is through PMs, but here is a video that demonstrates it. Just watch the first couple of minutes. It's back mount, but applies across the board:
Essentials of Technical Diving - YouTube

If you're dipping your head, the effect will really be brought out when you're back finning.
 
Dalton's Triangle is your friend--you don't need tables to calculate MOD or EAD.
 

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