Is a DPV Class Worth Taking?

[Marc]

With such a mentality, I am surprised that you are actually seeking an instructor for your rebreather. Good luck, chucklehead.

[Jeff Pack]

I love you too.

[Marc]

Not the first lie you have told here.

[Tom Nic]

Let's keep the direct sniping in person across a table, please.

This is an official warning that lines are being approached. Let's stop it here, please.

[Marc]

Hey! he claims to have operated behind the lines! I just wanted my opportunity...

Ok. I'll stop. Maybe.

[defied]

You said "GUE-ness"
That was not specific to equipment, training, or experience.

Go ahead and mount your GEM anywhere you want. You might want to describe what you are doing instead of referencing an agency which doesn't do recreational rebreathers at all tho.

ok, hows this for specifics:

My GEM kit will have a 7ft hose,waist knife, brass and glass SPG, but isnt a 1 piece harness, nor is the GEM a GUE approved device. (Unless I got an RB80 which is GUE approved BTW). But trying to keep config the same between both rigs as similar as possible.

My OC kit will be fully ready for a fundies class Nov/December if Koos decides to do another class then. One piece harness, 7ft hose, waist knife, B&G SPG and Bottom timer.

Specific enough?

So, I guess the big thing here is that you can config your GEM as standard as you want, but it's still not GUE approved.
I see you have an OC configuration for Fundies, and that is, of course, what you will be diving. So that's good. If you passed Fundies with your Gem, I would be required to lose respect for GUE for not sticking to their outlined standards.

D

[Tom Nic]

Hey! he claims to have operated behind the lines! I just wanted my opportunity...

Ok. I'll stop. Maybe.

PM sent.

We're done here - either back on topic or I'm locking the thread.

[Novice]

I actually really appreciated the responses regarding DPV classes I got. Has anyone taken a DPV class and thought afterward it was unnecessary? I will probably take a class but I am so excited about my new scooter I want to keep blathering about it.

[ljjames]

To the OP... There are a few very good instructors around doing DPV classes and I highly recommend them for all the reasons Lamont stated.

I see fewer scooters go to waste when folks do so. (going to waste in my book generally means sitting in a closet gathering dust because the owner never got comfortable on them and then selling them off a year or three later, 'been in the water 3 times, basically new'.

Thats not to say you can't muddle through and acquire some competence via experience and sporadic mentoring but why muddle with something that can get you in trouble 5 times faster (model dependent of course, some its only 3 times faster).

I did not take a DPV class at first. I fell in with a crack pushing crowd and was mentored and subsequently took a scooter workshop and wish i'd taken it sooner as I looked back and could see how much i didn't know but wish i had.

[kitsapdiver]

Novice,

I had a few dives (including tech dives) on scooters before I took my DPV class, and will say that I still found it very useful. I had not considered purposefully crashing a run away scooter,and dind't realize, how simple stopping the prop could be (although I'm not sure I'd want to try it on a Cuda with an X-Prop).

Furthermore, I learned proper towing, and find the method taught in the class easier that even the pull cord a lot of people pull out of their pocket. Now that's one less piece of gear you need, and it's always available in an emergency.

Also I had never practiced gas sharing on a scooter, and found it's actually very simple, and the protocols used by my instructor weren't what I would have worked out logically for myself, but after a lil' explanation his method made more sense in practice than what I had reasoned out in my head.

That being said I would stronly suggest you find an instructor who is going to cater to the scooter you have. There are a couple shops that sell the SEA-Doo types, and I'm not sure if their instructors are running DPV classes, but I would bet that the recreational agencies standards do not include the same content you would get from the right instructor around here, of which there are seveal good ones. I know I have heard of Scott Christopher (NAUI, I believe), and Brian Wiederspan (UTD) both running great courses.

Make sure you talk to some people who have taken classes, figure out what the content included and make sure that same content will be included in your course. Don't get short changed. When I was in Hawai'i there was a shop that ran a "Scooter Expierence" and on one day every week they taught a "scooter short" in the morning and then scootered out to a reef off short that afternoon with the SEADOO variety.

[Norris]

[John Rawlings]

OK, members...everyone please do their best to keep to the actual topic of this thread. The Original Poster asked a legitimate question about DPV training and deserves a thoughtful conversation answering his questions.

Your opinions regarding the veracity and opinions of another member, while they may seem important to you when you're typing, they certainly do not help the OP in any way in making his training decisions.

Please stay on topic...

- John

[jerryehrlich]

So I just bought a Sierra via the interwebs. It should be here in 3 or 4 days.

Anyone have an opinion about taking a DPV class?

Yes, either have a very experienced mentor or take a class. Air sharing, dead scooter tow, setting up the tow harness and other important items do not come with the directions on how to charge the batteries

I think it takes about 50 dives to integrate a scooter into your diving. Enjoy every minute of diving with your new toy.

Best,
Jerry

[lundysd]

As someone who thought he had scootering figured out independently, and then ACTUALLY took a DPV course from an instructor, I cannot stress enough how useful these classes are. Taking it may seem a bit like overkill, but you simply can't learn all of the scooter lore quickly and completely when you're "just scootering" with friends. You may become very good at handling the scooter for the most part, but more often than not some of the critical emergency skills will fall through the cracks. Things like...

-Dead scooter drills and towing
-Out of air drills while on the trigger
-Fixing a stuck trigger using multiple techniques
-Dealing with a flooded scooter

Not to mention the practical knowledge like
- Making and adjusting a tow cord
- Weighting your scooter
- Maintenance
- Verifying battery charges
- Clearing a fouled prop
- Etc etc etc

You could in theory learn these from another scooter diver, but in all likelihood they won't have the patience to cover all of this stuff and will instead give you a cursory overview and then drag you on a dive. It's also likely a bit like playing telephone -- each time the info is passed down from diver to a diver, a bit is lost and a bit is warped. This is the true value of an instructor -- they set a solid baseline that you can trust as sufficient to stay safe and have fun.

[lamont]

+1 on all that.

[LCF]

-Fixing a stuck trigger using multiple techniques

Could have used this a couple of weeks ago, right, Scott?

[Dashrynn]

Schooling on a foreign object is always best. Although there are some people who can think ahead and anticipate emergencies, coming up with safety procedures from pure theory and then testing those theories. The majority of our population can't or doesn't do this efficiently. I like to evaluate myself from all aspects and determine whether or not I need a class. For example: Navigation classes. I found it to be of little use, although teaching me one or two things and supplying a professional to watch over me, it confirmed what I already knew.

In closing, class or not? I like to default to survival logic, playing it safe is never wrong.

[pensacoladiver]

Schooling on a foreign object is always best. Although there are some people who can think ahead and anticipate emergencies, coming up with safety procedures from pure theory and then testing those theories. The majority of our population can't or doesn't do this efficiently. I like to evaluate myself from all aspects and determine whether or not I need a class. For example: Navigation classes. I found it to be of little use, although teaching me one or two things and supplying a professional to watch over me, it confirmed what I already knew.

In closing, class or not? I like to default to survival logic, playing it safe is never wrong.

Do you actually still dive? Did you ever take a scooter class?

[mz53480]

...In closing, class or not? I like to default to survival logic, playing it safe is never wrong.

Do you actually still dive? Did you ever take a scooter class?

Quit asking Dash hard questions like that.

[CaptnJack]

...In closing, class or not? I like to default to survival logic, playing it safe is never wrong.

Do you actually still dive? Did you ever take a scooter class?

Quit asking Dash hard questions like that.

Any questions?

[kdupreez]

In my opinion a DPV class is absolutely worth it.

a quick little one dive "overview" of how to use scooters and how they work is hardly enough to make your proficient and safe at them..

Thanks for the props, but sorry to burst your bubble Jeff, but the scoot overview we did when you did dive 1 with your scoot was merely just that.. a simple 1 dive overview of how these things operate and how you use them..

The DPV class is more like 3 days and 5 dives that will include things like (but not limited to)

- General DPV Operation
- Positioning (Body, tow cord, etc.)
- Team position & Communication
- Emergency OOG scenarios with DPV
- Runaway (stuck trigger)
- using light communication, clearing ears, drysuit, bcd operation
- maintaining line and team contact (while doing above)
- Stowing and Towing a scooter
- Being towed and towing someone and communication while being towed
- Navigation techniques
- Dive (Deco and Gas) planning (i.e. plan for gas/deco/battery runtime for 2 divers and 1 scoot being dead)

etc. etc.

So - a quick pre-dive overview is NOT a substitute for a class.

[Dashrynn]

Schooling on a foreign object is always best. Although there are some people who can think ahead and anticipate emergencies, coming up with safety procedures from pure theory and then testing those theories. The majority of our population can't or doesn't do this efficiently. I like to evaluate myself from all aspects and determine whether or not I need a class. For example: Navigation classes. I found it to be of little use, although teaching me one or two things and supplying a professional to watch over me, it confirmed what I already knew.

In closing, class or not? I like to default to survival logic, playing it safe is never wrong.

Do you actually still dive? Did you ever take a scooter class?

No, but I did stay a night at a holiday inn.

[Dashrynn]

...In closing, class or not? I like to default to survival logic, playing it safe is never wrong.

Do you actually still dive? Did you ever take a scooter class?

Quit asking Dash hard questions like that.

Any questions?

I do not have multiple questions but only one, does that mean I can't ask my singular question?

[Joshua Smith]

...In closing, class or not? I like to default to survival logic, playing it safe is never wrong.

Do you actually still dive? Did you ever take a scooter class?

Quit asking Dash hard questions like that.

Any questions?

I do not have multiple questions but only one, does that mean I can't ask my singular question?

That's a question already.

[Dashrynn]

...In closing, class or not? I like to default to survival logic, playing it safe is never wrong.

Do you actually still dive? Did you ever take a scooter class?

Quit asking Dash hard questions like that.

Any questions?

I do not have multiple questions but only one, does that mean I can't ask my singular question?

That's a question already.