Northwest Dive Club

I did saw some videos on trim buoy on YouTube and those guys are amazing. As if they are flying in air steady !

Well, the important thing to know is that ANYBODY can do that -- a little attention to balancing your equipment and some work and practice with your posture, and it's extremely possible.

Acquatic wrote:Thanks for the pointers on books. I did saw some videos on trim buoy on YouTube and those guys are amazing. As if they are flying in air steady !

Its not that hard. Seriously you can do this if you choose your instructors wisely and develop the skills. Sadly most instructors will put 35+lbs of lead on you (alot) and drop you onto your knees in the silt. And then talk about how proper "navigation" is avoiding your own trail of destruction and poo visibility behind you. You don't want this kind of instructor. We have quite a few good instructors with high standards here on the board if you're interested. PM me or some of the other posters here for various suggestions.

I'd venture a guess that the vast majority of divers who exhibit proper technique do so in spite of being taught to do these skills while nailed to the bottom of the ocean or pool. The real trick, IMVHO, is about presenting to the student, an example to aspire to and giving them the basic skills and tools to begin to attain that goal.
Many of the divers who lack buoyancy control, do so because they never really got fully informed about it until they got out of the open water course environment. It's insane how many (new and old) divers are packin' on 10-15lbs more ballast than they need and don't realize they needed to be doing weight checks.... :( These folks never got the tools to progress.
Buoyancy is quite easy for the vast majority of folks when it's presented in the proper fashion. But no matter how good you get at it in the open water course. Make sure you're progress does not stop there. Continue to do weight checks and buoyancy skill reviews. Your open water instructor could not fully inform you of all the nuances of proper buoyancy and trim in the confines of an open water course. They should however present you with those tools and an example of what a real diver looks like in the water and how they conduct themselves both in and out of it.
From what I've seen, the biggest danger in diving is ourselves. We tend to see that if a diver has stayed within their level of training and experience, when they do have problems and if they keep their heads about them, they do well. It's my opinion that It's when diver's have problems while outside their level of training and experience that pose the largest danger.
If you have a problem within the perimeters of your training and experience, you will at least have a very VERY GOOD clue as to how to solve the problem and most likely you'll know exactly what to do. IOW you'll know... what it is you'll need to know.. when you need it. If however you have a problem in an environment for which you are not trained and/or not equipped.... :(.... you won't even know, what it is you don't know/need... until it's probably too late.... this is very VERY... NOT GOOD.
As an aside: The problem I see with some of the adventure books mentioned in this thread is the majority of the deaths in these books tend to be perfect examples of what NOT to do. They also seem to sensationalize action's that make us think 'wtf?' . I'd further the sentiment that while they're a great read in the sense of being adventurous, they shouldn't be taken as an expose' of how to think about diving. Remember, It is from these accidents, and MANY MANY others just like them, that we have the safety protocols we have today. Their mistakes have made us better informed of the dangers of diving.
How dangerous is diving. By and large... it's as dangerous as you make it.... stay within you're level of training and experience and it is, as has been said, probably less dangerous than the trip to the divesite.

With regard to the dangers of diving, the ONLY material you need to review is Sea Hunt.

inflex wrote:With regard to the dangers of diving, the ONLY material you need to review is Sea Hunt.

i dunno. I've reviewed Sea Hunt a few times now, and I *still* haven't encounted any knife-weilding hose-cutters out there >< and there's a LOT of them in Sea Hunt.. maybe it's the cali vs washington thing?

Blaiz wrote:

inflex wrote:With regard to the dangers of diving, the ONLY material you need to review is Sea Hunt.

i dunno. I've reviewed Sea Hunt a few times now, and I *still* haven't encounted any knife-weilding hose-cutters out there >< and there's a LOT of them in Sea Hunt.. maybe it's the cali vs washington thing?

Its cuz you don't have a dual hose reg. Strap one on and everyone wants to cut your hoses.
Its funny how terrifing that used to be. Knowing they were cutting the exhaust side takes some of the fun out of it.

You're all missing the point. The women in Sea Hunt were the real danger. Sheesh!

Scuba Diving is a relatively safe sport, unless you come across one of these Suckers!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNaRbh2dl6I[/youtube]

Pez7378 wrote:Scuba Diving is a relatively safe sport, unless you come across one of these Suckers!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNaRbh2dl6I[/youtube]

If you ever hear Brian Dennehy narrating your dive then you should probably thumb it. I'm just saying it's not a good sign.

Obviously the camera guy was really worried, he didn't even help!!!
This happened to my husband a couple times when he was diving at an aquarium doing shows, those octos aren't stupid, they put thier tenticles over the diaphram so it stops working.. they also would release his weight belt.

well first of all i was surprised why the cameramen didn't come to his help and kept shooting ... what was he thinking ? waiting for the octopus to pull the regulator so that the diver either chokes or drinks lot of water ?

Well the whole thing was sudden but doesn't the diver knife come handy in this type of situation ?

Acquatic wrote:Thanks for the pointers on books. I did saw some videos on trim buoy on YouTube and those guys are amazing. As if they are flying in air steady !

If you're looking for a fun read along the lines of "The Last Dive" you should read "Shadow Divers" it's intersting to note that the details of the Rousses rescue are different in "Shadow Divers" than in the Chowdry book. In fact, they pretty much make the opposite claim.

As far as what's dangerous in diving, I think for now the biggest threat you face is probably inexperience. Get together with some of the trusty buddies on this site, stay shallow, take it slow and easy and get some experience. In a few months you'll have answered a lot of these questions yourself.

Remember, this is not a competetive sport. We're not here to see who can swim the fastest, go the deepest and stay down the longest. Right now, you just need to enjoy the fact that you're exposing yourself to a whole new world and the wonder of that world is going to amaze you!

Have fun, and be safe.

sitkadiver wrote: As far as what's dangerous in diving, I think for now the biggest threat you face is probably inexperience. Get together with some of the trusty buddies on this site, stay shallow, take it slow and easy and get some experience. In a few months you'll have answered a lot of these questions yourself.

Remember, this is not a competetive sport. We're not here to see who can swim the fastest, go the deepest and stay down the longest. Right now, you just need to enjoy the fact that you're exposing yourself to a whole new world and the wonder of that world is going to amaze you!

Have fun, and be safe.

+ 10 (at least)
Yep, you need to get your OW, find some good mentors and go diving! I bet your excited and you should be! It's a privilege to play in these alien, underwater worlds. My first dive after OW was with my instructor. We were coming up the wall at Sund Rock towards the fish bowl. At about 40 fsw I remember looking up and seeing a school of perch swim between me and the surface under a backdrop of plumose anemone. AWSOME!!! I thought to myself, THIS is why I wanted to be a diver!
Dive educated, dive smart, dive safe and you will have fun!

Ron

I have already started my swimming refresher course and i am already swimming at least 30 feet underwater in one breath . Initially it looked so intimidating but now i am really liking it. i hope that my diving also turns out that way!

Acquatic wrote:I have already started my swimming refresher course and i am already swimming at least 30 feet underwater in one breath . Initially it looked so intimidating but now i am really liking it. i hope that my diving also turns out that way!

Oh sheesh - you have to know how to swim to be a diver?! Never mind, I'll go back to bowling!

guitarmaker wrote:

Acquatic wrote:I have already started my swimming refresher course and i am already swimming at least 30 feet underwater in one breath . Initially it looked so intimidating but now i am really liking it. i hope that my diving also turns out that way!

Oh sheesh - you have to know how to swim to be a diver?! Never mind, I'll go back to bowling!

Well I can use a scooter but what the heck, I just did it

I'd say the dangerous thing about diving isn't the sharks, negligent buddy, random ninjas who cut your hose, but its yourself. Over confidence and ego's can be the #1 killer in any potentially dangerous sport.

Regarding the DeCo thing.

1. Basically you ascend 30 feet per minute so it allows the nitrogen to escape through exhalation.
Now as you go deep the atmospheric pressure increases (every 33 ft it increased by one.) so you'll sometimes need to do a safety stop at 15-20 Ft for 3 to 5 minutes so it allows the nitrogen to continue escaping. (Having a dive computer in this aspect is very useful as it figures all these factors out for you and if you're ascending too fast it alerts you but you should still know how to use the Dive table which you'll learn about if you take your certification class and know how to do an ascent without relying on a comp first so it hones your skills. In case your comp dies while you're diving.)

2. Also keeping your equipment maintained is a must!

3. When you're ascending from depths that have increased Atmo Pressure never hold your breath. Reason for this is when you're descending air becomes compressed so imagine your lungs as you're ascending holding your breath. As the air expands in your lungs you have a risk of damaging your lungs. (I don't know the term for those tiny things in the lungs that change O2 to Co2).

4. There's a thing called getting narched. It usually happens on depths 100 ft and deeper but it depends on the person as well. In short it's kinda like someone gave you laughing gas so you laugh a lot. If you notice this ascend about 15 minute and it normally goes away but it also varies per person as well.

5. Also keep your breathing in a slow pattern of exhale and inhale you're there to relax and enjoy the marine life. Since catching your breath underwater if you decide to swim extremely fast to see whales with a group of people is difficult or something else that causes the need for more air. (Speaks from experience.) Though for me it wasn't very difficult even though the PSI I downed was 1000 in 8 minutes to make it from Molokini Crater Mid Reef to the far left side of the crater about 150 yards I think the instructor said. (Full Tank = 3000 PSI)

6. There's currents in the oceans so swimming against one of those stronger ones isn't a smart idea so you have to be good at timing it just right for slack tide or a bit before slack tide so swimming is easy and you don't have to worry about being swept away by the current. So learning how to read tide/current tables, IMO, is a must.

7. Never PANIC. That's how accidents happen UW or Above Water. In all situations if you feel yourself going into a panic. Stop what you're doing, Focus just on your breathing taking deep breaths and exhale deeply to calm yourself then think how to fix the situation.

There's more things but you get the idea. Pay attention and also always hone your skills so you can become a better diver and a better dive buddy.

"What is dangerous" - in scuba diving ??


the internet.

I always considered the most dangerous thing to be the fact that you can't breathe underwater... you know without equipment.

I am off gassing right now and I haven't been in the water for about 3 weeks - deco is easy!

spudgunman wrote:I am off gassing right now and I haven't been in the water for about 3 weeks - deco is easy!

I have little knowledge about deco but don't tell me you are out of water for 3 weeks just coz you are still exhaling the excess nitrogen from your system.

haha no. was just adding some smart ass comments. (wish I wasnt out of the water that long ..just busy busy winter)

its been beaten like a horse but as you catch the drift its no worry as long as you don't plan on "doing the dolphin" and seeing how much air you can get when you cork up.

I will also 2nd the danger of diving with H20doc, he seems to get killer starfish that remove your mask and then try to choke you with old crab legs that float around. Dont know how they always find him in the water.

one other danger that I can add is buying scuba gear. dont buy things with out trying them first. also you dont need a big knife that can be dangerous, I read a awesome quote once. "007 killed all the underwater ninjas so you dont need a huge knife any more. "

also never dive Al80's

spudgunman wrote:
I will also 2nd the danger of diving with H20doc, he seems to get killer starfish that remove your mask and then try to choke you with old crab legs that float around. Dont know how they always find him in the water.

I can second that, somehow old H20doctor encountered a sunflower star at the last redondo dive we did. Dunno how that thing got on his head...but doc was shocked when i pointed it out.

Then to top it off at mukilteo he manages to scare the crapzolla out of me with an old red rock crab shell and claws (and you know how vicious those guys are.)

Dashrynn wrote:

spudgunman wrote:
I will also 2nd the danger of diving with H20doc, he seems to get killer starfish that remove your mask and then try to choke you with old crab legs that float around. Dont know how they always find him in the water.

I can second that, somehow old H20doctor encountered a sunflower star at the last redondo dive we did. Dunno how that thing got on his head...but doc was shocked when i pointed it out.

Then to top it off at mukilteo he manages to scare the crapzolla out of me with an old red rock crab shell and claws (and you know how vicious those guys are.)

Look on the bright side,at least now you dont have that crapzilla in you anymore..