Technical Diving: Are you ready?

Sometime around your 16th birthday, you went to your parents and said “I want to go get my driver’s permit”. Now, unless they had been living under a rock, they saw it coming. Since they knew you were going to ask, I am sure they had been evaluating you and how they were going to handle it. But what made you say, “You are ready?” Was it simply because you were of age? Did you step back and evaluate yourself: your maturity, responsibility, reflexes, attention span? No, you were the right age and you had the right to drive! If you had stepped back and looked, you may have seen that you were not ready. For sure, you were not ready to drive 75mph down the interstate during rush hour, eating a cheeseburger and changing the radio station. (Not that I would ever do that.) Like driving, technical diving takes a level of maturity, responsibility and multi-tasking. Technical diving is not a right, it is an earned privilege. Just like with driving, a mistake can mean you life.

We are going to talk about your role in deciding to start. What you should do before you start.

The question is, when do you know you are ready to start the tec path? Only you will know when you are ready. There are no hard set rules, there are requirements or prerequisites but they do not mean you are ready. For instance, one organization requires 25 dives while another requires 50 for the equivalent classes. Does that mean you are ready, I think not. Here are a few recommendations for you in no particular order.

It is all about the skills and drills. You will be exposed to many new skills and some of your old ones will be polished. Before you start, you should be able to do at least the following in your openwater equipment: 1) While hovering horizontal: remove and replace your mask, without changing depth by more then 3 ft. 2) Share air while remaining horizontal. 3) Swim at least 30ft, horizontal, on one breath (CESA). 4) Swim at least 50ft without your mask on. 5) While hovering horizontal, remove and replace your BCD, best to do this in a pool. These are not requirements to start but being able to do these skill will make your class much more enjoyable for you and your instructor.

Once you can do those skill, find a set of doubles. Rent or borrow different types, to include the rigs if you do not have one. Gear configuration is covered in class, but you need to find a rig that suits you and works. Then, dive. Get a feel for the rig and the tanks. There are three times in a divers training when they relearn how to dive. Diving with doubles, a dry suit, and with a re-breather. Doubles have a different buoyancy and trim characteristics then a single tank. Double 80’s are not the same as 104’s. Once you get use to one set, changing to a different set is like changing cars. You will have to make a few adjustments to the seat, and mirrors, get a feel for the breaks and steering but nothing you should not be able to overcome fairly quickly. If you are diving in an area were a drysuit is a must, dive it, with the doubles.

Do your research! Know what to expect when you walk-in to class. These classes are an investment in time and money. Do not think you are going to walk in, do a couple of dives, and get a card. You will need more gear then you have as an open water diver, and it will take more time then your openwater class ever did. Do the time and find out what is involved. While doing your research, find an instructor. The same rules apply as with finding an openwater instructor.

Check your mental fitness. Are you ready to learn new skill? Are you ready to be taught and evaluated? If you are the kind of person that thinks they are dong everything the right way, you may want to re-think your decision. You must be open to constructive criticism and ready to take it at any time. Egos have no place under the water, and must be left on at the surface, on shore, and preferably at home.
Check you physical fitness. Technical diving is more strenuous then openwater diving. If you have any health issues get cleared by your doctor, you may want to find a hyperbaric doctor. DAN maintains a list and will steer you in the right direction. If you get winded walking a flight of stair you may also want to reconsider. Carrying a set of doubles and a stage up an incline or even the ladder on the boat is strenuous. Make sure you are fit, you do not need to run a marathon but , you need to be able to carry and swim with all the gear involved. Discuss this with your instructor for more guidance.

Finally or first, start slow. Enroll in an Intro/Intro type class. Not all training agencies call them Introduction to Technical diving. But they have something along the same lines. This class will show you the basics and give you a feel for what is involved. It is also a great indicator if you are ready. If nothing else you will leave the class with new skills that will make you a better diver.

In closing, when are you ready? When you’re ready. Start slow, take an intro class. Do your research, know what to expect and find an instructor. Check your fitness, mental and physical. Get in the water, it is all about the skills and drills. Only you will now when you are ready. Do not figure it out at 160ft, in 40 degree water, after you have a regulator malfunction.

Why I Teach

I have been a Scuba instructor now for a little over 15 years. I have been an active instructor, with the exception of a year or two break due to reasons beyond my control., In the scope of things, this may not seem like a large feat. However, I have noticed that a great number of people I taught with over the years have stopped teaching. I am sure there are lots of reasons for it and every reason is acceptable. What has kept me teaching? It is the “ah ha” moments.

An “ah ha” moment, for me, comes in two varieties. One is in the classroom when there is a student who is struggling with a concept. They just do not get it! Then, while you are explaining it to them, you can see the light come on and they get it. The second occurs in the pool or during open water training. They are struggling with a new skill or have just decided they cannot or will not do it. You convince them that they can do it, and then you find the technique that works for them. When they do the skill, you can see the joy or relief in there face.

I start every open water pool session by having the students breath from the regulator and just put there face in the water while in the shallow end. I let them breathe like this for a minute or so. I then congratulate them on doing the “hardest” skill--No Mask Breathing. I explain they will do it again but now we all know they can do it. So, like all classes I started my last class the same way. We then move on to partial flood and clear and total flood and clear. Near the end of the pool session for that day, I announce that we are now going to remove our mask, breath for one minute and then replace and clear the mask. I could see the utter terror on one students face, we will call him Joe. (Note: student was 12 years old) We all descended and as always, I demonstrated the skill. My divemaster noticed how nervous Joe was and moved next to him. I love a vigilant divemaster! While I was evaluating other students, I would glance over at Joe. The closer I got, the more upset he appeared. I told him to wait as I went on to the remainder of the students. I then sent the class, minus Joe, to swim around under the supervision of the DM. Joe and I surfaced. To say he was upset was an understatement. He had already convinced himself that he could not do it. Drawing up on my years of teaching and of being a father, I convinced him he could. After repeating the first experience of no mask breathing, we descended and Joe did the skill like he had been doing it for years. When he cleared his mask, you could see the smile on his face.

That was Joe’s “ah ha” moment and that is why I continue to teach.

Dive Season is here!

For those of us in the north, Summer is almost here and dive season is upon us. What should you do? Hopefully over the winter you have kept some type of physical fitness level and you have been able to go diving. If not, it is not too late. Swimming is the best exercise for diving. You do not need to be Michel Phelps. Start out slow and with a short distance. Like any exercise, build up to long times and greater distance. You may be limited on when and how often you can swim. Also, if you travel, it may not be convenient. If you can run, running is, in my opinion, a great choice. You can do it anywhere and anytime. At the least, walk a mile or so at a pace that makes you breathe harder then you are now reading this article. Something is better the nothing. As always, check with your family doctor before you start any kind of exercise regime.
What else do you need to do? Check out all of your gear, do any maintenance that may need to be done: Tanks vis’d, Regulator serviced, check your mask and fins for damage, especially the straps. Check you BCD, be sure it still fits, you know, winter weight and all. Check all the valves and releases. The inflator and deflator are high on the list also. Then, GET WET! At a minimum, jump in the pool with you gear and get reacquainted. Visit you local dive shop and sign up for a refresher. This can be done with an instructor or divemaster. They will work with you to get your skill back up to speed. Sign up for a trip, be it local or someplace warmer. The key is, GET WET!

Practice what you (I) Preach

I have written in the past (in other forums) that student divers need to talk to a perspective instructor. This is especially true when looking for a continuing education instructor to train with. One of the questions that need to be asked is, “what type of diving do you do when you are not teaching, how often and when was the last time you did it?”

For me that is easy: I cave dive. Why? There a number of reasons and these are not in any kind of order. First, to cave dive one must have a skill set unlike any other. There is no room for errors. For instance, in relation to buoyancy or gas monitoring. Touching the bottom can cause a major silt out and total lost of visibility, and if you run low or out of gas a Controlled Emergency Swimming Accent is not in the cards. Second, planning takes on a new diminution from open water. You cannot just plan on going underwater, swimming around and then coming back to the surface. Third, when caving, I am not in-charge, all plans are team driven. Finally, caving has given me many adventures. I have had the opportunity to go into caves that no one else or only of hand full of others have seen. For me the darkness still does beckons me.

Last Dive of the weekend. (Synopsis of a dive)
Recently, I had the privilege of diving with a great team. Two members from Kentucky and my regular buddy here in Virginia. My favorite was our last dive of the trip, Orange Grove to Peacock traverse. Earlier we had swum from Peacock to Challenge sink, via the Peanut line (~2650ft) on less then one third of our back gas (104s). In planning the traverse, we knew that Challenge was our cookie. A cookie is a line marker and in this case, it references the point we had to be at or past once we reached one third of our gas supply. If not we would have to turn the dive and exit the way we came. Poring over the map the night before, we came up with a simple but elegant plan. Since none of my team, except for myself, had done the traverse, we decided to carry a stage bottle (80AL) for extra safety.
We entered at Orange Grove. After our bubble check and a quick S-drill descended breathing our stage bottle. We had decided to use a primary reel that a fellow diver had left connected the previous day and marked it with a cookie. Orange Grove to Challenge is around 1800ft; at 1000ft penetration, we switched from our stage to our back gas. The switch conveniently occurred in a room with plenty of room for all four of us. After sorting out our gear and a quick team check, we continued the dive. We arrived at Challenge with more then enough gas and after about a10 min surface break we continued the dive. The distance from Challenge to Olsen is a little over 1400ft, and then Olsen out is about 1500ft. We stopped at Olsen for a quick break and checks. It was a great dive and besides a cramp on the way out, uneventful. Our average speed was about 50ft per minute and our SAC was right at .5. Hungry, tired and very pleased with ourselves, we exited the water, recovered our equipment and prepared for the long drive home.

Why DAN as ConEd classes?

As a scuba and a DAN Instructor I am asked by students and fellow instructor: “Why take DAN classes?” They are not dive classes in the classic, get in the water and do skills kind of classes. DAN classes are of a different flavor. They are dry classes.

For the student diver or in DAN terminology/Providers: Your knowledge of dive related medical emergencies will increase exponentially. The classes build your confidence to react to a diving medical emergency, be it a spine puncture from a sea urchin or a decompression illness event. DAN classes teach basic Life support skill (CPR & 1^st Aid), how and when to administer oxygen, marine life injury 1^st aid, even, how and when to take a blood pressure. These are skill that you never want to have to use, but would it not be nice to know what to do if you needed them? Moreover, with most classes you will learn more about DCI and how to limit your risk. When diving with a commercial operation, one would hope that the crew knows what to do in case of an emergency; this may not always be the case. Armed with the knowledge from these classes you will know if proper care is being administered. Finally, as an active diver you want to surround yourself with dive buddies who can assist you in case of an emergency.

For the Instructor, why would you not want to offer DAN classes to your students? DAN classes offer you a chance to provide classes year round. Keeps your students interested in training and teach them skills that could save a life. DAN classes work well as stand alone classes but I have had better experience in making them value added classes. For a minimum increase in the price add DEMP to your rescue class. Your students will finish class with two certifications and more knowledgeable in how to use oxygen and taking care of hazardous marine life injuries. Add BLS Pro to you Dive Master Program, this will provide them with a BLS review and new skills that could save a life., maybe even yours.

Isn't your goal as an instructor to train safe and confident divers? DAN classes will help you in those goals.

Beyond Open Water: What does it mean?

Let us look at it from two different perspectives: the Dive and the Instructor.
For the diver going beyond open water means continuing their diving education/training. The only true way to learn to dive is to dive. Under the supervision of an instructor, you will learn how to do it properly. You attain new skills and become a more confident diver. How far do you go? As far as you want. Instructors and most divers will say that rescue is a minimum. Open water class gives you the basic skill you need to dive, there is so much more to learn, and many ways to challenge yourself. It is worth the investment.

For the instructor it means promoting continuing education and teaching it so that the students have fun and learn at the same time. Let’s face it, if you are only teaching the open water class; you are good at kneeling on the bottom, demonstrating and evaluating mask clearing. As an instructor, continuing education classes give you a chance to practice your own skills and teach students how to really dive. You may be really good at clearing your mask but when was the last time you swam a search pattern or practiced your rescue breathing?