Lesson #3!!! Final Closed Water Lesson

Well, I took my final in-class lesson today. I didn't miss any on the
final 50 question quiz. The instructor said it's been a while since someone
has not missed any. Again, this final test had questions worded in it that
was not covered in the book or cd rom. If it was then I must need a new
pair of glasses.

Anyway, after talking about the Open Water movie (my instructor said he
was disappointed in it) and taking the test, we went down for the final in
pool lesson.

This time I used a wet suit. The other two times the water was not cool
enough. I wanted to use a wet suit to get used to it for the open water
part of the course. I ended up putting the wet suit on backwards, zipper up
front. The instructor just laughed and said "better here than on a dive
boat." Anyway, I finally got it on, it was the first time I ever had on a
wet suit. Then I put the weights on the belt, and they were backwards too.
It was a belt with a plastic buckle. I used weight belts with metal buckles
the other two times. I've noticed that weight belts and weights are a pain
to mess with.

Anyway, we did the entry were you fall backwards into the water. No
problem there. The big thing was swimming around the pool under the water
without my mask on. I've learned that it's not much of a problem swimming
without a mask, except you can't see. The biggest problem is when you
actually take the mask off. You have to breath thru your nose to release
the mask, then flood the mask and your eyes. Plus don't forget to breath.
No wonder people have trouble with this more than anything else. Ok, so I
took the mask off and swam around the bottom edge of the pool, doing on
complete lap. Then my instructor dumps a bunch of masks in front of me. I
grabbed a mask that was too small for be, but cleared it anyway and found my
original mask. My instructor was happy with how I handled that. Using a
mask that isn't even mine, and then finding my own mask.

I also had to take the scuba unit off underwater. That was no problem.
But when putting it back on I had difficulty putting my right arm back into
the bcd. I guess I managed to do it tho. Also putting the unit back on
while on the surface isn't that easy either. I think one problem I had was
I was using a bcd that I didn't really like. Or maybe it was that wet suit
I was wearing. My instructor said wearing a wet suit for the first time
would be like my first day of scuba, a totally new experience. He also
mentioned dry suit scuba is the same, at first a totally new experience.

My instructor asked me if I would like to buddy breath. I said sure.
We went under and shared one regulator for a few minutes. It did not seem
hard. But we were stationary, we didn't swim any.

Anyway, besides a few snorkeling exercises that was it. After the dive
I was hotter than normal. I think the wet suit was 5mm. That must have
over heated me.

Ok, after that I found out my open water dives are this weekend, not
next weekend like I thought. No problem. I'm looking forward to it. I do
two dives Saturday and two dives Sunday. I can't wait to get out of the
pool and into a real diving environment. The gear is including. I brought
home a bcd, regulator/spg, and wet suit.

Putting on a wet suit seems to take some energy. Once on, I think I
would want to keep it on, but I guess you over-heat that way.

And so, that's it for now. I'm hopping I enjoy the open water dive.
Heck. If I do, I may run back to the spring lake for some more diving next
week.

A question: I know you are suppose to dive with a buddy. But how many
here on this news group ever dive alone? My instructor mentions he likes to
dive alone a lot of the time. He uses a can of spare air. I was just
thinking, if I like diving in that spring lake so much I might want to rent
some equipment during the week and do some diving on my own. Or perhaps
it's best for this newbie to find a buddy to dive with.

Finally, just three more days, then I will be certified. This means I
can talk about god, guts, and guns on this news group. Right? Also, I've
heard rumors that certified Padi divers swap their wives with fellow divers,
and you can never refuse a fellow Padi diver. True? If so, I'm booking my
spot for the next Padi convention. Just kidding!

And like last Thursday night, time for a dram of scotch or bourbon.
Perhaps my 18 year old Elijah Craig, to celebrate my passing of the closed
water portion of the course.

"Von Fourche" <monaco8292@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:b3xXc.1387$W_5.207@newsread1.news.pas.earthli nk.net...
>
>
> Well, I took my final in-class lesson today. I didn't miss any on the
> final 50 question quiz. The instructor said it's been a while since
someone
> has not missed any.

Be afraid, be very afraid.

> Again, this final test had questions worded in it that was not covered in
the book or cd rom. If it was then I must
> need a new pair of glasses.

You're supposed to be able to think a bit beyond the text. Apparently you
did.

> Anyway, after talking about the Open Water movie (my instructor said he
> was disappointed in it) and taking the test, we went down for the final in
> pool lesson.

> This time I used a wet suit. The other two times the water was not cool
> enough. I wanted to use a wet suit to get used to it for the open water
> part of the course. I ended up putting the wet suit on backwards, zipper
up
> front. The instructor just laughed and said "better here than on a dive
> boat."

Some things you would have been better keeping to yourself. Actually, this
is kind of funny and, I suppose, an easy mistake to make. I wonder why we
haven't heard about it more often.

> Anyway, I finally got it on, it was the first time I ever had on a
> wet suit. Then I put the weights on the belt, and they were backwards
too.
> It was a belt with a plastic buckle. I used weight belts with metal
buckles
> the other two times.

Ummm, we're beginning to worry about you. What does the kind of buckle have
to do with putting the weights on backwards?

> I've noticed that weight belts and weights are a pain to mess with.

Too bad this was not a question on the test. Yes, weights and weight belts
are a pain.

> Anyway, we did the entry were you fall backwards into the water. No
> problem there. The big thing was swimming around the pool under the water
> without my mask on. I've learned that it's not much of a problem swimming
> without a mask, except you can't see.

Try opening your eyes.

> The biggest problem is when you actually take the mask off. You have to
breath thru your nose to release
> the mask, then flood the mask and your eyes.

You don't have to breathe thru your nose to release the mask.

> Plus don't forget to breath.

Were you ascending? What's wrong with holding your breath while descending
or at a constant depth?

> No wonder people have trouble with this more than anything else. Ok, so I
> took the mask off and swam around the bottom edge of the pool, doing on
> complete lap. Then my instructor dumps a bunch of masks in front of me.
I
> grabbed a mask that was too small for be, but cleared it anyway and found
my
> original mask. My instructor was happy with how I handled that. Using a
> mask that isn't even mine, and then finding my own mask.

We're so proud.

> I also had to take the scuba unit off underwater. That was no problem.
> But when putting it back on I had difficulty putting my right arm back
into
> the bcd.

Get a plate and harness system. Much easier to get into under the water.

> I guess I managed to do it tho.

You guess? You don't know?

> Also putting the unit back on
> while on the surface isn't that easy either. I think one problem I had
was
> I was using a bcd that I didn't really like. Or maybe it was that wet
suit
> I was wearing.

Probably both.

> My instructor said wearing a wet suit for the first time
> would be like my first day of scuba, a totally new experience. He also
> mentioned dry suit scuba is the same, at first a totally new experience.

Sort of.

> My instructor asked me if I would like to buddy breath. I said sure.
> We went under and shared one regulator for a few minutes. It did not seem
> hard. But we were stationary, we didn't swim any.

It's not hard.

> Ok, after that I found out my open water dives are this weekend, not
> next weekend like I thought. No problem. I'm looking forward to it. I
do
> two dives Saturday and two dives Sunday. I can't wait to get out of the
> pool and into a real diving environment. The gear is including. I
brought
> home a bcd, regulator/spg, and wet suit.

Take it slow and easy. Do your skills just like you would in the pool. If
you're in salt water, don't get all excited about getting a bit in your
eyes. Just a little, stings just a little. A lot tends not to sting at
all. Good luck.

> Putting on a wet suit seems to take some energy. Once on, I think I
> would want to keep it on, but I guess you over-heat that way.

Depends on the environment. On a cold, windy day, you may actually get
colder.

> And so, that's it for now. I'm hopping I enjoy the open water dive.
> Heck. If I do, I may run back to the spring lake for some more diving
next
> week.

Slow and easy.

> A question: I know you are suppose to dive with a buddy. But how many
> here on this news group ever dive alone? My instructor mentions he likes
to
> dive alone a lot of the time. He uses a can of spare air. I was just
> thinking, if I like diving in that spring lake so much I might want to
rent
> some equipment during the week and do some diving on my own. Or perhaps
> it's best for this newbie to find a buddy to dive with.

No perhaps to it. There's a good reason why every diving certification
agency in the world supports buddy diving. Many of us here have and do dive
alone. Then again, many of us here have been diving for 10, 20,. 30, 40 or
more years.

> Finally, just three more days, then I will be certified. This means I
> can talk about god, guts, and guns on this news group. Right?

Yes, but be careful how you talk about diving. You might be surprised how
much more there is to know than what you get in your open water course.

> Also, I've heard rumors that certified Padi divers swap their wives with
fellow divers,
> and you can never refuse a fellow Padi diver. True?

What's a PADI diver? We don't know the answer to this. We're not PADI.

Lee

> I also had to take the scuba unit off underwater. That was no
problem.
> But when putting it back on I had difficulty putting my right arm back
into
> the bcd. I guess I managed to do it tho. Also putting the unit back
on
> while on the surface isn't that easy either. I think one problem I
had was
> I was using a bcd that I didn't really like. Or maybe it was that wet
suit
> I was wearing. My instructor said wearing a wet suit for the first
time
> would be like my first day of scuba, a totally new experience. He
also
> mentioned dry suit scuba is the same, at first a totally new
experience.
>

Not to be rude but is it possible you are overweight? That is about the
only thing I could see getting in the way of donning your gear
underwater or over it.

> Anyway, besides a few snorkeling exercises that was it. After the
dive
> I was hotter than normal. I think the wet suit was 5mm. That must
have
> over heated me.

They still use snorkels in dive classes? I never really understood that
concept. When surface swimming it was always easier on my back, and
underwater its just something else to get in the way of all that
streamlining. I think snorkels are a gimmick fostered upon us by the
equipment sales people.

> A question: I know you are suppose to dive with a buddy. But how
many
> here on this news group ever dive alone? My instructor mentions he
likes to
> dive alone a lot of the time. He uses a can of spare air. I was just
> thinking, if I like diving in that spring lake so much I might want to
rent
> some equipment during the week and do some diving on my own. Or
perhaps
> it's best for this newbie to find a buddy to dive with.

Recommending solo diving and spare air to a student who has not even
completed their open water checkout dives....Priceless! Darwinism at
its finest.

Von Fourche wrote:

I've noticed that weight belts and weights are a pain to mess with.

A keen sense of the obvious. At some point (usually after about 40
dives), when you've found out what you don't even know yet, you may wish
to consider a weight-integrated BCD. Folks have been diving successfully
with weight belts since Cousteau and Gagnan with very few problems.
However, there is the very occasional loss of a weight belt during a
dive (usually a newbie) which has caused a rapid ascent. I have yet to
hear about an accidental loss of weight from an integrated BCD. And you
cannot put it on backwards <still laughing over that one, VF.) So, for
me, it is a good way of eliminating a potential failure point completely.

Finally, it's a piece of cake to adjust your weight with a pocket vs.
sliding 'em on and off of a belt. A minor point. And with two pockets,
you don't have to dump all of your weight if, for some reason, you don't
want to. And you can share a pound or two with an underweighted buddy
rather easily.

Oh, and forget about solo diving for a while (like, 10 years). I doubt
that even the most die-hard solo diving advocate would advise a newbie
to go it alone.

Bart F.

"nobody" <anyone@home.net> wrote in message
news:6pHXc.14270$ZD4.8775798@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.n et...
>
>
> with weight belts since Cousteau and Gagnan with very few problems.
> However, there is the very occasional loss of a weight belt during a
> dive (usually a newbie) which has caused a rapid ascent. I have yet to
> hear about an accidental loss of weight from an integrated BCD.

Then you still have some more diving to do. I've seen that far more often
than a weightbelt loss at depth.

>And you
> cannot put it on backwards <still laughing over that one, VF.) So, for
> me, it is a good way of eliminating a potential failure point completely.

I wasn't clear that he put the weightbelt on backwards, or if the weights he
added to his belt had been put on backwards.

>
> Finally, it's a piece of cake to adjust your weight with a pocket vs.
> sliding 'em on and off of a belt.

Yeah, it is ever so difficult to remove a weight from a belt. (sarcasm)
Compared, that is, to what I've seen other divers struggling with getting
their pockets in and out.

>A minor point. And with two pockets,
> you don't have to dump all of your weight if, for some reason, you don't
> want to. And you can share a pound or two with an underweighted buddy
> rather easily.
>
> Oh, and forget about solo diving for a while (like, 10 years). I doubt
> that even the most die-hard solo diving advocate would advise a newbie
> to go it alone.

I don't suspect that his instructor actually advised it. VanF may have
thought that was what he heard, but I doubt it.

"Von Fourche" <monaco8292@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:F4LXc.329$w%6.319@newsread1.news.pas.earthlin k.net...
>
>
>
> My instructor never recommended to me to dive solo. He just mentioned
> that he dives alone a lot of the time. I questioned him on this and he
> showed me his spare air can. He never once recommended that I dive solo.
> But, I never told him I was interested in diving solo either.

Good. I hope you aren't considering it. You've got lots of diving to do
before you consider that.

>
> As for the weights, I put the weights on the weight belt backwards.
For
> my first two secessions, I used a weight belt with a shiny buckle at the
> end. Those were easy to tell if the buckle was facing away from you. But
> this last dive I used a belt with a smaller plastic buckle. When it was
> hanging down I couldn't really tell if was hanging away from me or not. I
> think the main reason why I made this mistake was because I was wanting to
> get in the water, as soon as possible, so I wasn't taking my time.

Hanging away from you? What do you mean? Do you mean you couldn't tell if
it was right hand release or not?

"chilly" <slarson@shaw.canada> wrote in message
news:5yKXc.232579$gE.96850@pd7tw3no...
>
> "nobody" <anyone@home.net> wrote in message
> news:6pHXc.14270$ZD4.8775798@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.n et...
> >
> >
> > with weight belts since Cousteau and Gagnan with very few problems.
> > However, there is the very occasional loss of a weight belt during a
> > dive (usually a newbie) which has caused a rapid ascent. I have yet to
> > hear about an accidental loss of weight from an integrated BCD.
>
> Then you still have some more diving to do. I've seen that far more often
> than a weightbelt loss at depth.
>
> >And you
> > cannot put it on backwards <still laughing over that one, VF.) So, for
> > me, it is a good way of eliminating a potential failure point
completely.
>
> I wasn't clear that he put the weightbelt on backwards, or if the weights
he
> added to his belt had been put on backwards.
>
> >
> > Finally, it's a piece of cake to adjust your weight with a pocket vs.
> > sliding 'em on and off of a belt.
>
> Yeah, it is ever so difficult to remove a weight from a belt. (sarcasm)
> Compared, that is, to what I've seen other divers struggling with getting
> their pockets in and out.
>
> >A minor point. And with two pockets,
> > you don't have to dump all of your weight if, for some reason, you don't
> > want to. And you can share a pound or two with an underweighted buddy
> > rather easily.
> >
> > Oh, and forget about solo diving for a while (like, 10 years). I doubt
> > that even the most die-hard solo diving advocate would advise a newbie
> > to go it alone.
>
> I don't suspect that his instructor actually advised it. VanF may have
> thought that was what he heard, but I doubt it.




My instructor never recommended to me to dive solo. He just mentioned
that he dives alone a lot of the time. I questioned him on this and he
showed me his spare air can. He never once recommended that I dive solo.
But, I never told him I was interested in diving solo either.

As for the weights, I put the weights on the weight belt backwards. For
my first two secessions, I used a weight belt with a shiny buckle at the
end. Those were easy to tell if the buckle was facing away from you. But
this last dive I used a belt with a smaller plastic buckle. When it was
hanging down I couldn't really tell if was hanging away from me or not. I
think the main reason why I made this mistake was because I was wanting to
get in the water, as soon as possible, so I wasn't taking my time.

> "Von Fourche" <monaco8292@hotmail.com> wrote in message


>>...the main reason why I made this mistake was because I was wanting to
>>get in the water, as soon as possible, so I wasn't taking my time.


chilly wrote:

> Hanging away from you? What do you mean? Do you mean you couldn't tell if
> it was right hand release or not?

Well, it wouldn't make a difference either way. What he did was put the
weights on so that they faced inward when the buckle was in the proper
orientation. As he says, he was rushing the job. Glad it was only his
weight belt that he rushed, as opposed to not turning his air on, etc.

Chilly wrote, in a previous post:

"Then you still have some more diving to do. I've seen that far more
often than a weightbelt loss at depth."

I sure hope I have some more diving to do. I'm not THAT old yet. Exactly
what were the problems you've seen with integrated weights? I use
Dive-Rite's older Trans-pac pockets which are permanently attached to
the BC. The flap that holds them requires a reasonably forceful pull in
the direction of my fins to open them and the weights tumble right out.
Other than getting the handle completely entangled and then trying to
swim away, it is improbable that they would ever be accidentally opened.

(Of course, nothing is foolproof for a sufficiently talented fool.)

Bart F.

"nobody" <anyone@home.net> wrote in message
news:orNXc.16991$ZD4.9715196@news4.srv.hcvlny.cv.n et...
>
>
> > "Von Fourche" <monaco8292@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>
>
> >>...the main reason why I made this mistake was because I was wanting to
> >>get in the water, as soon as possible, so I wasn't taking my time.
>
>
> chilly wrote:
>
> > Hanging away from you? What do you mean? Do you mean you couldn't tell
if
> > it was right hand release or not?
>
> Well, it wouldn't make a difference either way. What he did was put the
> weights on so that they faced inward when the buckle was in the proper
> orientation. As he says, he was rushing the job. Glad it was only his
> weight belt that he rushed, as opposed to not turning his air on, etc.


Bingo! That's what I did. I was supposed to hold onto the non-buckle
end with one hand with the buckle end hanging down and away from me. Then
slide the weights onto the belt. The buckle was facing me. Lesson learned.
Always take your time when setting up your gear.

"Von Fourche" <monaco8292@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:AWTXc.691$w%6.681@newsread1.news.pas.earthlin k.net...
>
> >
> > > Hanging away from you? What do you mean? Do you mean you couldn't
tell
> if
> > > it was right hand release or not?
> >
> > Well, it wouldn't make a difference either way. What he did was put the
> > weights on so that they faced inward when the buckle was in the proper
> > orientation. As he says, he was rushing the job. Glad it was only his
> > weight belt that he rushed, as opposed to not turning his air on, etc.
>
>
> Bingo! That's what I did. I was supposed to hold onto the non-buckle
> end with one hand with the buckle end hanging down and away from me. Then
> slide the weights onto the belt. The buckle was facing me. Lesson
learned.
> Always take your time when setting up your gear.

Ah, I see. I'd thought you meant once you had the belt on.

I generally lay my weight belt out, buckle side up first and often load it
while sitting with it in my lap. Still, I've managed to put them on
backwards a couple of times. :^)