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Bishop
Aug 15, 2000
A classic goon stereotype is that we're afraid of the ocean. That's crap. The ocean rules. This thread is for questions and discussions about diving, even for those of us that spend a lot of the year having to settle for lake/quarry diving. Ideally we want to convince people to take up the sport. SCUBA means Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus but the important part is that it lets you go underwater and see tons of cool poo poo. We are lucky enough to have a bunch of great underwater photographers around so almost all of these photos are taken by goons:





















I could go on forever.

Is diving safe?: Diving within recreational limits is very safe as long as you are in semi decent shape. You have redundant equipment and hopefully someone else with you. Scuba gear is very reliable. Think of it this way: if a company made a bad product, they would be sued out of existence very quickly. Diving a shallow reef and seeing all the great coral and fish is probably safer than hiking.

Will a shark bite me?: It's technically possible but I've never met a diver that has been bitten by a shark. The odds of it happening are close to being struck by lighting. Shark attacks typically happen when the shark is confused. The classic example is that a surfer paddling on his board looks like a seal from below. Shark attacks at beaches can often be chalked up to the low visibility that the sand creates. Sharks are sensitive to electromagnetic fields and divers come across as very out of place with all of the metal we have on us. this might make a shark curious, but not in an aggressive way. Most divers actually WANT sharks to come close to us because they're awesome.

Slicerdicer gets personal with a Hammerhead

There are many certification agencies. In my experience the most common is PADI, followed by NAUI and SSI. Most people agree that the quality of your training depends more on your instructor than the agency, so take that into account if you have a choice in your area.

How to get Certified for open water (Courtesy of Crunkjuice)



Getting certified to dive is easy and a lot of fun. An open water certification (the first certification)is a lifetime certification and never has to be renewed. Depending on your location, this will cost anywhere from 200-500 dollars. The course typically takes up two full weekends plus some home bookwork. The class will be small, anywhere from 2-8 students typically with one instructor, and usually a divemaster to assist with the class.

To start, you need to visit your local dive shop. A simple google search of "scuba + your town" should tell you what the dive shops in your town are. If you are lucky enough to have options, go visit each one and ask a lot of questions. Dive shops love talking to prospective divers, and getting to know the shop/staff will help you make your decision of where to get certified. Some dive shops certify through different agencies, and they are honestly all pretty similar. PADI/NAUI/SSI are the big three, and carry the same weight and recognition around the world. I chose PADI because of the staff and shop, not because it meant anything different in terms of recreational diving.

Once you sign up for a class, you'll be given a textbook. You're homework is to read this through, and fill out the chapter summaries before you classroom session with your instructor. This book teaches you about the gear, the science behind diving, how to plan a dive, safety etc. Its a very well written and easy to read book, so this should only takea few hours of your time.

Once that is out of the way you are ready for weekend number 1, pool sessions and classroom work. You will spend half of the day in the classroom (morning), break for lunch and then spend the afternoon in the pool. The classroom portion is where the instructor goes over the chapter summaries, and teaches you verbally about scuba diving. This is where you get to ask all of your questions and is pretty straight forward. At the end of the second day, you will take a short exam over what you learned. You have to pass this in order to proceed in your certification.

The pool session is fun. This is where you get to gear up, and scuba dive in a pool. Before that, you will have to pass a short swimming test. For PADI this is, tread water for 10 minutes without touching the sides of the pool, and an untimed 200 yard swim. This isn't to weed out anyone, but ensures that you are in shape enough to go out into a lake/river/ocean and be safe. After the swimming, you learn how to scuba dive. There are about 20 skills you learn from how to clear a flooded mask, to breathing off of somebody elses gear. These skills are necessary to dive safely, and you will be tested on them in your certification dives.

Your next weekend is out in a lake/ocean, doing your certification dives. You learn the skills in the pool (confined water), and the 4 dives you will make this weekend are in the open water. These dives are simple, where you will settle on the bottom and perform the skills one by one for the instructor. These dives are broken up usually two a day,and only take about 4 hours a day to complete. After the skills, you will be led around on a guided tour via the divemaster/instructor, and you will get a taste of what real scuba diving is, not just sitting around performing skills. After a few weeks your certification card will come in the mail, and you will be a lifetime certified scuba diver!

For those of you with children, it is possible for them to get certified as well. The minimum age to be a scuba diver is 10 years old, but until they are 15, they will have certain restrictions on them. The restrictions are maximum depth and that they will have to have a dive professional (divemaster or instructor) with them at all times. I don't know the specifics of junior divers, but your local dive shop will have the answers.

Technical Diving





Do you hate having money? Tech diving is for you! In all honesty, the best fish life can be found in shallow open water. Goons may be attracted to tech diving because of all the science and equipment behind it but you should have a lot of experience before going this route.

The most common training agencies are TDI and IANTD. PADI has also recently launched a tech curriculum. I'd also give a shutout to GUE, because I think their "fundamentals" course is the best thing to do before you go deeper into training with any agency. Technical class sizes are often one on one and rarely more than 3.

Tech diving is a nebulous term so I'll give you my definition. Tech diving is:
*Intentionally going beyond the decompression limits set by recreational diving. In other words, you are in situations where you can not immediately surface without developing decompression sickness.
*Using non air breathing gasses that contain more than 40% oxygen.
*Using helium (trimix, heliox)
*Switching gasses during a dive, often multiple times.
*Diving into an overhead environment well beyond the "light zone". This means going far enough into a wreck or cave that it is completely dark without your light.
*Going deeper than 130 feet. This is a soft limit but you should have some advanced training before doing this.

Free Diving (help from IM FROM THE FUTURE)


Freediving is diving without an external air source. instead relying on holding your breath (a.k.a. Apnea) to dive. There are three 3 general types of freediving and they are:

Snorkeling: Swimming around a shallow area with the use of a floatation device. The snorkel allows one to keep their face underwater while still breathing. Can be practiced by anyone including children with no training.

Recreational freediving: Diving beneath the water on a breath hold. Usually at depths above 100ft. This includes freedive photography, freedive spearfishing, and just freediving for the hell of it. Training and understanding of the risks, safety procedures, and best practices is important. Freedivers often use specialized fins and wear a weight belt to help them offset the positive buoyancy of their wet-suit and make them more neutrally buoyant.

Competitive freediving: Diving on a breath hold, either for time, depth, or distance. Current records are around 11.5 minute breathhold. And 700 feet deep (using sleds to assist)

Free divers often spearfish or hunt for lobster and other sea life. Here's a sweet video of some free diving instructors messing around on a wreck off of Key West.

Spear Fishing


IM FROM THE FUTURE looks for dinner.
Everyone's seen a spear gun on TV or in a movie. But people do in fact use them for things other than impaling humans or rabid sharks. The spear itself is attached to the gun with a line. That way you can actually capture the fish you just speared. Spear fishers will sometimes attach a buoy on the surface to the line in order to help bring larger fish up. Scuba divers and free divers both spearfish. Most spear fisherman eat the fish that they catch.

Helpful links

Scubaboard is a large forum that covers all types of diving. If us idiots can't answer your question, there's a good chance that doing a search there will bring up a whole thread(s) about it.

The deco stop is a tech diving forum. It's full of tech divers, who can be a bit smug at times. Still, I know at least a dozen posters there IRL and they do know their poo poo.

Deeperblue: The best purely free diving forum.

Spearfishing planet an idiot free spearfishing forum.

wetpixel: One of, if not, the best underwater photography and videography online forum.

Divers Alert Network (DAN): If you are a frequent diver this is the place to go for diving insurance. They will cover the transportation and medical costs of diving accidents. They even insure lost or stolen gear! It's also cheap. I've got the deluxe plan that will cover any dumb poo poo I end up getting myself into and it only costs $75 a year.

We have a good cadre of divers here. We'll take on any question. No question is too dumb. Diving is great and we want to convince people that they should give it a try.

Bishop fucked around with this message at 15:40 on Feb 15, 2013

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Kaal
May 22, 2002

through thousands of posts in D&D over a decade, I now believe I know what I'm talking about. if I post forcefully and confidently, I can convince others that is true. no one sees through my facade.
Dude, those are some outstanding photos. Here's a link to the old thread for those who are interested: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3393064

TheVigilante
Jan 23, 2005

when you gamble with the world's greatest manhunter...you bet your life!
Do masks fit on top of glasses or will I need to get contacts?

Paragon8
Feb 19, 2007

TheVigilante posted:

Do masks fit on top of glasses or will I need to get contacts?

Depending on how bad your vision is, water actually functions as a nice magnifier. You won't be able to wear glasses with most masks, but you can get masks that have your eye prescription

Buh
May 17, 2008
How long can the expert free divers hold their breath? It's hard to tell from that video, but it seems like a drat long time.
This sport looks amazing; I really want to go get certified. Wish I wasn't dirt broke.

How fit do you really need to be to do this and not die? Sedentary goon here, who would be morbidly obese if not for my skinny genes. I can run maybe a couple hundred metres before I pray for death and retreat back to my goon cave.

Is a proper scuba mask perfectly watertight, so you could wear contacts? I've never been able to wear them under swimming goggles because water inevitably gets in my eyes.

Buh fucked around with this message at 03:55 on Feb 19, 2012

Hazo
Dec 30, 2004

SCIENCE



Buh posted:

Is a proper scuba mask perfectly watertight, so you could wear contacts? I've never been able to wear them under swimming goggles because water inevitably gets in my eyes.
Diving masks should be comfortable but mostly watertight. Changes in pressure or imperfect seals from stubble or hair or whatever will result in water inevitably getting into your mask, but one important technique you'll learn in getting certified is how to clear your mask. You tilt your head up and press on the top edge of your mask while exhaling through your nose, which forces water out and clears your vision. I wear contacts and have never had a major problem.

Kaal
May 22, 2002

through thousands of posts in D&D over a decade, I now believe I know what I'm talking about. if I post forcefully and confidently, I can convince others that is true. no one sees through my facade.

Buh posted:

How long can the expert free divers hold their breath? It's hard to tell from that video, but it seems like a drat long time.
This sport looks amazing; I really want to go get certified. Wish I wasn't dirt broke.

Intro free divers start around five minutes, then progress to about ten. Expert free divers can push that into the 15 minute range, and the world record is just shy of 20. Pretty incredible.

quote:

How fit do you really need to be to do this and not die? Sedentary goon here, who would be morbidly obese if not for my skinny genes. I can run maybe a couple hundred metres before I pray for death and retreat back to my goon cave.

Well basic diving is pretty possible for a wide-range of body-types. Someone who is moderately overweight should have few problems. But you need to be able to demonstrate swimming capability; truly obese people will face a variety of other risks and limitations that would preclude any advanced diving.

quote:

Is a proper scuba mask perfectly watertight, so you could wear contacts? I've never been able to wear them under swimming goggles because water inevitably gets in my eyes.

Many people are able to dive just fine with contacts, though prescription goggles are also available. Unlike swimming goggles that just go over your eyes, the inclusion of the nose-piece allows divers to blow air into their mask and then force water out of their goggles (called clearing). I know a number of dive masters who wear contacts while diving.

ZoCrowes
Nov 17, 2005

by Lowtax
Ah good stuff in there OP. I'm a NAUI Course Director and teach scuba as my full time job. I am also the dive safety officer for the University of Louisville Underwater Archaeology program, Louisville Zoo Glacier Run (polar bears, pinnipeds) and an advisor to the Louisville Metro Police Dept Dive Team. I can answer any questions anyone may have about becoming a professional, exhibit diving, archaeology (I'm no expert though) etc.

I also dabble in underwater photography. Some of my photos can be found here: http://chrisscottphotographer.com/Chris_Scott_Photographer/Images/Pages/Underwater.html

ZoCrowes fucked around with this message at 04:44 on Feb 19, 2012

Buh
May 17, 2008

Kaal posted:

Well basic diving is pretty possible for a wide-range of body-types. Someone who is moderately overweight should have few problems. But you need to be able to demonstrate swimming capability; truly obese people will face a variety of other risks and limitations that would preclude any advanced diving.

Good to know. I can swim well (been at it since I was 2), but would probably need to improve my general fitness. Seems like a great reason to.

I haven't been diving yet, best I've managed is snorkelling at Divine Island. It's pretty much untouched so there's a reef full of tropical fish like ten metres out from shore. It was the most colourful thing I've ever seen. Would love to go out and see something bigger and better. Especially a wreck like in the video. Dat ship :allears:

You mention free divers use weights to descend quickly... doesn't that slow them down on the way up?

It must take a lot of practice to know when to surface. As an untrained pleb, my reflex only tells me when I need to breathe RIGHT loving NOW. I can't imagine swimming up dozens of feet to the surface without panicking.

ZoCrowes posted:

I also dabble in underwater photography. Some of my photos can be found here: http://chrisscottphotographer.com/Chris_Scott_Photographer/Images/Pages/Underwater.html
These are fantastic. The manta ray with the derpface is now my desktop. Any chance of a higher res?

Buh fucked around with this message at 05:58 on Feb 19, 2012

Hazo
Dec 30, 2004

SCIENCE



Buh posted:

These are fantastic. The manta ray with the derpface is now my desktop. Any chance of a higher res?
If you're talking about this, that's actually a cownose ray, Rhinoptera bonasus, but it belongs to the same family :)

Trivia
Feb 8, 2006

I'm an obtuse man,
so I'll try to be oblique.
You'll see more life in 10 minutes underwater than you will 10 hours on land.

Scuba rocks.

And, if you're really lucky, you may see something like this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yodeiI_IFRw

Farecoal
Oct 15, 2011

There he go
How much skin does the average SCUBA suit cover? I'd love to scuba, but I would only dive if every part of me is completely covered.

DON'T TOUCH ME

Trivia
Feb 8, 2006

I'm an obtuse man,
so I'll try to be oblique.
You can get full body wetsuits, hoods, gloves, and boots. At most some parts of your face would show, but you could completely cover up if you wanted.

Crunkjuice
Apr 4, 2007

That could've gotten in my eye!
*launches teargas at unarmed protestors*

I THINK OAKLAND PD'S USE OF EXCESSIVE FORCE WAS JUSTIFIED!

Farecoal posted:

How much skin does the average SCUBA suit cover? I'd love to scuba, but I would only dive if every part of me is completely covered.

DON'T TOUCH ME

You're covering will depend on the temperature in the water usually. You can get a full body skin suit (lycra material), and with boots and gloves you will be fully protected outside of your head. You will get wet however.

Parts of your face will ALWAYS be uncovered unless you are a commercial diver (underwater construction worker basically), even with the most advanced gear.

With proper buoyancy control, injuries from touching things or things touching you are extremely rare. http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=Hotskin This is a full body lycra suit, that can be worn in warm waters or underneath a wetsuit.

We have a really big group of experienced divers who can help with any fears or anxieties you might have about the water and animals within.

Charun
Feb 8, 2003


Hey, Just read the previous A/T thread.
I Dive in Perth, Australia - if anyone wants to dive with me email me - diving@sacharun.com or just PM me. I'm up for night dives pretty much any day of the week, and try to get on a boat on the weekend.

I've only been diving since June, but I've got over 30 dives logged so far and have my AOW and deep certs. I usually dive though the Dolphin Scuba shop (mostly for their free sausage sizzle after the Sunday morning shore dive), or off Rottnest with Perth Diving Academy. I'm also Planning on diving Christmas island over the easter break.

Here's some pictures I took of the local area -

Some guy diving (this could be you!)


This is a nudibranch - a colourful sea slug about 3cm long. See? Even the slugs underwater are cool looking.

Go diving.

Gromit
Aug 15, 2000

I am an oppressed White Male, Asian women wont serve me! Save me Campbell Newman!!!!!!!

Charun posted:

Hey, Just read the previous A/T thread.
I Dive in Perth, Australia - if anyone wants to dive with me email me - diving@sacharun.com or just PM me. I'm up for night dives pretty much any day of the week, and try to get on a boat on the weekend.

Work sends me to the Perth CBD every now and again. Is the diving pretty close to there, or is it a bit of a drive out of the city?
I'll take a look at Dolphin Scuba though - their site can probably answer my questions.

IM FROM THE FUTURE
Dec 4, 2006

The whole "you will see more wildlife in 10 minutes underwater then 10 hours on land" thing is so incredibly true its not funny. You can literally see an entire reef ecosystem in your limited masked field of vision. From the plants all the way up to the predatory fish. And you can do so without even being seen as an outsider or scaring stuff away.

Im mostly a free diver. Ive scuba dove for years. But I prefer the additional freedom, tranquility, relaxation, physical challenge, mental challenge, and simplicity of free diving. Not that scuba doesn't have its own challenges, I just prefer the types that free diving presents. I am also big into spearfishing. The satisfaction of cooking meals for your friends and family that you went out and caught yourself for free is awesome.

I scuba and freedive in Southeast Florida, USA . Mostly in Broward, also in miami/the keys sometimes. I go diving any chance I get. Which is usually the weekends. Here are some photos and a video I've taken recently. If you have a chance, go diving!

Mornings just ON the ocean are often magical:

http://i.imgur.com/ixG4R.jpg

Sometimes dolphins come and say sup. Then run away when you want to play:

http://i.imgur.com/1gSP1.jpg

Then you swim down and get to see stuff like this:


Hang out with bubble blowers:


Then think you are cool because you have a gun:


A video of some free diving and spearfishing a few lionfish (a delicious invasive species).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LHe1q5so8E

Kaal posted:

Intro free divers start around five minutes, then progress to about ten. Expert free divers can push that into the 15 minute range, and the world record is just shy of 20. Pretty incredible.

Those numbers are very high. An into freediver in a class using specific breathing techniques (that can be a bit dangerous) may reach 5 minutes doing "static apnea" (laying face down in a pool perfectly still) if he is in shape/naturally good at it. But 2-3 minutes is common for starters. A beginner doing "dynamic apnea" (aka swimming, finning, or pulling) will probably have a breath hold of under 1 minute.

Expert/training freedivers can hold their breath in static apnea for 5-10 minutes. with 11.5 being the current record. Again, this is lying 100% still. In dynamic those numbers go way down with experts in the 3-5 minute range depending on the type of dive. For instance, in that video, they used scooters to get down to the wreck so they didn't waste oxygen (that is why they can climb all over it 100 feet down)

The 15 and 20 minute numbers you are reading is a static breath hold with the use of 100% oxygen breathing for a long time before (this would kill you if you dove deep while doing it).


Buh posted:


You mention free divers use weights to descend quickly... doesn't that slow them down on the way up?

It must take a lot of practice to know when to surface. As an untrained pleb, my reflex only tells me when I need to breathe RIGHT loving NOW. I can't imagine swimming up dozens of feet to the surface without panicking.


Freedivers don't exactly use weights to "decend quickly" unless were talking about the using of sleds or drop weights to get down very quickly. Which is really only practiced by competitive freedivers and pearl/sponge divers. And in those cases the weight is left at the bottom so they can surface quickly.

Freedivers usually use weight to balance out the buoyancy of their wetsuits. A 3mm wetsuit can make you float like a cork, not to even mention 5 and 7mm suits for colder climates. Some degree of flotation on the surface is required (being "negatively boyuant" on the surface is extremely! dangerous). But ideally as a freediver you want to float on the surface and become "neutrally buoyant" at between 20 and 30 feet. This is usually where your body naturally becomes neutral naturally without wearing a wetsuit. But people with different body types float differently.

So TLDR weight are used to make it "easy to get down, and easy to get up" Not enough and you can't get down. Too much and you can't get back.


IM FROM THE FUTURE fucked around with this message at 14:52 on Feb 20, 2012

Kaal
May 22, 2002

through thousands of posts in D&D over a decade, I now believe I know what I'm talking about. if I post forcefully and confidently, I can convince others that is true. no one sees through my facade.

IM FROM THE FUTURE posted:

Those numbers are very high.

Ah cool my mistake. Sounds like I'm going to be able to tease my freediving buddy a bit!

rockcity
Jan 16, 2004
Great OP. I still wouldn't mind seeing a section about where all our goon divers are located for potential dive meetup purposes. I'm in Orlando and don't mind travelling a few hours to make a dive. I've dove in Jupiter a few times now.

IM FROM THE FUTURE posted:

Those numbers are very high. An into freediver in a class using specific breathing techniques (that can be a bit dangerous) may reach 5 minutes doing "static apnea" (laying face down in a pool perfectly still) if he is in shape/naturally good at it. But 2-3 minutes is common for starters. A beginner doing "dynamic apnea" (aka swimming, finning, or pulling) will probably have a breath hold of under 1 minute.

Expert/training freedivers can hold their breath in static apnea for 5-10 minutes. with 11.5 being the current record. Again, this is lying 100% still. In dynamic those numbers go way down with experts in the 3-5 minute range depending on the type of dive. For instance, in that video, they used scooters to get down to the wreck so they didn't waste oxygen (that is why they can climb all over it 100 feet down)


If you want to see some crazy free diving, check out this video. This just blows my mind.

http://player.vimeo.com/video/18214566?autoplay=1

IM FROM THE FUTURE
Dec 4, 2006

rockcity posted:

Great OP. I still wouldn't mind seeing a section about where all our goon divers are located for potential dive meetup purposes. I'm in Orlando and don't mind travelling a few hours to make a dive. I've dove in Jupiter a few times now.


If you want to see some crazy free diving, check out this video. This just blows my mind.

http://player.vimeo.com/video/18214566?autoplay=1

Yes my favorite freediver ever. William Trubridge. He is amazing :allears: I love diving CNF (constant weight no fins) like in this video. But my max depth is about 15 meters / one minute because I never practice. A 4 minute dive time is insane.

Here is a pretty good article partially about how hard William Trubridge dominates. And partially about a freediving competiton. But be wary, the reporter went to a competition with some abnormally bad blackouts and accidents. So he sort of freaked out and sensationalized the article a bit. Its otherwise a pretty good read.

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/water-activities/Open-Your-Mouth-and-Youre-Dead.html?page=all

IM FROM THE FUTURE fucked around with this message at 20:33 on Feb 19, 2012

Bishop
Aug 15, 2000
Did some cleaning up of the OP.

As far as location: I go to Key Largo 3-4 times a year, sometimes spending over a month. That's where I do most of my diving. I'll be down there next around March 12th. I've got a boat in Key Largo and would also be up for some diving within a couple hours drive from there.

I mainly do tech diving, especially wrecks, but am up for anything that has the word "diving" in it.

edit: If people want to post their location / type of diving I'll come back through this thread in a week or so and edit a goon diver list into the OP. It would look something like:
USERNAME (Location): Likes to do this type of diving, enjoys long walks on the beach.

Bishop fucked around with this message at 01:08 on Feb 20, 2012

rockcity
Jan 16, 2004

Bishop posted:

Did some cleaning up of the OP.

As far as location: I go to Key Largo 3-4 times a year, sometimes spending over a month. That's where I do most of my diving. I'll be down there next around March 12th. I've got a boat in Key Largo and would also be up for some diving within a couple hours drive from there.

I mainly do tech diving, especially wrecks, but am up for anything that has the word "diving" in it.

edit: If people want to post their location / type of diving I'll come back through this thread in a week or so and edit a goon diver list into the OP. It would look something like:
USERNAME (Location): Likes to do this type of diving, enjoys long walks on the beach.

I've still yet to do any wreck diving and want to learn it. I'm still pretty new to the sport, but I'm learning pretty rapidly because one of my dive buddies up here is an instructor so he's got me learning new things pretty quickly. Should be getting my advanced cert pretty soon, I've got 3 or 4 of the 5 dives needed to get it. I haven't really gotten into tech diving, but I'm already enriched air certified and I've done the hole in the wall in Jupiter at 144 feet. Here's a quick summary.

rockcity (Orlando, FL): Fairly new, PADI certified with Nitrox, open for any type of diving withing a few hours of Orlando. Have equipment and two tanks.

rockcity fucked around with this message at 22:06 on Feb 19, 2012

ZoCrowes
Nov 17, 2005

by Lowtax

Buh posted:

Good to know. I can swim well (been at it since I was 2), but would probably need to improve my general fitness. Seems like a great reason to.

I haven't been diving yet, best I've managed is snorkelling at Divine Island. It's pretty much untouched so there's a reef full of tropical fish like ten metres out from shore. It was the most colourful thing I've ever seen. Would love to go out and see something bigger and better. Especially a wreck like in the video. Dat ship :allears:

You mention free divers use weights to descend quickly... doesn't that slow them down on the way up?

It must take a lot of practice to know when to surface. As an untrained pleb, my reflex only tells me when I need to breathe RIGHT loving NOW. I can't imagine swimming up dozens of feet to the surface without panicking.

These are fantastic. The manta ray with the derpface is now my desktop. Any chance of a higher res?

A lot of times that breathe right loving now feeling is caused by a buildup of CO2. Exhale a little bit to get rid of that waste and you can go a bit longer.

Thanks I am glad you like them. Yeah, just drop me an email from my site and I'll send you a desktop res file.

As far as location goes I am based out of Louisville,KY and Chicago,IL. I am a NAUI, SSI and TDI Instructor. I am the Course Director and training manager for my shop. As I said before I mainly do wreck, archaeological, exhibit and public safety diving when I am not teaching. I usually lead 3 or 4 trips a year out of country and do weekends in FL throughout the year.

sheri
Dec 30, 2002

I had asked this question in the last thread, and finally got my answer after going through the underwriting process. Apparently, if you are strictly a recreation diver you are still eligible for the top rate class for life insurance with Prudential.

If you are a tech diver/deep diver/cave diver/etc, you probably won't qualify for the best rate class.

afk/bandito
Nov 19, 2004

perpetually afk....

ZoCrowes posted:

As far as location goes I am based out of Louisville,KY and Chicago,IL. I am a NAUI, SSI and TDI Instructor. I am the Course Director and training manager for my shop. As I said before I mainly do wreck, archaeological, exhibit and public safety diving when I am not teaching. I usually lead 3 or 4 trips a year out of country and do weekends in FL throughout the year.

And how is it that I get your life? I have adv. open water done with PADI, got my basic open water done with SSI and really love diving. Did you just start off working at a dive shop and work your way up?

NPR Journalizard
Feb 14, 2008

IM FROM THE FUTURE posted:

Expert/training freedivers can hold their breath in static apnea for 5-10 minutes. with 11.5 being the current record.

Not any more.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/switzerland/7242852/Swiss-freediver-breaks-world-record-for-holding-breath-underwater.html

Bishop
Aug 15, 2000

ZoCrowes posted:

As far as location goes I am based out of Louisville,KY and Chicago,IL. I am a NAUI, SSI and TDI Instructor. I am the Course Director and training manager for my shop. As I said before I mainly do wreck, archaeological, exhibit and public safety diving when I am not teaching. I usually lead 3 or 4 trips a year out of country and do weekends in FL throughout the year.
I've actually had some regs serviced by your shop a few years ago and I bet you've trained some of my ex-coworkers (I used to work at the Louisville Zoo but left before glacier run opened). My landlocked location is Lexington, KY. Quarry diving bitches.

Since you say you're a TDI instructor and mention Chicago is it safe to assume that you do some great lakes wreck diving? I've been wanting to go up there for a while but don't have the all-important dry suit. :(

Bishop fucked around with this message at 01:04 on Feb 20, 2012

ZoCrowes
Nov 17, 2005

by Lowtax

Bishop posted:

I've actually had some regs serviced by your shop a few years ago and I bet you've trained some of my ex-coworkers (I used to work at the Louisville Zoo but left before glacier run opened). My landlocked location is Lexington, KY. Quarry diving bitches.

Since you say you're a TDI instructor and mention Chicago is it safe to assume that you do some great lakes wreck diving? I've been wanting to go up there for a while but don't have the all-important dry suit. :(

Awesome I hope we did a good job! Yeah, I've trained all the glacier run keepers. They are all really good people.

Yeah, and it's really not that cold if you go during the right time of year. In the late summer bottom temp can be in the low 50s which is not too terrible if you have a thick enough wetsuit. Last year we had some really weird weather patterns come through and churn up the water quite a bit. Viz dropped from 50+ to the 25+ range but the temp at 80 feet was 65 degrees! It was drat near tropical for a few weeks.

Crunkjuice
Apr 4, 2007

That could've gotten in my eye!
*launches teargas at unarmed protestors*

I THINK OAKLAND PD'S USE OF EXCESSIVE FORCE WAS JUSTIFIED!

ZoCrowes posted:

exhibit diving

How did you get into exhibit diving? Also, what the hell do you do during exhibit diving? I'm pretty curious on the subject.

IM FROM THE FUTURE
Dec 4, 2006


As I said in my other post. Those near 20 Minute record breath holds are with oxygen breathing assistance. A normal breath of air is only 21% oxygen. Hence the superhuman abilities.

Charun
Feb 8, 2003


Gromit posted:

Work sends me to the Perth CBD every now and again. Is the diving pretty close to there, or is it a bit of a drive out of the city?
I'll take a look at Dolphin Scuba though - their site can probably answer my questions.

Well the Sunday morning dive usually meets up at the shop in Welshpool at 8am, and leaves from there. Any certified diver is welcome, and full gear hire is only $50 ($10 for tank only). I usually get back home about 1 pm.

Sites north of the river can only really be dived in ideal conditions, as they're so shallow and exposed. Fremantle has some good fairly sheltered places, but if the weather is bad, there's always the good old rockingham wreck trail (which is a bit of a drive from the CBD). This guy has some good write ups on most of the local shore dives. Shore dives never have very nice vis though, for a nice dive you're gonna have to get on a boat. Around Rottnest Is. is the local choice - Boats run out Fri, Sat and Sun, and it's about $150 for 2 dives.

If you want to see a decent wreck, you're going to have to drive about 2-3 hours out of Perth.

Bishop posted:

edit: If people want to post their location / type of diving I'll come back through this thread in a week or so and edit a goon diver list into the OP. It would look something like:
USERNAME (Location): Likes to do this type of diving, enjoys long walks on the beach.

Charun (Perth, Australia): Weekday - Nearby nightdives, Weekend - Anything non-tech within a few hours drive. On a motorbike, so I need a buddy to take tanks for me.

Charun fucked around with this message at 05:21 on Feb 20, 2012

ZoCrowes
Nov 17, 2005

by Lowtax

Crunkjuice posted:

How did you get into exhibit diving? Also, what the hell do you do during exhibit diving? I'm pretty curious on the subject.

Aquarium and Zoo diving. Mainly maintaining exhibits and things along those lines. Mostly I've worked with the Louisville Zoo. I worked at the Shedd Aquarium for a while and was familiar with the diving program. I did not like some of their safety practices though so I did not get too deeply involved with them.

Blackmage Yapo
Mar 27, 2008

Odin You Sad I Have
All The SPP

Farecoal posted:

How much skin does the average SCUBA suit cover? I'd love to scuba, but I would only dive if every part of me is completely covered.

DON'T TOUCH ME

This is what I was rolling with last time I was under. 3mm full wetsuit, booties, and gloves. Most things tend to stay away from you in general, and especially your head because of all the bubbles. Also I am a huge weenie and this was in the keys.


Blackmage Yapo (SW MO): I'm down for anything not crazy, basically. Gotta get me some more dives logged.

rockcity
Jan 16, 2004
You could also wear a thin lycra dive skin. I have one for when I dive in warm water areas that have a lot of Jellyfish or other rough things I may graze into.

Finch!
Sep 11, 2001

Spatial Awareness?

[ ] Whaleshark

404 Not Found
I dive in board shorts and a short sleeve rash thing as often as possible... maximum exposure! I only really wear a top to stop my harness annoying me too much. Of course when I'm planning a give somewhere cold or sharp or stingy then I wear more stuff, but to me half the fun is being as unencumbered by clothing as possible.

I'm Finch! from Adelaide, Australia. I dive with a local university dive club sometimes, or in South East Asia. Down for non technical local dives (unless you have spare gear, 'cause I am qualified) or you might find me in Thailand, usually in December, January, or February.

Trivia
Feb 8, 2006

I'm an obtuse man,
so I'll try to be oblique.
I would recommend at least diving in something lycra to protect your chest and arms.

On the way to a dive site in the Maldives the captain spotted some mantas so all the divers quickly donned their snorkel gear to get some shots.

30 minutes later I step out of the water covered in plankton stings or something. That poo poo stung while I was in it but there was no loving way I was going to pass up that opportunity. Had I a t-shirt or something I would've been fine.

basx
Aug 16, 2004

Sassy old man!
Another diver here. Just chiming in to talk about one of the less wonderful aspects:

Vomiting into your regulator valve.

If you get seasick, the little boats that take you out to dive sites are your worst enemies. You'll plow through 8-foot swells for 30-45 minutes in a 20-foot boat, then they'll stop.

As the boat bobs from side to side, you'll get your gear on. Just as you backflip over the boat with 50 pounds of crap on your body, you feel that inevitable sense of an oncoming hurl as your mouth fills with saliva. If you're still on the surface, that's nice. If you're underwater when you spew, well, it's not very fun.

I'm a big pussy and just get back on the boat in shame, then watch the feeding frenzy as various sea life comes to the surface to feast on my puke. I'm not hardy enough to lose my breakfast and then plunge 80 feet into the cold depths of the Pacific, but some people do!

Here are some handy puking tips from About.com!

quote:

What Should I Do If I Must Vomit Underwater?:

1. Do Not Remove Your Regulator.
After vomiting, a person will reflexively gasp for air. If a diver removes his regulator to vomit, he may not be able to replace it in time and may inadvertently inhale water. Instead, a diver should hold his regulator in his mouth and vomit into the regulator mouthpiece. This will not contaminate his air supply – the vomit will exit through the one-way exhalation valve. The first breath after vomiting should be taken as carefully as possible, ensuring that any leftovers do not get inhaled.

2. Purge the Regulator If Needed.
After vomiting, a diver can use the regulator's purge button to flood the regulator second stage with air and force any leftover debris out the exhaust valves. A diver purging the regulator after vomiting should take care to place his tongue over the regulator mouthpiece while pressing the purge button, so that any remaining vomit does not get blown back into his mouth.

3. Be Prepared to Switch to the Alternate Air Source.

Depending upon a diver's last meal and chewing habits, vomit may be of different consistencies. If a diver is unlucky enough to have the chunky variety, pieces of puke could become lodged in the regulator mouthpiece and cause it to free-flow or malfunction. This is what alternate air source regulators are for! (They are also useful if breathing from a recently puked in regulator simply disgusts you). If a diver does switch to his alternate air source, he should end the dive because diving without an alternate air source regulator available for his buddy is unsafe.

Tomberforce
May 30, 2006

Tomberforce(Perth, Australia): Weekday - nightdiving, Weekend - Anything non-tech within a few hours drive. Also up for other longer trips (Exmouth, Dunsborough, Albany) if I can get the time off work!

I'm AOW, doing my Rescue Diver course very soon. I have a car and all my dive gear except tanks. I fly up north every other Monday, which screws with my Diving on every other Sunday. I'm also looking for people to Rock Climb and Mountain Bike with if anyone is into those?!

Charun, I've sent you an E-mail!

Finch!
Sep 11, 2001

Spatial Awareness?

[ ] Whaleshark

404 Not Found

basx posted:

Vomiting into your regulator valve.

Here are some handy puking tips from About.com!

I generally (OK, it's happened twice) switch to my backup reg and puke into that. Leaves the primary pristine if I need to hand it off... or if I'm in a regular recreational set up I puke into the octopus because it's generally of lesser quality.

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Crunkjuice
Apr 4, 2007

That could've gotten in my eye!
*launches teargas at unarmed protestors*

I THINK OAKLAND PD'S USE OF EXCESSIVE FORCE WAS JUSTIFIED!

Finch! posted:

I generally (OK, it's happened twice) switch to my backup reg and puke into that. Leaves the primary pristine if I need to hand it off... or if I'm in a regular recreational set up I puke into the octopus because it's generally of lesser quality.

I wouldn't for a few reasons. If there's an emergency, and someone grabs your puked out octo? That's just nasty but could also induce further incident in a panicked diver. Also, if you have an integrated octopus with your bcd (like me), you could potentially gently caress up your ability to adjust buoyancy, which could also be really bad. Obviously the chances of either are really slim, but still possible.

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