How long is too long to knock the rust off your full cave.

I been playing around with getting my gear all ready and with the goal to return to the caves I really love, but with my last cave dive being in 2002, (started in 1986) with over 160 cave dives it was just too long without starting over.

I looked good with all my new cave gear but my skills just sucked. I have stayed active open water diving but now I understand that for me should Full cave have a experation date. Mine did I just did not know it :roll:

Thanks for all the suggestions on the gear but sold it today and will troll and read about all the cool stuff you guys are doing, be safe maybe I start a new thread about Obama hehehe. If you guys get up to Homosassa look for my 305 whaler Killin Time :-)

Oh no, not another thread like this. Eeeeeeeeek!

I don't cave dive as much as I need to. But I have found tooling around in the cavern at JB for the first dive gets the cobwebs shaken out. After 10 to 15 minutes I seem to be back at full speed. Going down P1 into a heavy silt floor may not be pretty the fisrt time, so that would not be my choice for a warm up dive. Everybody is different. I once saw a guy that dove once a year for four day at a time. His first dive was as good as most instructors, an impressive feat as I've ever seen. He could swim to the coathanger at Ginnie and never hit thirds. Looked like he did it every day for practice.

When someone questions themselves seriously, it's usually time for another hobby. I would hate to quit because continueing to cave dive make me head strong about keeping my overall diving skills sharp. When open water diving I strive to keep the gear in configuiration, proper trim and maximimum awareness so when I cave dive it won't entail having to remember what's right and what's wrong. And what would I do with all my cool gear? LOL

Like the first rule of cave diving says, you can call the dive at any time for any reason. You called it at home and I respect that. Good luck with your new hobby!

i think you meant lurk, not troll...

next time i'm in town, maybe you'll take me out ow diving?

skip

Quote:

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Originally Posted by skip

i think you meant lurk, not troll...

next time i'm in town, maybe you'll take me out ow diving?

skip

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Anytime,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wizard

Oh no, not another thread like this. Eeeeeeeeek!


Like the first rule of cave diving says, you can call the dive at any time for any reason. You called it at home and I respect that. Good luck with your new hobby!

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I think some of it was being 54 I am lazy now, lol. them 104 got heavier for sure but at least there are nice steps at Little river compared to the ditch we used in the day. having a place on the water and dropping the lift and dive whenever has spoiled me the last few years. That is the one thing that stuck all these years was how Cave Diving is the best place to learn gear configuiration & proper techinques. I was diving last year in Rotan and watched a cattle boat drop on the reef and lord stomping coral, dragging gear you name lol, thanks

Huntingbigun, if you're in Homosassa stop by Birds in Crystal River- he can help you with shaking out your gear, whether it's Cave or OW. Forget the 104's, get yourself a set of LP85's, much lighter and easier to handle. Worthington galvanized LP80's are good in salt water too, and more manageable than the larger cylinders.

Safe Diving,

Mark

Jim Wyatt will also usually be able to help you out. Look him up on here.

I dived today after a four month layoff. It was humbling and fumbling running reels, but "cheating" is not acceptable. The skills don't just come automatically. So tomorrow will find me running reels up and down the Eye entrance at Ginnie till I get the fumbles out.

The problem is that once it gets smooth, then it is time to go home!
Cheers,
Barbara

I took a 2 year break before getting back into it this past December. It is definitely humbling. You have to master your technique all over again, although it is definitely easier to do than it was the first time around.

I think going slow,and easy is key. I recall a fatality by someone who cave dived infrequently with long periods of inactivity in between. They recalled their last cave dive which was megadive with stages to the *****,and wanted to do that dive right out of the box.