Well that list is probably 3 or 4 people at most for sm in Florida. Definitely a lot more in Mexico. If I am not mistaken Waldo took his training from an IT.Originally Posted by bent
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Well that list is probably 3 or 4 people at most for sm in Florida. Definitely a lot more in Mexico. If I am not mistaken Waldo took his training from an IT.
lets go backwards up your post.
I'm about to get a new harness(which will also change how I attach my cylinders), are you suggesting that I have someone help me find the "best" harness , rather than getting the harness and then doing an update class/time after purchasing?
There are very few people I value opinions of in Arkansas/Tennessee (though the move to knoxville is likely to change that, alot more cave/technical divers on this side of the state) so my best choice is turning to the forum we all love for advice/critiques. With this post and others learning has happened on my part as well as others that participated in the threads... SOOOOOI'll keep doing it.
and almost last
It took diving the quarries for me to see the advantage of dry suits (that and loosing 80 lbs) I've now got 5 cave dives in a drysuit... will add more before the end of the year not going to promise every cave dive will be dry but maybe 50/50.
last but definitely not least... GUE ..... I fell out of my chair laughing so hard... I'm NOT that kind of diver.. I'm all about enjoying my dives, I will never be an exploration diver... no desire to be, only want full cave to pursue very specific types of cave dives which I could do now but feel the extra training might help.
All that said... I'm considering heavily the XDeep... if you are ever in Florida when I come down would you want to spend 3 or 4 hours with me on that harness? don't need a card and would NEVER ask you to go in a cave with non-drysuit diver.. but think I could learn at least one or two things from you.
Why yes that was me inshorts and a t-shirt
oops, a drysuit @ the 700' marker
I did.. and he was relentless on the things he felt I was deficient in... at least cave specific skills... he corrected a few things I had wrong at the time with my SM configuration but that was not the focus.
Why yes that was me in
Not to pile on but theres a few things in your comments that stand out as problematic. One: your profile shouldnt change that dramatically depending on where you dive. Maybe if you are doing single tank sm vs normal configuration. But what is in that photo would bother me if it was me in the photo even if its a 10 ft rainbow river dive
lets go backwards up your post.
I'm about to get a new harness(which will also change how I attach my cylinders), are you suggesting that I have someone help me find the "best" harness , rather than getting the harness and then doing an update class/time after purchasing?
There are very few people I value opinions of in Arkansas/Tennessee (though the move to knoxville is likely to change that, alot more cave/technical divers on this side of the state) so my best choice is turning to the forum we all love for advice/critiques. With this post and others learning has happened on my part as well as others that participated in the threads... SOOOOO
and almost last
It took diving the quarries for me to see the advantage of dry suits (that and loosing 80 lbs) I've now got 5 cave dives in a drysuit... will add more before the end of the year not going to promise every cave dive will be dry but maybe 50/50.
last but definitely not least... GUE ..... I fell out of my chair laughing so hard... I'm NOT that kind of diver.. I'm all about enjoying my dives, I will never be an exploration diver... no desire to be, only want full cave to pursue very specific types of cave dives which I could do now but feel the extra training might help.
All that said... I'm considering heavily the XDeep... if you are ever in Florida when I come down would you want to spend 3 or 4 hours with me on that harness? don't need a card and would NEVER ask you to go in a cave with non-drysuit diver.. but think I could learn at least one or two things from you.
2: find a quality instructor then buy your gear either from them or based on their recommendations. Im no instructor but if I was and lets say I typically taught people on xdeeps and you show up in a razor, it would suck. Why make your instructor work extra?
3: gue has nothing to do with exploration or whatnot. Fundies is about perfecting basic skills. I dove sm for 10 years and recently am enjoying bm more. Regardless I benefited from the class. Hell just doing fundies in a single tank for a rec pass is beneficial if you dont want to jump back to bm doubles.
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Are you being intentionally obtuse?
Or are you really so ignorant to believe that GUE FUNDIES has anything to do with exploration?
Do you think that GUE divers don?t enjoy their dives? I promise you that they are all enjoying their dives far more than you ever will because they are safe, well trained, well configured and diving a balanced, thought out rig that is streamlined, trimmed out and works regardless of environment.
Your picture clearly demonstrates that you are NOT that kind of diver.
I knew better than to comment on your post, but just like a train wreck, I couldn?t look away.
Shame on me. 🥲
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+100
But he?s not actually looking for sound logical well reasoned advice.
He?s just bored, and needs attention.
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Further to this. He needs to find a quality instructor with a ton of patience. And someone who he?s willing to listen to, take advice from, and implement the changes suggested.
He needs to find an instructor who?s willing to work with him.
He needs to find an instructor with whom he?s compatible. Someone he respects. And someone who won?t tolerate his nonsense.
And yes, absolutely, that instructor needs to understand the needs of the diver, and the goals of the diver. And they need to decide on a SM harness that will help him meet those goals, AND the instructor needs to be well versed in the assembly, setup, and configuration of the specific sidemount harness chosen.
I?m certainly a fan of brand X, and if a student showed up on day one with brand R, I?d have to buy them a plane ticket and direct them south, as I?d be little to no help.
Or if you showed up with the latest and greatest LTZZZZZZ, I?d suggest you open the yellow pages and search Lake City, and if your harness required lots of ?MODDDDS?, then you might be in the right state, but the wrong zip code.
I can?t stress enough the importance of choosing a competent and knowledgeable instructor who you are compatible with and willing to learn from and who is familiar with the harness of choice.
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You don't book an instructor by the hour. There is not much point in setting up a harness without going diving as you will likely have to adjust stuff. That's why courses are set up the way they are. You should book at least two days. Instead of buying more tanks, I'd invest those 400 bucks or whatever in training.
You think that course was better than mod1 oder cave ccr? I can't help but think I'd be super disapointed with five full days of kicking practice.
I do think that the average gue in better that he average iantd/tdi/whatever guy but that because there are so many shitty divers kneeling down to place a cookie or dragging their knees through the mud etc. That said, I'm not that impressed with a lot or gue divers either.
Last trip, I swam out of a cave at my leisurly pace with 120s (really Euro 18l but close enough) and a top mounted stage and I flew by a team of dir divers with 85s, a single dangly stage and their little stubby fins ... moving not very efficiently at all. That's when I thought to myself, again, how that dir stuff is ok when being towed by a scooter but sucks for kick diving. It's super slow and has tons of drag. I'm not even convinved that the gue students kick very efficiently. Too many short strockes in cave you could drive a semi through.
And learing body position an trim is really not that hard. Just try to hold your postion in strong current you can still kick against and find the position/fin kick in which it's easiest to hold your position in and you're good. IMHO that's how people should train for that, not in a pool or quarry type body of water.
It's not that I don't believe you but I can't imagine what you would do for five full days in that class. Unless you now just wanne be part of some crew. (I don't wanna say douche crew so I don't)
From the pictures and videos I have seen of him.in sidemount I am not suprised that he ignored your setup. The vast majority of Florida instructors have absolutely no clue about sidemount and this is a prime example.
I guess I'm also one of the minorities here who prefers my 108s to my 85s (Fabers) in most conditions -- I'm 6'1", ~165, and I find that the bigger tanks trim out better for me throughout the dive. I've tried PSTs/Worthingtons (not sure which -- galvanized tanks), both 85s and 104/108s and hated them -- heavy and hard to trim right (for me). I've now got 2 pairs of 104s and 1 pair of 85s, and the 85s stay in the shed most trips, but I hang on to them for shorter dives with snug spots (e.g. Jug). I've had no problem diving the bigger tanks, including smaller twisty passage like Rocky Horror or the Wormhole, and no issues with a stage or two. I definitely come out of the water with much more reserve left diving the big tanks -- not unusual for my buddy on 85s to come out at 1200 and I'll still have 2K. They are bulkier, so probably wouldn't work well for someone with a small frame. I did go through a number of tanks before settling on these, and there's a lot of tank-trading that goes on here, so if you try something that doesn't work, you can probably trade them out for something that does -- Faber 85s are always in high demand. Definitely want 2 sets of tanks so don't have to go for fills between dives.
Note, I'm a 'tourist' cave diver, not taking the sharp end of the line down silty little holes, but this
"It was more than breathtaking, it was like having stumbled upon some alien cathedral on some other planet, which some otherworld race with their incomprehensible architecture and alien sculpture had ages past built, decorated, and dedicated to their unknowable God."
James Jones. His Capitol M Manhood. In Down Time: Great Writers on Diving, 2nd ed.
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