Help a noobie cave diver save some bread?

[the_sandman]

I recently relocated to Mobile, AL and happened across the Vortex by chance. I have been a swimmer my entire life and love the water.

I had a business trip down to Panama City that I was lucky enough to maneuver to a Friday and opted to scoop up a few snorkel "packages" off scuba.com and enjoy the jetty (sp?) diving in St. Andrews park. I could not get enough and found myself really wanting to get deeper. We visited a couple dive shops and ran into some really great people who were very passionate about their hobby.

I am DYING to cave dive - but want to do it right. I want to be safe, well trained and well equipped. What I don't want to do is spend my hard earned cash on equipment that cannot be used for the grand goal of cave diving when I am ready.

Having gone through a wealth of hobbies I understand that people who live and love the activity have the inside edge. I want to build a suit that I can use in my pool to toy with, certify in open water and advanced open water (on our newly downed aircraft carrier in p-cola ) with and eventually use for some very high level cave diving.

I don't want to make noob mistakes, as this appears to be a very sofisticated activity which is very gear dependant. At this point I have the best snorkel package that scuba.com sells including some split fins that I am told cave divers do not buy into. I don't want to spend any more money on equipment that is not usable in the gravy of the cave environment.

I have a sandals trip scheduled for July in Sandals in Jamacia - I would love to bring a solid gear set and do some serious diving in the waters there. Could I get some advice in peacemealing a solid diving set tapping the wisdom here for the best bang for the buck? My gear will be used for recreational diving first, but I will be training cave as soon as I am ready.

Thank you in advance.

The Sandman
Mobile, AL

[Tegg]

from OW to full cave... You can probably find an instructor to do it by July for you...


and so it begins...

[Jason B.]

from OW to full cave... You can probably find an instructor to do it by July for you...


and so it begins...

There you go planting seeds again...

I would imagine your average OW instructor would #### a brick if you showed for OW class in a cave rig.

I would start by shopping around for a good OW instructor. You may be able to find one that cave dives which would probably help.

[Gibby]

Asking that question here is an exercise in futility.
With 1600 users you will get 1600 answers.
All of the answers are good answers for that person.
It comes down to what is safe and what you are comfortable with.

Use your set you have now and get open water scuba training.
Most open water instructors will supply the rest of your gear.
After that, rent gear for a while and see what you like.
When you find something you like you can buy it.
Get advanced open water certified after mastering basic skills.
Then do your homework and shop around for a cave instructor.
Ask a lot of questions to the potential instructor.
In my opinion a good instructor won’t mind taking the time.
When you have found an instructor you like ask him or her what gear they recommend and ask why they recommend it.
Get 2nd opinions as to why. (Or why not)
By this point you should know what you like anyway and the opinions will only be guides to you.

By taking your time you will have gained the knowledge to buy proper gear. And remember, not all of the gear will work for you after you leave the store. I have a $50 backplate pad that is now used to keep my socks from getting dirty while putting on my dry suit. If you can’t find a second use for something you can always put it on the gear exchange forum right here.

And finally having extra pieces gear is not so bad. My short and fat spring heeled cave fins really suck for spear fishing and my longer rubber strapped fins would kill me in a cave.

~G

[andrebasso]

You sounded like me when I first started, so here's my advice, based on what mistakes I made:

Start slowly, take the tme to really learn the basics of scuba diving and truly feel comfortable in the water. The only way this can happen is by taking the beginner classes and then by practicing your skills. I would take Advanced Open Water and also Rescue. The Rescue course offered by most training agencies should give you a basic feel for the type of thought patterns that you must be comfortable with while cave diving. Namely, preparation, prevention and performance. Most rescue diver classes also focus on stress and how it contributes to problems while diving. In the cave stress and panic can become a real concern so you should have a handle on the theory regarding stress/panic in the open water before sticking yourself into a mud tunnel somewhere 1.000ft in a cave.

In my opinion, if you don't have a basic handling of OW, AOW and Rescue, you shouldn't really be thinking of cave diving yet or the type of gear you'll need to buy. However, the one piece of gear you can get away with that can be moved over to cave diving is the BC. Get a aluminum backplate system w/ continuous webbing (any will do, no H's are needed on webbing) and a single tank bladder for the plate. This can be used in any OW diving and with a swap of the bladder can be upgraded for doubles.

Other than the BC, I would filter out any other gear concerns. Cave equipment is so specialized and so specific that you will kick yourself a thousand times if you start buying all kinds of cave gear now.

Bottom line, start thinking of cave diving once you've finished OW to Rescue, start thinking of cave diving GEAR once you've finished Cavern. This is just my opinion from someone who felt that he "went to fast" in the beginning. I'm a fairly decent cave diver now, but I definitely could have learned more instead of steppping on the accelerator.

[andrebasso]

Also, don't fall victim to the various "cults" out there. Some will tell you that you should be diving in a FULL CAVE RIG from day one. Most often, then are just trying to sell you gear - don't be fooled.

Be an OW diver and enjoy yourself - then move forward slowly.

[the_sandman]

WOW active community here and I thank you all for the feedback.

I don't want to spend one red dime on equipment that is not premium and of use for my grand goal. I am of the personality type that if I am not planning for the grand goal I am not planning at all. I am 100% positive that there are passionate divers here who are not in it to make a buck but instead can offer me solid advice in building the best cave diving set to protect my life and pocket book at the same time. My goal is to go into this with at least a smidgen of advice from pros. I would like to buy my gear with precision and keep my eye out for solid technology and perforance at a good price point.

From what I can gather cave diving equipment is the premium package as it is the most demanding scuba equipment out here. I don't want to invest in anyting I will have to replace to do deep cave diving. I am wealthy enough to invest in solid gear but poor enough I don't want to buy anything twice.

Is there a first great step? A solid piece of equipment that I can use to train that will carry me to the most demanding environment?

-The Sandman

[Signal 20]

go buy a Dive Rite Transpac and Rec Wing....I know your not ready for any kind of technical diving, but when your local dive shop trys to sell you Mares new jacket BC tell them to you want a Transpac. That will take you from your first dive in a swimming pool all the way to just about as hardcore cave diving you can do, then when you just cant do anything more hardcore, buy an Armadillo harness and opportunites open all over again

[Gibby]

I've had my ScuDa from day one.
This is an indispensable piece of gear for me.




http://www.scuda.com/The_SCUDA.htm

[aw]

Is there a first great step? A solid piece of equipment that I can use to train that will carry me to the most demanding environment?

-The Sandman

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