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rockcity posted:Depends on a lot of things. Fresh or salt water? How much do you weigh? What are you wearing wetsuit wise? How much weight are you diving with now? Sorry, diving Freshwater 3mm Shorty. I have been doing 14lbs in the front and 4 in the trim.
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Jul 11, 2013 14:32
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I dive with no weights. Aluminium tanks. 
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Jul 11, 2013 17:02
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Trivia posted:Haha, I knew I was getting ripped off, but didn't realize it was THAT bad. Yeah, price is all dependent where you live and what the demand is like. In landlocked areas with lake diving classes tend to be cheaper than coastal pretty areas. my old shop in Austin has open water for 175 and 79 for materials.
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Jul 11, 2013 18:18
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Gushing Granny posted:Signed up for a Nitrox course because the NDL without enriched air is pretty low, really. How much more bottom time can I get with using Nitrox? I dunno? Learn to breathe good? You will always have more gas than NDL. Does that work?
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Jul 11, 2013 18:31
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SlicerDicer posted:I dunno? Learn to breathe good? You will always have more gas than NDL. Does that work? Or start smoking 
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Jul 11, 2013 20:30
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rockcity posted:Edit: Nevermind, realized I was quoting something really old.
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Jul 11, 2013 22:58
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SlicerDicer posted:I dunno? Learn to breathe good? You will always have more gas than NDL. Does that work? Is breathing well something you can learn or does it just come from experience? Are there certain techniques or other things you can concentrate on to improve faster?
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Jul 11, 2013 23:43
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Unimpressed posted:Is breathing well something you can learn or does it just come from experience? Are there certain techniques or other things you can concentrate on to improve faster?
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Jul 12, 2013 00:08
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The biggest thing to become a better breather is experience and comfort. Size/fitness are factors, but a 90 lb scared woman can suck down a tank faster than a 400 lb tubbo if she's huffing and puffing. Its similar to buoyancy. Just keep diving and you'll pick it up.
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Jul 12, 2013 00:43
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Bishop posted:Good to see you back! I will probably be in FL in mid august and would be glad to host and do some diving. I'd even be up for another cave class if you have a connection there. Either way I'll let you know when I'll be in FL (August 10 is the earliest) drat, I think the date I was potentially going to be available would be the weekend prior. My company forces us to use some of our time off during designated weeks and that was one of them. My local dive shop just started a charter out of the Boynton Beach area, so I'll probably go out with them for a couple days that weekend. I'm game to try another evening/night dive sometime too. Maybe this time we won't lose equipment and/or the boat.
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Jul 12, 2013 00:50
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Let the record show that I did not lose my boat, and she still floats to this day. E: because I'm a lucky idiot. Bishop fucked around with this message at 01:58 on Jul 12, 2013 |
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Jul 12, 2013 01:47
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Unimpressed posted:Is breathing well something you can learn or does it just come from experience? Are there certain techniques or other things you can concentrate on to improve faster? Yes, you can learn it, but you have to do it after learning. Here is what got me over the hump: yeah, you never stop breathing, but there is no rule about your breathing volume. So, don't hold your breath, of course, but that doesn't mean you can't spend 15 seconds inhaling and 30 exhaling. Don't mistake "always breathe" for "make sure you breathe constantly, deeply and quickly". Constantly, yes. Deeply, yes. Quickly, no.
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Jul 12, 2013 03:17
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Bishop posted:Let the record show that I did not lose my boat, and she still floats to this day. Haha, ok, we didn't lose the boat, but we did have to come up the wrong mooring ball.
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Jul 12, 2013 03:35
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Crunkjuice posted:The biggest thing to become a better breather is experience and comfort. Size/fitness are factors, but a 90 lb scared woman can suck down a tank faster than a 400 lb tubbo if she's huffing and puffing. Its similar to buoyancy. Just keep diving and you'll pick it up. Can confirm, I'm 6'5" and about 340 pounds. I've been on dives where little ladies or MUCH smaller and fitter dudes burned through a tank way faster than me. Also, the deeper you are the faster your air goes, if you're in a group and don't want to be THAT guy everytime you can hang out 5-10 feet above the rest depending on visibility. I've done that time to time on deeper dives and you can actually buy yourself a decent amount of extra time. Edit: that being said, my wife is about 5'6" and 145, of basically exactly same experience and comfort level and laughs at my consumption rates.
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Jul 12, 2013 03:47
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Yeah my air consumption rate is abysmal, at 20ft I went through 2500 PSI in 32 mins and the girls who had just finished OW cert I was diving with only went through 1000. I really need to get this in check before I go diving in Roatán/Cozumel this October.
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Jul 12, 2013 06:48
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One other thought, getting buoyancy in checks keeps you from fiddling with your BCD and saves you air.
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Jul 12, 2013 06:52
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rockcity posted:Haha, ok, we didn't lose the boat, but we did have to come up the wrong mooring ball. HAHAHA somebody explain this please? This sounds like what my dive buddy and I did when we went to go up and the wrong boat was there... WTF?! same ladders and stuff.
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Jul 12, 2013 07:08
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Gindack posted:Yeah my air consumption rate is abysmal, at 20ft I went through 2500 PSI in 32 mins and the girls who had just finished OW cert I was diving with only went through 1000. I really need to get this in check before I go diving in Roatán/Cozumel this October. Since you have your own gear now, try to get some dives in at windy point. Its a great place to practice dives since its dedicated slope. Nav/depth is easy with a well known area so you can practice swimming from platform to platform safely concentrating on your breathing
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Jul 12, 2013 08:11
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SlicerDicer posted:HAHAHA somebody explain this please? Bishop and I attempted to do a night dive on a wreck off of his boat. The dive was pretty bad from the getgo because some waves had kicked up a whole lot of silt and crap in the water so visibility was maybe 10 feet or so and since you can only see what your light shines on, that was a bit of a problem. So we started to descend on the ball and as we get down maybe 50 feet, there was a crossing line tied on that ball so the line forked. At first we took the wrong fork down and ended up drat near in the sand before we realized it wasn't going to the ship. So we went back up the line and then down the other one and found the wreck. From there visibility was just garbage and we were going to get lost so we thumbed the dive, but we had to follow the nearest line so we went up and ended up maybe 100 feet from the boat or so. Bishop swam back to the boat while I hung on the mooring ball for him to bring the boat to get me. He also dropped one of his lights into the water when he was untying from the ball. Oh and we also forgot to pull up the swim ladder when we were leaving, we managed to realize that fairly quickly though. Thankfully our cavern class went much smoother, haha. rockcity fucked around with this message at 15:10 on Jul 12, 2013 |
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Jul 12, 2013 15:08
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That was probably the worst viz I've ever seen on the Spiegel, including night dives. I know that wreck really really well, I kept us along the port side of the ship (which is where the line was anchored) and the moment we swam away towards the superstructure I got disoriented. Instant thumb. What really screwed me over was mooring up to a crossover ball though that wasted a lot of gas. The ladder part is something I've forgotten WAY too many times, although once the boat starts listing from the drag you remember it. If we do the Spiegel at night again I'm using my full tech rig because more gas and a can light would have helped quite a bit. Bishop fucked around with this message at 16:12 on Jul 12, 2013 |
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Jul 12, 2013 15:59
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rockcity posted:Haha, ok, we didn't lose the boat, but we did have to come up the wrong mooring ball. Did you guys come up the wrong mooring because you got disoriented or because you were running low on gas? Do you guys not mark your moorings down there? Standard procedure up here is to place a strobe on the mooring, one making it easier to find in low viz and two, you know which one to ascend. EDIT: Nevermind, saw the explanation. macado fucked around with this message at 19:49 on Jul 12, 2013 |
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Jul 12, 2013 19:43
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It's really not that interesting or dangerous of a story, it's just funny (and lovely for rockcity) that we encountered those conditions on the day he made the drive down to Key Largo. I knew we were on the wrong line when we started ascending, because when I decided to thumb it I just took us towards the closest line (port crane if memory serves correct) Current was negligible when we jumped in and I wanted to have a gas reserve in case it had picked up and I needed to go back down and come up the right line. I have over 100 dives on that wreck so I'm going to thumb quick if I think I'm about to get disoriented. I do think it's an example of how sometimes you have to thumb a dive even though there are pressures making you not want to. In this case someone came down to dive with me and I wanted to be a good host but sometimes you have to trust your instincts. Bishop fucked around with this message at 21:29 on Jul 12, 2013 |
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Jul 12, 2013 21:19
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I'm looking at getting a regulator and BCD set up soon. Gotta get all my gear bought before I head out to the Maldives. Can anyone recommend me any regs/BCDs?
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Jul 12, 2013 22:52
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Gushing Granny posted:I'm looking at getting a regulator and BCD set up soon. Gotta get all my gear bought before I head out to the Maldives. Can anyone recommend me any regs/BCDs? A little more info would help. Price range? Features you want? Jacket/Back Inflate?
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Jul 12, 2013 22:59
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Crunkjuice posted:A little more info would help. Price range? Features you want? Jacket/Back Inflate? I'm willing to pay about £700 for a good set up, preferable a jacket. An integrated weight system would be nice but that's all I can think of right now. Something that just does its job well, I guess.
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Jul 12, 2013 23:04
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Gushing Granny posted:I'm willing to pay about £700 for a good set up, preferable a jacket. An integrated weight system would be nice but that's all I can think of right now. Something that just does its job well, I guess. http://www.scubagearreports.com/index.php/gear-reviews-comparative-gear-reviews/69-sgr-jacket-style-bc-shootout.html Regulator reviews are on that site as well.
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Jul 13, 2013 02:27
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I picked up a scubapro Mk11/C200 and have 3 dives on it so far and I like it. Simple, relatively inexpensive and most shops are able to service the brand. Looks like Leisure Pro has one for $250, I would ask your LDS to see if they would price match before you buy online. Me liking it is purely based on the reg not trying to kill me, yet.
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Jul 13, 2013 04:13
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Bishop posted:It's really not that interesting or dangerous of a story, it's just funny (and lovely for rockcity) that we encountered those conditions on the day he made the drive down to Key Largo. I knew we were on the wrong line when we started ascending, because when I decided to thumb it I just took us towards the closest line (port crane if memory serves correct) Current was negligible when we jumped in and I wanted to have a gas reserve in case it had picked up and I needed to go back down and come up the right line. I have over 100 dives on that wreck so I'm going to thumb quick if I think I'm about to get disoriented. Yeah, we had plenty of gas left, I think I burned maybe 1/3 of my tank max. It was just really disorienting with no viz so we just went up the nearest line. We knew we hadn't gone that far so we weren't going to come up that far from the boat. Tying a strobe to the line is not a bad idea though.
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Jul 13, 2013 05:15
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Gushing Granny posted:I'm looking at getting a regulator and BCD set up soon. Gotta get all my gear bought before I head out to the Maldives. Can anyone recommend me any regs/BCDs? I love love love my Atomic Z2x (now supplanted by the Z3, exactly the same regulator). It's gonna cost you $509 however, not counting octo and spg. There are cheaper regs out there that are completely fine. As for BC's, I know it's not at all what you're asking for, but if you consider the exchange rate favorable for you then a BP/W from DeepSeaSupply might be a pretty good deal. Any sort of Backplate+Wing combination can put "integrated" weights on the belt of the harness plus on the tank straps.
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Jul 13, 2013 09:25
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Gushing Granny posted:I'm willing to pay about £700 for a good set up, preferable a jacket. An integrated weight system would be nice but that's all I can think of right now. Something that just does its job well, I guess. As far as regs go, it's tough to go terribly wrong. I've found Sherwoods to be nearly invincible. All of the regs on my rec setup are sherwoods and my oxygen deco regs use a sherwood second stage. If you want to spend a bit more you just cant go wrong with scubapro. The mark25 first stages are amazing. I also own and am very impressed with Apeks first and second stages, but the Scubapro first stages have much better hose routing options. An aside: Right now I'm conflicted because I have my Apeks first stages for my doubles and am using the scubapros for deco. The apeks are a diaphragm first stage which should make them breathe better at depth and cold water, but more importantly the scubapros are piston regs meaning they are more flood tolerant, which is a big deal because we pressurize our deco tanks but then turn them off during the dive, so all the hoses are pressurized but the tank itself is off. This is good because you can check the pressure gauge mid dive and if it's dropped a ton you know you have some sort of leak, and also if something bad does happen you don't lose a lot of gas. The scubapros have perfect hose routing though for my DIR-ish rig while I'm a bit worried about the Apeks because of how much the hoses have to bend at the point where they connect to the first stage. People have been telling me really good things about flex hoses, which can bend far more, so I might switch to those. Don't let them suck you in to spending too much on a second stage regulator. The best designs are ancient and work fine. But again, it's tough to go too wrong when buying SCUBA gear because these companies don't want to be sued to death if they put out a dangerous product. Bishop fucked around with this message at 17:36 on Jul 13, 2013 |
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Jul 13, 2013 17:18
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Bishop posted:I love my old Oceaniac jacket BC and assume they still make the same model (It is 1,000 miles away from me right now so I can't tell you the exact model) It's weight integrated too. My only complaint with them (My father and a friend have the same one too) is that after a few years of use the low pressure infiltrator valve gets corroded and tends to stick open. That might have just been me being lazy as a younger diver when it came to maintaining equipment though. Miflex hoses are pretty drat awesome. Spend money on the BCD over the reg in my opinion. You'll get something that breaths fine for not a lot of money. The BCD is where you'll get LOADS of variation between models, and that's where you want to put your money. I dive an old oceanic alpha sport 8 second stage and i can't tell a difference between if and my buddies atomic z2 besides the 400 dollar price difference. If you like jacket style BCD's i can't recommend the Aqualung Axiom enough. That thing is the most comfy jacket style bcd i've ever worn. Its our pool bcd (yeah i know, why the gently caress do we have high end bcds for the pool...), and i love it.
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Jul 13, 2013 21:34
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Has anyone here been off the Wilmington NC coast? I've scheduled a dive to the Hyde wreck and apparently there are some pretty big sand tigers. I hope the visibility isn't as bad I think it's gonna be.
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Jul 14, 2013 19:56
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micron posted:Has anyone here been off the Wilmington NC coast? I've scheduled a dive to the Hyde wreck and apparently there are some pretty big sand tigers. I hope the visibility isn't as bad I think it's gonna be. I haven't been to the Hyde wreck but I've been to the Charleston (sunk tug boat to create an artificial reef). That was off Little River, SC last September--not that far from Wilmington. We were supposed to go to the Sherman wreck, but didn't due to visibility problems. That dive was with Coastal Scuba out of Myrtle Beach, SC.
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Jul 15, 2013 01:45
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Hip Hoptimus Prime posted:I haven't been to the Hyde wreck but I've been to the Charleston (sunk tug boat to create an artificial reef). That was off Little River, SC last September--not that far from Wilmington. We were supposed to go to the Sherman wreck, but didn't due to visibility problems. That dive was with Coastal Scuba out of Myrtle Beach, SC. Were there any sand tigers? This is my 3rd dive and I'm pretty comfortable but hanging with 12 foot all tooth sharks is thrilling and a bit nervous. I'm sure it will all be fine but man those guys got a mess of teeth and need braces. Also what's the best treatment for swimmers ear? I have 95% iso alcohol and it cleared my left ear. My right ear still feels mushy and clogged
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Jul 15, 2013 03:40
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micron posted:Were there any sand tigers? This is my 3rd dive and I'm pretty comfortable but hanging with 12 foot all tooth sharks is thrilling and a bit nervous. I'm sure it will all be fine but man those guys got a mess of teeth and need braces. I can clear my ears fine so I'm not clogged up or anything, just my right ear feels foggy. Hopefully I'm all cleared up in 4 days 
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Jul 16, 2013 00:41
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A good friend of mine recently got labyrinthitis. He had spearfished for years off the coast of Hilo in Hawaii, but now he's too afraid to even go back into the water. He refused treatment at his recent doctor visit because he's a big giant wierdo that loves drugs, just not the ones that are good for you. I don't even understand. Is there a way he can get back to diving with little or no risk of recurrence? Is there anything I could possibly talk him into, to help him with recovery? Apparently his biggest and pretty much only complaint to getting back into the water is getting over how the wave-action affects him now, so he can't dive at all. He's almost to the point of just selling all his diving gear because of it, but not quite yet. I assume since he didn't do anything to treat early on, that he's basically hosed with his recovery and only earplugs could keep any virals from possibly re-entering?
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Jul 16, 2013 00:57
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Did my first cold water dive yesterday. Neoprene gloves suck. Maybe mine were just too small, but my fingers still hurt today. And a hooded vest under the wetsuit puts twice as much pressure on my neck. I felt like I was going to pass out until I got in the water. I might just stick with warm water diving.... oof
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Jul 16, 2013 13:41
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BlueBayou posted:Did my first cold water dive yesterday. As a Minnesota diver, my AOW cert was done in a quarry and after the 2nd thermocline it was hovering around 42 degrees in late August. Check your fit on your hood and gloves, sounds like they're both too small.
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Jul 16, 2013 15:29
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BlueBayou posted:Did my first cold water dive yesterday. Dont give up on it just yet. Sounds like your gloves were too small. A properly fitting 7mm with a normal 5mm hood with bibb can be great this time a year. Alternatively, the expensive and inevitable option for New England diving is to invest in a drysuit
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Jul 18, 2013 00:57
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The thing about hooded vests is that when you get a small, it means small vest and small hood. Well us skinny fuckers with big heads don't do well with those. You can get a small vest with a different sized attached hood, though you'll have to get your shop to order it and that will solve your tight neck issues. Another way to do it is get just a wetsuit hood and a non hooded vest, that way there's nothing pulling on your neck. Drysuits are the obvious and BEST cold water option. I have no personal experience with these(i've tried dui's electric divewear and that poo poo is fantastic), but there are heated wetsuit garment options. Heres a review of a few of them. http://heatedwetsuitreviews.com/ I dunno if these are scuba rated, but i know there are some that are. I have no idea what they are though. There also used to be a company that made a belt that held those hand warmer gel packs around your core and were good for about 45 minutes. Theyre out of business now but you should still be able to find em somewhere. I want to say hotsuit wetsuit warmer is what it was called?
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Jul 18, 2013 01:23
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