Scuba/Freediving Diving Thread

LAKE PERRIS!!!!!!!!!

I've used it a few times for checking out new gear before taking it to Catalina.
Makes me glad I dive a drysuit.

 

i know i dove the indra in october it was cold as shit. ive got a place in emerald isle

 

Bahh... if it's too cold for a shorty skin, I'm diving dry.
Cozy comfy down to 50, and down to 40 with my dry gloves.

 

So, question about Tacoma + Scuba, or general outdoor use. This question excludes Cap guys. Do you use a tonneau cover and if so hard or soft? If i do highway driving w/ gear in the back i want it secure/out of sight. Right now I am between the Extang Solid Fold + Popalock or the Extang Trifecta (no need for a lock).
Thoughts?

 

Lake Perris indeed-I still have nightmares

 

I had a Gaylord's hard cover on my Tundra, but I made a couple of trips before I got the cover and just stashed my gear (HP120 tanks included) in the back of the access cab with a blanket covering everything.

 

I keep all my stuff in the back seat. When I get to the dive site I transfer to the bed, gear up and dive away. I like the open bed for too many other things to cover it up.

 

I dove off Orcas this weekend, Visability was probably 10-15', not great but so much to see if you slow down and explore the nooks and crannies. I got certified here and when I went to Hawaii they asked me about my experience, I let them know I was from the Puget Sound and they said "You're good to go."

Tons of stuff to see here, if you can figure out how to stay warm.

 

Go for it man. The main NEX has a little dive section and they always have PADI classes going on for quite a bit cheaper than everywhere else. Certain times of the year they will discount them even more, usually at their semi annual clear the shelves sales.

And make sure you put a dive flag up, rolled up on too many unmanned kayaks that actually had divers down

 

Advanced Open Water is 5 days in the classroom/pool and 5 open water dives.
One dive must be a Navigation dive (actually navigate a square and triangle instead of just the "out and back" covered in modern Open Water).
One dive must be to 100ft (standards don't allow the class to go below 100, so the instructor will usually have everyone kneel on a hard bottom at 92-95 and everyone holds their depth gauge/computer as low as they can, but per tables, 91ft is a 100ft logged dive). You'll look at a color chart, do a math problem, we played a couple of games of Perfection...


This was all done to reveal the effects of narcosis, as well as show how colors go away as you go deeper. Sometimes the instructor will show how a styrofoam cup turns into a shot glass, or might take a tennis ball down to show the effect of pressure.

The other three are elective dives, and they may be applied toward a "specialty" certification such as wreck, drysuit, night, etc...
In my class, we did a wreck dive, a night dive, and a drift dive (Drift dive down the Colorado from Laughlin to Bullhead!).

I took the wreck specialty a month later, and since all 5 of us were in the same AOW class with the same instructor, when conditions got blown out on our 2nd wreck dive, we were able to complete the specialty with only 2 dives for that class. One dive was to be "survey", one was to be mapping, one was to be penetration (exit always visible).
Our penetration dive was on the HCMS Yukon. Conditions blew out and we couldn't do our mapping dive on the Ruby-E, so the next weekend we did a mapping dive on a barge off the coast of Laguna Beach, and we used our AOW dive on the "SS Minnow" in Lake Mojave as our "survey" dive.

Nitrox is one classroom and two dives, not sure of PADI allows it to be combined into AOW or not. PADI was very resistant to Nitrox for many years and even once referred to it as "death gas"
My Nitrox cert is through NAUI, plus I have GUE Tech Fundamentals.

 

I can't wait for this weekend. I'm heading in to get my rescue diver certification!

 

nice man, its a fun class. I got mine a few weeks ago...got my MSD as well.

 

anyone ever go to fossil ledge out of wilmington nc?

 

Diving the SS Atlas outta beaufort NC on wednesday, if anyone wants to join pm me, a 2 tank charter is 115

 

anyone here pursued getting their instructor from padi? any advice for doing so? (Ive only just recently got my advanced)

also anyone here an nc diver?

here are some videos from my last dive, I was learning to use my go pro One is the U-352 sub sunk during WWII the other is the Aeolus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoWXt27B81c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq1mrk3G_sI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbJAO38H72M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUEvPUTxD_g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4yYJyuKfTE

 

Do a LOT of research on the insurance requirements and costs at the Divemaster and Instructor levels.
Nobody is making a living teaching others to dive... it is a hobby that is a net loss. You do it because you love to dive and want to share that with others.

The furthest I would go personally (in the Padi world) would be Rescue.
With Rescue, I would move into the GUE or possibly IANTD tech realm.

Is Padi still referring to Nitrox as "death gas", or have they seen the potential profit?

 

Padi teaches it now, I know I wouldn't get to rake in big bucks as an instructor but I figured then I could file my trips as a business expense tax wise and get to spread my knowledge as I wish to do

 

Morning all...been certified since 1994 with ow and nitrox certs. Wife doesn't like cold water soooo all of our diving is warm water mostly in the Caribbean. Own a time share in Grand Cayman and have been going there for the past 10 years in September. Last May I got to cross an item off the "Bucket List" when I took the Granddaughter diving in St. Maarten on a discover diving trip. She loved it and her and her Mom are doing an ow cert and are going to the Caymans with us in Sept. First pic is from our dive in St. Maarten..wife, daughter-in-law and granddaughter with me hanging in back. The second is of a swim through at Devils Grotto in the Caymans.

 

Ditto what Rich says...do some research. I have been a DM for about 10 years and have no plans to be an instructor. Not worth the extra cost (initial and annual) to me. I enjoy helping with classes, doing tune-ups, etc. but know at best I will break even. I also do equipment repairs and I can make some money there, but it all goes back into diving of course (new gear, trips, etc.).

That being said, if you have the desire to be an instructor then go for it. The scuba world needs more good instructors. So many get into it and life (family, job, health, etc.) gets in the way but the ones that truly love to do it are a joy to watch and work with.

 

It looks like its the way im going to go, im going to try to atleast get to 150 dives and be a divemaster and move to instructor, itll also get me into a better spot at my full time job...

id want to hone my skills as much as possible before teaching though

does the scuba world need many emergency first responder instructors?