Dive Skill Basics

Posted: Jan 07 in Dive Blog tagged diving instruction by Jan

Becoming a competent and skilled  scuba diver starts with mastering basic diving skills. Advanced diving and tech diving build on these basic skills, so it’s especially important that you are comfortable and confident with these fundamentals. From clearing your mask to finding a lost regulator, here are the top four basic skills to master that will lay the foundation for safe diving – whether you’re exploring quarries in Illinois or swimming over a coral reef in the Caribbean.

1. Equipment check – Before you ever enter the water, know how your equipment operates and that it is working properly.  All this is made much easier if you have your own equipment (if you’re renting, you are probably getting different gear every time you go out).  Either way, make sure you understand how to read your gauges to manage your air and depth.  If you’re using a computer, step one is to read the instruction manual and make sure you know what the computer is telling you!  Equally important,  know how your BCD (buoyancy control device) works.
Which button inflates the BCD?  How do I dump air?  If the BCD has integrated weight pockets, make sure you know how to load and ditch the pockets.   While many dive operators will set up your equipment for you, you need to be comfortable attaching the first stage and BCD to a full tank, and then disassembling  it once your dive is complete.

2. Regulator removal and replacement – Sooner or later during your diving career, your regulator will get knocked out of your mouth.  Locating a dislodged regulator is not difficult, and is made all the easier by the fact we carry alternate air sources.  If you lose your regulator, remain calm,  simply pick up your alternate (it should be attached to the front of your BCD or around your neck in a regulator necklace), clear it, and resume breathing while you find the errant regulator second stage by using either the arm sweep or reach method.   All divers need to be comfortable with, and practice, the basic regulator skills of removing, replacing, clearing, and recovering their regulators, preferably in a horizontal, swimming position off of the bottom, and not on your knees!

3. Mask flood and clear – Like regulator replacement, being able to comfortably flood and clear your mask will ensure that when a stray kick from your buddy dislodges your mask, you can put it back on without panicking.  Unfortunately, many divers  are not very comfortable with this skill after they complete their Open Water scuba class, and drop out of diving.   The only way to get comfortable, is to practice, practice, and then practice some more until you can do it in your sleep, again preferably in a horizontal/swimming position, not on your knees.  Winter is a great time for pool practice, or to seek help from your friendly dive professionals here at Do Dive In.

4. Trim, buoyancy control and weighting– Proper weighting, good trim and buoyancy control are the keys to safe and nearly effortless scuba diving.  (Good propulsion/kicking techniques are also important, but we’ll save that discussion for another day)  A properly weighted diver swimming in a trimmed out, horizontal position uses very little energy or air and seldom needs to adjust their buoyancy once underwater.  One of the biggest mistakes that new divers make is over weighting themselves, which makes swimming and proper buoyancy control much more difficult and is a sure fire way of sucking all the fun out of scuba diving.  Achieving proper trim and precision buoyancy control are skills  that take time and practice, but starting off with the right weighting is an important first step.  The more you dive, the more comfortable you get, which for most divers translates to better breathing patterns and the need for less weight.  While most divers have been taught to check their weighting at the beginning of a dive, a good way to double check your weight is at the end of a dive with around 500 psi in your tank.  If you can hold a safety stop at 15 feet with little or no air in your BCD without hanging on to the down line or  floating up to the top, your weighted pretty good.

If you can develop your basic skills to the point you can do them while hovering off the bottom in a stable, horizontal position, you will be amazed at how effortless and fun diving can be!  Things to work on in 2012.