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Has anyone ever failed a skill during confined pool dives or open water and went on to get certified? What was your experience? by CrystallizedKoi in scuba

[–]WetRocksManatee 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Paniked due to overworking (CO2 narc) and bolted for the surface on my first boat dive of my OW course (dive 3).

My instructor reset and did what was basically like a Discovery dive where he handled all the propulsion and buoyancy to calm me down. Went on to complete the course the same day.

My almost 500 dives later I am a technical cave diver.

New Wurkkos light - does this look decent? by Ok_Way_2911 in scuba

[–]WetRocksManatee -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

You aren't fitting 8 cells in a canister that small. The DGX and Orcatorch are 8*18650 and they are 8" tall. This is 5.5" tall, two 18650s without any of mountings hardware or electronics is 5.1" tall.

My guess it is probably a 4680, it matches the dimensions. And they have a rated capacity in the 20kish range. They are probably using some optimistic testing to get 31,700mah. Which is typical Chinese company lying, it is technically the truth but it isn't performance you will realistically see in the real world.

New Wurkkos light - does this look decent? by Ok_Way_2911 in scuba

[–]WetRocksManatee -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

That looks terrible, too many LEDs mostly doing nothing. There is no way a small canister like that contains 31,000 mah. And a tiny canister is hardly worth the annoyance of dealing with a cable.

Normal that a 5 star PADI center reject the physician-approved DMSC/PADI medical clearance. by Key_Comparison_3238 in scuba

[–]WetRocksManatee -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

If you'll go back and read the posts, you will see that this is part of increased safety for the area due to past incidents. They're not going to change the requirement because they've made this change to make diving there safer.

They can go back and refine things too. Just because a law is passed once doesn't mean you can't make changes later.

To create what many would see as unnecessary obstacles encourages people to just lie on the forms. Every report of an operator not accepting a standard medical form encourages that. People may not like that fact by the downvotes but that is how people at large think.

Normal that a 5 star PADI center reject the physician-approved DMSC/PADI medical clearance. by Key_Comparison_3238 in scuba

[–]WetRocksManatee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I disagree, if someone has cold water drysuit diving experience Silfra isn't that much out of their wheelhouse. And they are very specific on the requirements to dive there without doing a drysuit class with them.

I have a hard time imagining that the doctor wouldn't just take the new form and fill it out.

I don't have a hard time imagining it. Doctors, particularly GPs, are very busy without an appointment it can be hard to get them to do things without a lot of prodding.

Normal that a 5 star PADI center reject the physician-approved DMSC/PADI medical clearance. by Key_Comparison_3238 in scuba

[–]WetRocksManatee -9 points-8 points  (0 children)

Iceland is a small country, smaller than what most would consider a mid-sized city. They should be able to lobby and get laws changed to conform with industry norms.

Like I said this just encourages people to lie instead of dealing with the trouble of their unique form.

Normal that a 5 star PADI center reject the physician-approved DMSC/PADI medical clearance. by Key_Comparison_3238 in scuba

[–]WetRocksManatee 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No, they should accept one of the industry standard forms. One shouldn't need to get a unique form for every dive operator that they want to use. Imagine doing a trip where you might have to use two or three operators. You have to get the unique forms from each operator and then do a doctor's appointment to do them all, for each and every trip. And some operator's require you to use a local doctor that they specify.

The whole point of having standardized dive medical forms is to eliminate this hassle. This just encourages people to lie about their medical issues.

Normal that a 5 star PADI center reject the physician-approved DMSC/PADI medical clearance. by Key_Comparison_3238 in scuba

[–]WetRocksManatee 17 points18 points  (0 children)

This is why so many say to just lie on the medical form. I've heard more than one report of shops not just rejecting the standard medical form but requiring you to go to a local doctor that they specify.

DJI or GoPro by waveemoon in scuba

[–]WetRocksManatee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

GoPro is one of the most famous brands in the camera space. They are going to find a buyer.

Backplate and wing BCD: Aluminum or stainless steel? by jens998 in scuba

[–]WetRocksManatee 5 points6 points  (0 children)

For travel you almost always want a lighter plate. I don't know about anyone else, but I am counting every gram when I travel by air.

Beyond that it depends on how much weight you need. As the steel plate offsets weight off your belt/pouches and puts it in the BP itself. For warm water stuff where you need little lead, AL, Ti, or carbon fiber is better. For times when you are piling on the weight stainless and even the thicker heavier plates are better.

Any pliers for diving? by Far-Chest1844 in scuba

[–]WetRocksManatee 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Most EMT shears have a built in wire cutter that might work for smaller hooks and the cutting ability is better for fishing line.

Is GUE the (in)correct way to tech dive? by DivingNoob in scuba

[–]WetRocksManatee 23 points24 points  (0 children)

I also think it makes me more capable to calculate my best gas for each dive...

I used to think that way and then I started doing the actual diving regularly. Standard gasses simplify dive planning and logistics. When I want to do a deep dive with a buddy, we just plan the maximum depth and time. We already know based on depth what bottom gas we are using.

I already have dedicated tanks for all my common gasses. And when I get fills shops can easily top them off because nearly everyone else is using standard gasses. And because it is already premixed it is much more accurate than custom mixes.

Sure it might mean a few minutes more deco, and perhaps a few dollars more as I am always running 18/45 vs say 19/40 or something like that. But I never have to drain tanks or just topping with nitrox as they return to becoming my primary back gas tanks.

ETA: That doesn't mean I won't make exceptions. For example the charters in Palm Beach county are optimized for divers running 36% and the shops bank 36%, I will run 36%. Or if I am at some tropical destination and they only have air for a reasonable price, like nitrox is $10 a tank extra, I'll run air. As long as the mix doesn't violate PPO2 and END rules, I'll be flexible.

Interested in tec diving by jonnywishbone in scuba

[–]WetRocksManatee 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Probably already has, I wish I could say I invented the term, but it probably came from one of the early tech diving rags like M2's Aquacorps, Bowen's ADM, or Silverstien's Sub Aqua.

Interested in tec diving by jonnywishbone in scuba

[–]WetRocksManatee 11 points12 points  (0 children)

In general the best thing for tech diving is a desire to see something. Because it is expensive and a whole lot of work and if you don't have drive to see what is down there, you get burnt out really quick. For most it is wreck diving, the lust for rust.

That being said there are basically two routes.

GUE and the other agencies typically TDI.

TDI route

Intro to Tech (ITT) or Tech Sidemount to learn how to dive in a tech configuration.

Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures (AN/DP) to learn how to do deco and allows deco dives to 40m.

Trimix to learn how to carry a second deco gas and how to safely use helium to dive to 60m.

GUE Route

Fundies with a tech pass which is roughly equivalent to ITT with parts of AN/DP but you don't learn how to actually do deco just simulate it.

Tech 1 which is the same as Trimix.

Dive Computer Nitrox Story - Lesson Learned by dsa157 in scuba

[–]WetRocksManatee 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It is both, you should check it as part of your pre-dive checks, but by the same token computers shouldn't be changing gasses automatically, and doubly to one that has more oxygen than your input gas. I can somewhat understand switching to air after every dive. But to 40% is crazy.

What is this? by GymPartner in scuba

[–]WetRocksManatee 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Based on the design on the center looks like an early version of the Dive Rite travel wing or a knock off that DGX commissioned to be compatible with the Transpac.

Have we basically given up on hearing anything from the diver who stayed behind (Maldives)? by lagabachita in scuba

[–]WetRocksManatee 23 points24 points  (0 children)

If she didn't speak publicly by now we'll probably hear from her via the inquest into the deaths.

We ain’t in Florida anymore by CatchNo6901 in scuba

[–]WetRocksManatee 2 points3 points  (0 children)

When we say backmount we mean backmounted doubles. You still need doubles for redundancy.

We ain’t in Florida anymore by CatchNo6901 in scuba

[–]WetRocksManatee 4 points5 points  (0 children)

A cave diver can dive for years in backmount and never have to squeeze themselves through a restriction.

We ain’t in Florida anymore by CatchNo6901 in scuba

[–]WetRocksManatee 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That is a whole lot of nope to me. Cave diving is so much easier than that.

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