Top 10 Pro Diver Habits Hey all of you awesome scuba divers
out there. I had the idea that some of you might want to be even more awesome of a scuba diver.
And I just completed a HSE Scuba Course with Commercial Diver Training so, I figured a video
on top 10 diver traits might be fun to summarise some things that top tier divers do both in and
out of the water so that you can improve. This video is sponsored by scuba dot com, a
huge scuba online dive shop with locations on both the east and west coasts of the States but,
more about scuba dot com later, for now let s talk about some pro diver habits
Check Their Gear The
first thing that pro scuba divers do is check their gear, meticulously. Our breathing apparatus
and buoyancy devices are the only thing that separate us from freedivers, don t get me wrong,
some of my best friends are freedivers. But, one thing that you ll find all top-tier divers do is
check over and look after their equipment. If you thought predive buddy checks were long you should
try the HSE commercial checks. But the pre-dive checks are there so that you and your buddy are
100% sure that everything is working properly, well before you even step towards the water.
It all starts with investing in their own equipment. The equipment that a diver uses
evolves as they gain experience. Each piece of gear is carefully selected,
not just for how it looks but for how it works. And when they do invest in gear,
they look after it. Equipment lasts so much longer and works better when you give it a good wash
between dives. Store it properly, get it serviced appropriately and check it over between dives,
right before a dive and after dives. There s never a time when checking over your gear
is a bad idea. Always Honest
Honesty really is the best policy, especially when it comes to scuba diving. I ve seen far
too many divers signal that everything is ok when their pressure gauge says otherwise. If
you re low on gas, then you re low on gas. There s no shame in it but, if your buddy or the rest of
the group believe that you have much more gas than you actually have then should something
go wrong, you re all in trouble. The same if you have a bad feeling about
something. If you don t feel up to a dive the most pro diver thing that you can do is to call it off.
Best case scenario if you re feeling rough or sea conditions are rough is that you re going to have
a rubbish dive. Worst case, you, or somebody else could get into trouble because you re not at 100%.
If you don t like the look of a piece of equipment,
mention it. Try not to hold anything in, unless you re in a drysuit on a long dive,
hold that in best you can, but if you re worried about something just tell somebody. Scuba divers
are nice and honest about most things. Except peeing in wetsuits, divers will lie about if they
pee in their wetsuits or not. Clear Communication
Miscommunication can easily lead to mistakes and accidents. Both in and out of the water
it s much better if you are very clear and concise about what you are trying to say. And
slow down. You re not the sign language person at an Eminem show. If you re showing a hand signal,
show it and hold it for a second or two so that your buddy can actually see it before you move
onto the next sign. And think about what your buddy can actually see. If you re holding your
black glove infront of your black wetsuit, they might not see the hand signal properly.
Hold it out towards them or get some brighter gloves that contrast what you re wearing.
Another aspect is that messages received should be repeated to make sure that the recipient has
understood correctly. It can feel a bit, for lack of a better word, repetitive. But
when somebody says something important to you, just repeat the important part back.
The same with hand signals, repeat the message you see, that way if it s different,
the sender knows to repeat or get closer so you can actually see the signal. But,
if you don t know, don t just throw up an ok and turn away, say I don t know and they can
try and say it again. Always Prepared
As scuba divers you can never prepare and plan too much. If you forget something you can t
just pop back to the surface to grab it. You either have to continue the dive without it,
scolding past you in your head for the rest of the dive for forgetting it. Or abort the dive
because it s critical. A day or two beforehand think about everything that you re going to
need and pack it. Go through the entire day in your mind and think about what you might
need to bring just in case that thing breaks. Plan your dive and share that plan with the group,
or at least your buddy. The old adage is plan the dive and dive the plan. Before the dive, tell
Steven that we re going to enter the water here. If you have a map, perfect, if not at least point
so everybody has a reference. We re then going to head over here, we re going to do this, which
requires this tool, then we re going to do that, surface around here and exit the water there. That
way, should you get separated, as long as steven was paying attention you ll know where they might
be and you ll remember to bring the right tool. Self Sufficient
Pro divers will always dive, or be prepared to dive, as if they are going to be alone.
Should something happen a pro diver will have everything they need on them to fix the problem
without relying on their buddy. If their buddy is right there with them, great! An extra pair
of hands! However, in the unlikely event of a separation, you should be able to handle anything
all by yourself. So, that means carrying
a range of equipment and backup equipment as well. For some dives it can feel quite
excessive to carry so much gear but, you need to bring what you might reasonably
need. And be able to use it properly. If your buddy is always the one that sends up a dSMB,
ask if you can so that you can get the practice in. Set up your own dive gear.
Try to do as much yourself because your buddy might not always be there to do it for you.
Scuba.com Scuba dot com is your one-stop shop to
find all of the top scuba diving brands from the classic big brands like Aqualung, Atomic, Cressi,
Mares, Scubapro as well as new and exciting brands. As well as having their online dive
store that offers free shipping and a pressure free fit guarantee, where if your suit doesn t fit
quite right scuba dot com will send you the next size and collect the wrong one free of charge.
But, yes, scuba dot com is far more than just a website full of shiny new dive gear,
they have two dive shops one near Newport beach in California and the other on west 17th street
in Manhattan. Here you can try on and buy dive equipment and scuba dot com also teaches scuba
classes, runs guided tours, services dive gear and has The Pacific Coast Dive Club.
If you re in the market for some new dive equipment head over to scuba dot com, it s
really easy to remember, it s literally scuba dot com or you can just click on this link up here or
down in the description under this video Routine
Routines are really useful to build a repertoire and help prevent you from missing anything out.
That s why acronyms like BWRAF are drilled into you so much from the first course to try to get
you into a routine of checking your and your buddy s equipment. When you do things automatically
as part of a routine there s less chance of missing something out. If you re a list person,
write that list down and tick it through as you go so you don t miss something out.
Even something as simple as making sure that your mask and fins are ready before you put
your BCD on. After you ve had to kneel down when fully kitted up to get your mask from
the floor a half dozen times you soon learn to make your own life as easy as possible and build
some routines to prepare your kit. Make sure that your BCD hose is fitted before your pressurize the
cylinder. Pressurise the cylinder well before the dive, before you re in your wetsuit, to check it
s actually full and you haven t strapped an empty to your BCD and now you have to swap it over in a
sweaty wetsuit while everybody waits for you. Calm
One of the most common characteristics of a pro diver is being calm under pressure. Now,
this typically comes with experience. The more things that go wrong in front of you
the less likely you are to freak out the next time something happens, unless you re the one
that s causing all of the problems. But if you ve seen an O-Ring blow a bunch of times,
you re less likely to freeze and you re going to jump to fix the problem. Or better yet see
the signs leading up to it and prevent it from blowing in the first place.
But if you can work to keep a level head when something goes wrong then you can
think clearly and consider all of your options instead of rushing to do the first thing that
comes to mind. Stay calm and diagnose what you have in front of you and what the best course
of action is. A level head is a diver s most important tool. And being able to control your
breathing will make a big change to this. If you re huffing and puffing, then you need to
slow down so you don t reach hypercapnia. Enthusiastic
One thing that will indirectly make you a better diver is a bit of enthusiasm. Especially if you
re planning on becoming an instructor, you ll notice that a lot of the best instructors, or
at least the ones that students love will be fun and bouncy, even if it is a bit of an act. But,
if you re good fun to be around then you ll be invited on more dive trips, you re going to gain
experience and grow to become a better diver. Just remember to have fun while scuba diving,
it makes those early mornings and slipping into that soggy wetsuit on dive two a bit brighter if
you re more enthusiastic. We re still struggling with the diving community being viewed as only
older blokes with beards which can put off some new divers. But if they step on a dive
boat and there s a bunch of fun people on board, they re more likely to come back.
Frog Kick Frog kick, is probably
the most practical and efficient fin kick style for scuba diving, I mean; if frogs are doing it,
then it must be good. Unlike other fin kicks the frog kick keeps your fins nice and tight so,
it s great in confined spaces. And it keeps your wash straight behind you so you re less likely to
kick up silt. It also uses powerful muscles in your legs and you get plenty of power.
One of the better things about the frog kick is that it gives you good control in the water and
not just going forwards. With a frog kick position you can rotate on the spot with a helicopter turn
and also swim backwards. Most divers when they first start out use a flutter kick, it s most
similar to what your legs do when you re taught to swim. But you can look at a group of divers
and pick out the pros because while everybody else is doing this, the pros are just cruising
doing this. Limits
A pro diver will know and stick to their limits. Diving just that little bit deeper, making your
dive computer less conservative, surfacing as soon as the timer is up on your dive computer,
swimming into overhead environments without the proper training or equipment. These are
really easy ways to find yourself in trouble and pro divers know and respect their own limits.
It can be right at the start of the dive during the briefing. If there s something you don t
feel comfortable with, voice it then and there. When you re in the water, if your buddy suddenly
decides to swim into the wreck when that isn t part of the plan, have the confidence to tell them
no. You could literally be saving their life. What other pro diver traits and skills have you
seen or adopted that have made you a better scuba diver? It can be something as simple
as a particular knot you learnt to tie to secure your cylinders from rolling around
or investing in more drybags to keep your kit dry. Pop those ideas down in the comments and
remember to check out scuba dot com, they have a huge amount of dive gear on their website,
the link is up here. You can also check out our website scuba diver mag dot com and subscribe
to the channel if you haven t already. Thanks for watching and safe diving.