Hi SD fans, and welcome back. As many of us are returning to diving proper after an enforced
lay-off due to COVID-19, I thought it might be useful to run through a few skills and
drills that can be done on practice dives at an inland site or in the sea at your favourite
shore-diving spot. Regardless of your level of experience, some of these will apply, and
they will certainly get the grey matter working. For those here for the first time, my name
is Mark, I am the editor-in-chief of the Scuba Diver media brand, and welcome to the Scuba
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Now, let’s dive into the video!
We all get a little rusty after being out of the water for several months, and with
the COVID-19 lockdowns, in many cases, some of us have been out of the water for way longer
than we normally would. To help get back up to speed, why not have a go at this five-step
skill circuit kindly devised by tech supremo Howard Payne?
Pre-dive checks Most problems can be picked up and eliminated
before we even get in the water. Training always stresses the importance of a good pre-dive
check, and yet they tend to get a bit slapdash after a while. I reckon it's just about the
most-important part of the dive, so whatever your training agency, stop the rot now and
start doing those checks properly. Open all those pockets and actually touch and check
each piece of safety equipment, like DSMBs, octopuses and gauges, to make sure they're
working and in place. Good tech divers reach behind their head to do a ‘flow check’,
which ensures all their valves are open. As a single-tank diver, you can do the same - practice
reaching back to your tank valve and checking it's fully open, before getting your buddy
to double check for you as before. Pre-dive checks are more than just practical
- they get you in a calm, organised frame of mind before you even get in the water,
and get you and your buddy working together as a team.
Depth Changes Pick a route for your first few dives that
starts deep and then works shallower in big stages. These sudden changes of depth really
challenge your buoyancy and keep you on the ball. You might start at 20m, or 66ft, and
then aim to come up throughout your dive in 4m, or 12ft, increments, before ending with
your safety stop at around 5m, or 15ft. Want to really nail your buoyancy control?
Find yourself a shot line in about 12-15m, so about 40-50ft, of water, or simply use
your DSMB and a line attached to a weight. Start on the surface, and as you descend with
your buddy, you both clip plastic clothes pegs to the line in 3m, or 10ft, increments.
When you reach the bottom, ascend, stopping to collect your pegs. Try to hold depth and
position for 30 seconds or so at each level. I’d advise you not to repeat this drill
too often, or you'll get bent, but it is certainly worth doing at least once, as it really tests
your buoyancy, precision and control, and also blows away the cobwebs for holding a
safety stop and completing smooth ascents.
New for 2021 from Apeks is the ThermiQ Carbon Core range, and Apeks say these ‘set new
standards in base layer thermal protection’. The ThermiQ Carbon Core tops, which come in
male and female versions, both long and short sleeve, feature a triple-layer soft shell
fabric combined with a graphene lining, which acts as a superconductor, regulating skin
temperature by transferring heat from warm spots to cold spots on the body.
These can be used as a stand-alone thermal rash guard in warm waters, or as an extra
layer under a drysuit.
DSMB Talking of DSMBs, deploying one is an essential
skill for any diver, and so it is worth getting that down pat as well. Get an old DSMB and
put a small hole in the top of it with a hole punch or soldering iron. Find a platform,
ledge or just a sandy bottom at around 5m, or 15ft, and then you can repeatedly practice
DSMB deployment with your buddy. As the DSMB hits the surface, you'll find the air spills
out of the small hole and you can wind it back down again and repeat the drill several
times without having to surface. Try hovering just off whatever is under you, rather than
kneeling, as you become more proficient. DSMBs seem to be the cause of so many diving incidents
- either failure to use one at all, or just using one incorrectly. You need to practice
DSMB deployment until you're so slick, you barely even need to think about it. It's one
of the key safety/survival skills that seems to catch so many divers out. And remember,
every diver should carry their own DSMB and reel/spool, don’t rely on one per buddy
team – if you end up separated at depth, the one without a DSMB and means of deploying
one is going to be SOL.
Out of gas Out of gas drills are just about the most-important
thing we can practice, but few of us do it often enough. An out-of-gas diver is not a
rational human being - when you go to breathe in and get nothing, calm politeness goes firmly
out of the window. It's nothing personal, but if your octopus/emergency second stage
is a black reg, crammed into a BCD pocket or hidden somewhere around your waist, then
your out-of-gas buddy will simply take the one out of your mouth, and you'll be left
trying to find it for yourself. If you have a standard set-up, octopuses need to be yellow
with a decent length yellow hose and stowed using a simple device, high on the chest,
where they're most visible as you swim along. If you are using a long-hose rig, then make
sure your secondary is securely mounted on a neck bungee and that you are proficient
at donating the long hose while moving on to the other reg.
Whatever your set-up, practice your out-of-gas drills until they're second nature in the
shallows, then try calmly, but unexpectedly, hitting your buddy for gas at some point during
your training dives. Pick a moment when they're ignoring you or have allowed some separation
to build up, and the lesson becomes all the more useful. The unexpected drills are always
the most-valuable learning experiences and build your capacity and awareness much more
than those that are staged and pre-planned. Try a full out-of-gas ascent with a DSMB deployment
towards the end of your training weekend.
Lights This one is a little more dependent on where
you dive, but the principle is the same, and it is a good set of skills to have in your
arsenal. Diving in places like the UK, or off the northeast
coast of the USA, is pretty much all low visibility and, consequently, it's very easy to get separated.
There are now a whole bunch of compact, hand-held dive lights, with powerful LED heads, for
decent money on the market. Get one and practice using it as a communication tool with you
and your buddy, and you'll find it makes seeing them in the gloom and staying together much
less stressful. This is a skill set worth developing, as it equally applies to dawn
and dusk dives, not to mention night dives, or for when the vis unexpectedly drops.
What are some of your top tips for getting back into the swing of diving after time out
of the water? Leave your comments below, and if you have a question, fire away – if we
can’t answer, maybe someone in our community will be able to. Remember, if you enjoyed
this video, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel, and don’t forget you can grab a
free digital magazine subscription in the description below.
As always, stay safe – and if you are going diving soon, enjoy!