Dive Training Blogs
Be Aware of Failure Points
The final in a series of three excerpts from Simon’s new book: Scuba Exceptional…
Ian back-rolled into the water and dropped down fast to 20m, at which point he reached for his inflator to inject some air into his BCD to halt his descent. However, when he pressed the inflator button, all he did was inject a stream of air directly into the ocean. He looked down and, to his surprise, saw that his inflator mechanism was connected only to the low-pressure inflator hose. His corrugated BCD hose was nowhere to be seen.
He continued to drop. He tried finning up to arrest his descent but this just slowed him down. He was still descending with no means of correcting his negative buoyancy. He was using a wing and harness BCD with a 7kg stainless steel backplate and had no free weights to ditch. Luckily, his diving companions were close by and came to his assistance. They got him back to the surface, so he lived to dive another day.
Ian had come up with the idea of wearing a heavy backplate with his BCD because he didn’t like wearing a weightbelt or weight pockets. He always worried that a belt might slip over his belly and fall off, causing him to shoot to the surface. And weight pockets always made his legs drop, giving him a seahorse-like posture.
Ian had never considered that his BCD might fail during a dive. All BCDs have multiple failure points. The wing can tear, dump valves can shear off and inflators can fail in multiple ways. Every diver should always make sure they can reach the surface and stay afloat once they get there without the assistance of their BCD. This is usually achieved by dropping some or all of their weights. All Ian’s weight was in his backplate. There was nothing he could do to make himself positively buoyant, except remove his equipment entirely, which, at depth, might have been disastrous.
The problem that had caused Ian’s BCD to fail on this occasion was that his corrugated hose was only connected to the BCD pump mechanism by a single cable tie and this cable tie had broken and come off. Cable ties are notorious failure points, which is why all good BCD systems have TWO cable ties or a permanent heavy-duty screw fitting at each end of the corrugated hose.
Good BCDs also have some sort of permanently fixed bridging or wrapping device connecting the corrugated and inflator hoses. This device is there so that if the corrugated hose comes off the pump, it will stay in place next to the inflator hose. The diver can then reattach it to the pump and hold it in place manually while they inflate the BCD. Ian’s BCD had no such connector, so his corrugated hose just floated off behind his back. He might have been able to reach it but he was so bewildered, he didn’t even think of that.
Be aware of the potential failure points in every item of your equipment and make sure you know what to do to survive when a failure point fails.
This piece is adapted from a chapter in Simon Pridmore’s new book Scuba Exceptional – Become the Best Diver You Can Be available now from Amazon, iTunes, Kobo and other online bookstores.
The diving world thrives on passion and adventure, but for many dive store owners, the financial and operational challenges can be as deep as the ocean.
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NovoScuba’s mission is straightforward yet profound: to disrupt the traditional dynamics between dive store owners and training agencies. Traditionally, dive stores have been subjected to substantial fees charged by training agencies, for membership, materials and certifications. These costs have often placed a heavy financial burden on store owners, cutting into their profits and limiting their ability to offer competitive prices to customers.
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Financial Upsides: Earn From Student Registration
NovoScuba’s approach is simple yet revolutionary. Dive stores partnering with NovoScuba can earn commissions for every student they enroll.
Here’s how it works: For every student enrolled through NovoScuba, dive stores receive a commission. Each student enrolled will receive their e-learning materials and certification credit included in their subscription. This arrangement is a significant departure from the traditional model, where dive stores often struggle to manage high overhead costs related to training fees and certification expenses.
NovoScuba’s approach ensures that dive stores can focus on what they do best—providing top-notch diving experiences—without being bogged down by excessive financial burdens, and the need to carry large stocks of materials.
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NovoScuba stands out by offering high-quality, ISO certified, training that doesn’t break the bank, in fact our students will pay less than with most competing agencies. Clients benefit from top-notch education and safety standards at competitive prices. Dive store owners can confidently promote NovoScuba’s programs, knowing they’re offering fantastic training at affordable rates. This balance of quality and affordability helps dive stores build a strong reputation and attract more customers.
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At NovoScuba, we’ve taken a bold step by paying commissions to stores rather than following the traditional model of training agencies charging high fees. Our mission is to make diving accessible to everyone and to foster a growing community of new divers and continued education. By redistributing profits more equitably between stores and training agencies, we aim to create a more supportive and collaborative environment within the industry. We believe this approach not only helps individual stores thrive but also stimulates overall growth and innovation in diving. Our commitment to fair profit sharing reflects our dedication to the long-term health and expansion of the diving community.
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Getting Started: Join the NovoScuba Revolution
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By Marissa Eckert
What are the requirements to start cave diving? What do I need to do to be prepared for cave training? These are all questions I get asked by so many potential students. There are many options when coming up with an answer. The first option, and the easiest, would be to go the training agency website and look up the requirements to take the class. However, this leaves a lot open for interpretation and doesn’t mean you will necessarily be ready. Like anything, there always needs to be minimum requirements. But is that enough? Maybe for some people it is, but for most people it’s not.
So, what are the requirements?
TDI breaks cave training down into three different levels. Those levels are cavern, intro to cave, and full cave. To start cavern the requirements state that you must be 18 years old or 15 years old with parental consent, have an Open Water Certification, and a minimum of 25 logged dives. This doesn’t sound like much. So, what do I tell my students when they ask me? First, I find out if they are only interested in cavern or if they are interested in potentially progressing into cave diving. If they are interested in progressing into cave diving, I always strongly suggest they get comfortable with a dual configuration first. This configuration can be side mount, back-mounted doubles, or even a rebreather. The main things I tell everyone they need to have down are buoyancy, good trim position, the ability to hover in place motionless without moving their hands or feet, and good overall awareness. This means awareness of oneself and what your body and equipment are doing, but also total awareness of what is going on around you.
So, what does all this mean?
Many times I’ve had students show up thinking they had all these things mastered only to quickly realize they have a long way to go. Which by the way, is okay! After all, we all start somewhere and progress at different paces. The most important thing is to be open to feedback. But there are also ways to prepare yourself better. First and foremost, when starting down this route it is critical to find a good instructor. Take time to look up instructors, ask questions, interview them, look at their past students, look at what type of diving they are doing, and most importantly ask questions! Find out what techniques they use during class.
I have found that video recording students when they are struggling with something gives them a great perspective to see what they are doing wrong and helps them visualize and correct it. Does the instructor look good as a diver? Whether you like social media or not, the internet can be a great place for research. When looking at a diver they should look in trim, almost like they are laying flat on a table. In videos are they finning with their hands? Are their feet constantly moving? Are there things dangling below their body? All equipment and hoses should be extremely clean and contoured to the body.
The most important question to always ask during training is WHY? There should always be a why behind everything we do. And it should never just be because I said so. Make sure the instructor knows why they are telling you to do something a particular way. Everyone can always learn new ways of doing things, instructors included.
How can you truly prepare yourself?
A good idea is to record video of yourself or have a friend record you while diving. Send it to your instructor ahead of time, so they can give you feedback and let you know if there are things you need to work on. There is no certain number of years to be diving, or a certain number of dives to have, that says yes you will be ready. Every individual learns at a different pace. If a class is only offered in a minimum number of days with a maximum number of students allowed, be aware that this means less time practicing each skill. For this reason, you might be better suited doing one-on-one training or having a regular buddy take the class with you. This ensures you are comfortable with each other and familiar with each other’s habits in and out of the water, and that you get along!
The most important thing of all is to come to class with an open mind, a readiness to learn, and no concern with whether you will receive a card, but with a concern that you will learn to be a better, safer, more competent diver. I always tell my students safety is the number one most important thing in cave diving, but fun is a close second! Sometimes, it may not feel fun. Stop and ask yourself does this instructor have your best interests at heart? I know I certainly do. I want to go to sleep each night knowing that I gave my students as much knowledge as possible to make them safe and thoughtful cave divers.
With proper training, proper equipment, proper experience, and a proper attitude I think cave diving can be done very safely. I often joke that the most dangerous thing about cave diving is driving to the dive site!
To find out more about International Training, visit www.tdisdi.com.
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