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Are scuba lessons hard to get thru ?
- Thread starter GunnarMN
- Start date
grumpyolman
New member
No on the Snorkel thing. The pressure increases around your body the deeper you go. That's why people feel pressure in their head when they dive down into the deep part of a pool. So...there is much more pressure pushing on your chest from the water around it if you were 6' deep that you'd actually have to 'suck' the air and use as much negative pressure, to get the air, as the pressure surrounding you. Most snorkels stick about 8" above your head when face down moving along. One can even tell when they are going deeper, like inches, as the air gets harder to breathe from the snorkel the deeper you go.
IMHO, the SCUBA thing is not a macho thing. Many petite females are excellent certified divers. They just have to figure a way to get their gear to and from the beach but once it's on and they are in the water, they do fine as the weight is not as much an issue when in the water. The SCUBA shops are in the business of encouraging people to dive, and buy gear from them, and I can't remember when I've seen anyone who wanted to pass a class...fail. I worked as a pool instructor and an open water dive instructor. There were times when the teacher of the class would give extra lessons to students who were having trouble long after the official class was over. My experience was the book learning part of the course is a lot more intimidating than the skills and that's what caused the most problems.
Now if you complete that class and know how to be safe you can get a SCUBA tank and float it above you in a tube or something, and use a long hose and work 6-8'. But, if you haven't had the training, panic, and shoot towards the surface holding your breath, which you might do if you were having an air problem and were panicky, you'll probably experience an spontaneous pneumothorax. In short you will rupture some blood vessels inside your lungs and pink frothy blood will be coming out your mouth. Definitely a potentially lethal medical situation.
Go for it! If you don't already have an UNDER-water detector you'll have to get one. Unless you are in the tropics you'll need a wet or dry suit. For what you are doing you can get used re-conditioned tanks and regulators reasonably priced. You don't need the $1000 top of the line mixed gas regulator as you will be working shallow. If the equipment has been rebuilt by a qualified technician, and most dive shops have them, it'll do you fine. jim
IMHO, the SCUBA thing is not a macho thing. Many petite females are excellent certified divers. They just have to figure a way to get their gear to and from the beach but once it's on and they are in the water, they do fine as the weight is not as much an issue when in the water. The SCUBA shops are in the business of encouraging people to dive, and buy gear from them, and I can't remember when I've seen anyone who wanted to pass a class...fail. I worked as a pool instructor and an open water dive instructor. There were times when the teacher of the class would give extra lessons to students who were having trouble long after the official class was over. My experience was the book learning part of the course is a lot more intimidating than the skills and that's what caused the most problems.
Now if you complete that class and know how to be safe you can get a SCUBA tank and float it above you in a tube or something, and use a long hose and work 6-8'. But, if you haven't had the training, panic, and shoot towards the surface holding your breath, which you might do if you were having an air problem and were panicky, you'll probably experience an spontaneous pneumothorax. In short you will rupture some blood vessels inside your lungs and pink frothy blood will be coming out your mouth. Definitely a potentially lethal medical situation.
Go for it! If you don't already have an UNDER-water detector you'll have to get one. Unless you are in the tropics you'll need a wet or dry suit. For what you are doing you can get used re-conditioned tanks and regulators reasonably priced. You don't need the $1000 top of the line mixed gas regulator as you will be working shallow. If the equipment has been rebuilt by a qualified technician, and most dive shops have them, it'll do you fine. jim
scubadetector
New member
Tanks new at shops are around 180.00. On Craigs list I have seen ones that are in hydro for as low as 25.00. I just bought 4 practally new ones for 50.00 each.
BUT DON'T rush out to buy equipment until after taking the course. ANY tank made before 1990 is now scrap metal I was told by my dive shop. As long as they are still in hydro they are fine but suposedly they are illegal to hydro now. And all tanks have to have a hydro every 5 years.
Regulators are you lifeline. Don't buy cheap. Used is fine IF it has been checked and or serviced by a dive shop. DO not, I repeat, DO NOT look for cheap gear that is probably old and trust your life to it.
Enough said there. While diving I get over 12 grand a summer in gold silver and other goodies. Waders find targets BUT they seldom find bills laying on the bottom, old rare bottles or other misc non metal goodies.
BUT DON'T rush out to buy equipment until after taking the course. ANY tank made before 1990 is now scrap metal I was told by my dive shop. As long as they are still in hydro they are fine but suposedly they are illegal to hydro now. And all tanks have to have a hydro every 5 years.
Regulators are you lifeline. Don't buy cheap. Used is fine IF it has been checked and or serviced by a dive shop. DO not, I repeat, DO NOT look for cheap gear that is probably old and trust your life to it.
Enough said there. While diving I get over 12 grand a summer in gold silver and other goodies. Waders find targets BUT they seldom find bills laying on the bottom, old rare bottles or other misc non metal goodies.
GunnarMN said:[size=large]i would like to take some scuba lessons some day is it gruling or easy I,m kinda wimpy but i was wondering is it possible to get a long hose for a snorkle so i could get down 6-8 feet [/size]
Training for recreational diving isn't grueling. It's actually lots of fun and you form new friendships. By wimpy, do you mean you're out of shape or scared of the water, etc.? If so they will try to help you overcome these things. Some people actually experience claustrophobia but once you start to focus on the training those feelings will often go away. But if you're out of shape and not a strong swimmer I would suggest hitting the gym and the pool. You will have to pass a swim test initially and though it's not timed and is only 200m or so it can still be a little difficult if you aren't in decent shape and/or don't do any swimming. I agree with grumpy, diving is not a macho thing but it does place you in an environment where paying attention to safety is paramount. There are things that can go wrong and it can become dangerous but you can minimize these things by learning all they teach you and putting those things into practice. "Always plan your dive and dive your plan" was always stressed to us. Another thing that I think is being done more and more is people diving alone. imo, this is not a good practice. I would always have a dive buddy who I know is as qualified as I am and I would stay in sight of him at all times. Never get so engrossed in what you're doing down there that you fail to stay alert to other things around you, including your dive buddy. One last thought I will give you is don't ever attempt to do any kind of diving for which you haven't been trained. Good examples of this are shipwreck diving (actually going inside of the wreck) and cave diving. These are special kinds of diving that require special training. Attempting this kind of diving without proper training is foolhardy and a quick way to ruin your day. None of what I've said is to try to deter you from pursuing this fun sport but just to let you know that it does require you to use good judgement. Best of luck to you and let us know how it's going when you start.
Be smart...get certified. If your worried about being in the water a diving class will go a long way to fix that and you'll have a professional there to supervise you. If your a little hesitant take a friend or spouse with you to be your dive buddy. If you dont have anyone to take, ask your instructor about pairing you with someone. Who knows you might make a new friend and have a good "dive buddy" for future trips!
grumpyolman
New member
I know about the not diving alone thing and strongly encourage others to do that. Hypocrite that I am, I don't follow that rule. I have been diving since 1970 and found out from experience that no matter how hard we tried to stay together, it either took all our energy following somebody, or somebody would get out of site and we wouldn't see them till the dive was over. At my age the 100' dives are far over and I now consider a deep dive anything that is 12' or over. For most metal detecting underwater, you don't need to go much deeper than waist deep and you could stand up if you needed to. Then why dive? It's easier to fan the sand or rocks away from the signal and see the object you are after rather than trying to get a scoop around it. It's just a little more efficient way of hunting.
I may pay for it but I have decided that I have enough experience to dive 3-4" of water and be safe. But were talking here of diving 40+ years and learning from a lot of errors. Nothing could get me to go 20' again. jim
I may pay for it but I have decided that I have enough experience to dive 3-4" of water and be safe. But were talking here of diving 40+ years and learning from a lot of errors. Nothing could get me to go 20' again. jim
grumpyolman
New member
Gunnar...take a class man and you'll learn all that and then we won't read about you in the news. The answer to your question is at shallow depths there are no decompression limits. Now!! What altitude you are diving at, what kind of shape you are in, how hard you are working, are all factors in determining that. The short of it is at 12' you couldn't stay down long enough to worry about it. jim