Precision Diving

I recently was talking to a potential student for a technical diving class. As we chatted, the discussion turned to valve isolation. The more we talked, the clearer it became that he had no clue why we do valve drills. Certainly, he knew why we must shut down valves, but didn’t realize that the valve drill isn’t what gets done when a failure occurs. (more…)

I’ve been asked quite a bit about what I look for in a good diver. This can be very subjective and many people may not agree with me. None of qualities I look for in a scuba diver have to deal with certification levels or equipment used. I know some very good divers who use jacket BCDs and snorkels. So I thought I would share the top five characteristics that I feel make for a good scuba diver in order of importance. Please feel free to share your opinion. (more…)

Each winter, I get many calls from people asking about my ice diving class. You would think that by the number of emails and phone calls, that my ice class would be full. Sadly, I only get one or two people each winter. There are a number of reasons why this is, 1) I’m too expensive, 2) our quarry is only open one weekend in the winter for ice diving, so schedules are limited, and 3) I only train ice divers who want to continue ice diving. (more…)

After reading through materials on diving and just recently diving with some folks from Europe (not counting the numerous work related experiences I’ve had with people in Europe), it is my impression that the two existing systems, Metric and Imperial creates an as sharp division in the diving community as it does in all other aspects of life. My own dive education has almost exclusively been in Imperial to date. (more…)