Precision Diving

I was reading a post on Scubaboard about DIR and the upline. One person argued that DIR divers were forbidden to lay one finger on the upline. I found this comment rather silly. If there is a DIR rule book, I’ve never seen it. So I doubt the argument forbidding DIR divers from using the upline holds much water. As we gain more diving education and experience, we should be moving towards a thinking diver and will start to see that there are some instances where divers to need to use the upline. (more…)

As October approached, I knew that our days to get on Lake Michigan were numbered. Rob and Dave called me up and said they wanted to get one more big dive on Lake Michigan before the weather completely shuts us down for the year. I haven’t had a chance to dive with Rob and Dave much this year. All of us have had the usual stuff creep up in our lives and our schedules would never line up. We looked at a couple charters still going out this time of the year and saw that Shipwreck Explorers operated by Captain Jitka had an opening for a two tech dive day. We booked it. (more…)

I wanted to share my top 5 list of important scuba diving classes. The open water class is what gets us started, so let’s target the continuing education classes after our initial open water class. Here is my list and reasons. Keep in mind, this list is agency independent and does not promote one agencies classes over another. I look forward to your list.

1) Buoyancy – Peak Performance Buoyancy, Advanced Buoyancy, or whatever people want to call it in my opinion is the most important class a person should take right after getting certified. This class should teach students how to position their weights to achieve good trim, what is good trim, proper weighting, correct breathing patterns, and thoughtful movements through the water column. Propulsion techniques should also be added. (more…)

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