Posts by GlennG
Moving vertically +-2m is a lot. An awful lot. It shouldn't be more than a few cms. This sounds like there's something else going on. Good buoyancy requires lots of practice to master. The bes...
Practice and remaining calm underwater seems to be the key to reducing your gas consumption. Most new divers consume lots of gas due to the unfamiliarity of being underwater, novice skills, and ...
How about leaving the PADI fold and moving on to other styles of diving, for example technical diving: where you can learn to do much longer dives with decompression (an hour at 30 metres?); wher...
You should be able to breathe out through your nose and have no effect on the seating of the mask -- that's what rebreather divers do all the time. If you can't do this, it has to be a problem of...
Would a gunshot echo in a cave... It depends on the cave. To echo a sound wave needs a smooth surface to reflect off of. Most caves aren't giant smooth caverns but are relatively convoluted or...
As a rough rule of thumb, a dive at 45 metres is a ratio of 1:1 where every minute at that depth requires one minute of decompression stops. Therefore every dive to 45 metres is a decompression d...
Use a drysuit. These insulate, are far warmer than a wetsuit and are an additional source of buoyancy. Two varieties, neoprene & 'membrane'. Typically neoprene is cheaper so your first dr...
For very long dives in cold water, such as deep caves, an underwater habitat is used during decompression. Effectively these are like lift bags where you can put your head above the water to eat...
Firstly a preface: all training's good and especially overhead training where the environment's so unforgiving. Plus lots of practice. Where around the world are dive locations where you must ha...
Knives come in all shapes and sizes. Knives are also not optimal for cutting your way out of a net or fishing line: use a line cutter such as the Trilobite Line Cutter (others are available). Th...
I recommend the Mendips with an organised group. Could do a morning session in the dry Goatchurch Cavern and an afternoon session in the wet but superb Swildon's Hole. Around there there's loads ...
Answering the specific question: why does a shorter but deeper dive leave a lower residual nitrogen limit than a longer shallower dive. Common gas absorption decompression models such as Buhlmann ...
Have heard great things about diving in the Red Sea. However, Egypt's not the most stable and safe place to visit. What are the alternative locations for diving in the European side of the Medit...
Dehydration is a very bad thing when diving and can lead to DCS (Decompression Sickness) as the blood thickens. One of the most important scuba devices is a Pee Valve which allows you to urinate...
PADI wouldn't allow you to share the material; almost certainly there's a non-sharing clause in the licence. However this is moot as the background reading material is only part of the course. T...
The main 'special equipment' is to have an O2 analyser and use it. You should also have waterproof tape (Gaffa tape) and marker pen. Cylinders should be O2 cleaned according to local regulations ...
A common way of getting experience is to join a local club and go diving. Of course this depends on where 'home' is, but the only way to get experience is to get under water and go diving. Even d...
It's a question of the right tool for the job. For diving in temperatures below 14 degrees Celcius, a drysuit is best. When diving below 7 degrees a wetsuit really isn't the right tool for the j...
The urge to breathe is driven by the CO2 content which is still being produced at the same rate at depth as on the surface. We metabolise the oxygen and produce CO2 as a by-product. In fact at th...
Skim-read the books again, answer some of the review questions again. This will remind you of the theory. However, books are no substitute for getting wet and running through the skills. All ...
DIN is always a better connector than the older and inferior yoke format which for some reason is far more prevalent in the US and surrounding countries. There are several drawbacks to the yoke: ...
Lumens is the amount of light emitted from your torch. If the same amount light is spread in a tight beam, say 6 degrees, it will appear much brighter than the same amount of light spread over a ...
GoPros have quite short battery life and it's not possible to change the battery under water. Therefore you'll need to turn it on and off. The best place to hold a GoPro is in the hand as you can...
Inflate the BCD (Buoyancy Control Device) and empty out any water from the bladder. Generally turn it over so the elephant's trunk is lowest and press the deflate button. Then hang it up over the...
In the south of England, the main three centres are Vobster Quay in Summerset: lots of attractions to play on and a tunnel to swim though (at an angle, so a good buoyancy test). Max depth ci...
