Joining in from British Columbia

[rocksteady]

Hello all...

Live in the beautiful Rocky Mountain range of British Columbia, in Cranbrook and have always been an outdoorsman... Usually hunting and fishing, but am interested in diving.....Cranbrook is about 4 hours North of Spokane Wash, if you are not familiar with the area...

Long drive to the ocean, so will be doing fresh water in our local lakes....

Am apprehensive though, as I am a poor swimmer and not reallly a water baby (don't feel comfortable in small boats even)....


Any advice as far as training etc would be greatly appreciated. Also any suggestions regarding gear...Water does not get all that warm around here...Does that mean a dry suit or a 7mm wet suit???

Question for gases??? What gas is to be used when diving shallow? Does it need to be nitrous and oxygen??? Not sure if I could get that in town.....

Am 40 years old, so have got the adrenaline stupidities out of my system...Not a risk taker any more.....

Thanks all....Mike

[JPPLAY]

Welcome to deeperblue. I hope your stay an enjoyable one.

Since your asking about gases you are planning to do it on scuba not freedive?

It my opinion that if you are not a strong and confident swimmer you should not be diving in the water as you don't have the skills and the confidence required. I would suggest swimming in a pool under supervision until you have gained the skills and confidence required. If you are not comfortable in small boats then how do you expect to be comfortable underwater?

[Erik]

Welcome Mike, you may find that you grow yourself a new addiction haha.
Without getting too much into details, my first advice is to get your basic Open Water SCUBA training, which can be done in a few weekends. This will require (among other things) that you swim 200 metres in a pool with no fins, so be prepared for that. Your basic training will be on air, and that's fine for any recreational diving you'd probably do for a while. Beyond that you can get into nitrox diving (a gas for shallower diving) and other special areas of focus if you're keen.
Scubadiving in Canada means a drysuit if you actually want to be active at it. It can be done in a wetsuit but is unpleasant for most (your basic training is usually done in a wetsuit), and you can go and rent all the gear you need after that, including drysuits. As you become more active and knowledgeable, you can make a better decision about spending your hard cash on gear. Lots of divers go in full bore, spend a few thousand+$$, then sell it within a few years as it's sat in the garage unused.
Mostly we're freedivers here, but there are some very knowledgeable SCUBA people here too, so ask away in the SCUBA section.

[rocksteady]

I am hoping by doing diving and getting comfortable and confident in the water that the other minor fears may go away...Not sure though..

[Erik]

When I learned how to scubadive at 28, I couldn't swim and was terrified of water. I got through it, as did many people I taught later as an scuba instructor. Now I don't bother with tanks anymore, and spend hours in the water freediving. Go for it!

[rocksteady]

Little bit of an update for you...

Talked to a co-worker (same organization different city) who just happens to be acertified Dive Master, with 20 years of experience diving (military and commercial), who has 2 sets of gear and gets peoples feet wet all of the time, to see if they like it...

He walked me through his process - Book schooling and then sitting in a shallow pool or edge of a lake doing the breathing thing...If you freak out, you stand up....Sounds like I can do that...

He is also going to mail me a couple of diving training books (not technical confusing ones, plain english, easy to understand ones).......

So things are progressing nicely, I am just a sponge right now, trying to get all of the knowledge I can....

[BatRay]

I can attest to being afraid of the water, especially open water, and I've been swimming since I was about 8 years old. I found that learning to dive helped with those fears because I was able to see what was going on under the water, and it wasn't so bad at all. In fact, it is fascinating. Scuba showed me that, and now freediving has confirmed it. There's an amazing world beneath the surface of the water. Once you experience it, you will probably gain the motivation to learn more and overcome your inexperience.

Much of the fear comes from feeling claustrophobic, either from the mask, the wetsuit, or the feeling of not being able to breathe (if not on scuba). That's where it's important to relax. You'll learn these things as you go along. Congrats on learning so far! You'll be addicted to diving in no time

[rocksteady]

Yesterday I downloaded and printed the U.S.Navy diving manual that I found on this site and also ordered "Scuba Diving and Snorkelling for Dummies" from my local bookstore (Won't be here for a couple weeks) but I am hoping this pre-reading will help me understand what I am getting myself into....

Are these suitable reads or are they just gonna confuse me????

[BatRay]

The Navy dive manual will probably give you a lot of technical information that may or may not be helpful. Since you have not dealt with the scuba equipment yet, you may not understand what they're talking about. It will probably talk a lot about surface intervals and such. Plus, it's a military manual, and might be a very dry read. However, take that with a grain of salt because I have not read it personally

Are you primarily interested in scuba, or would you like to look into freediving? One excellent idea would be to look at recreational books, as they'll give you something to look forward to rather than confuse you. That's why you want to start diving, right, because it looks like fun? Also, check out freediving courses in your area. PFI has an excellent beginning course. I'm not sure what your level of comfort in the water is, but they could certainly help you. Where else can you get instruction from divers that hold world records? It's a rare and cool chance. Check out their website for info on location, cost, and skill level. Their full name is Performance Freediving International.

Also, check out the forums here. There is tons of information and experience. Check out the 'freediving stories' threads, as well as 'trip reports' from the spearo board. You have much to look forward to

[rocksteady]

Freediving does not seem to have piqued my interest as much as scuba, but who knows??? Will have to wait and see how this new obsession hits and where it leads....