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Posted: 12/2/2020 1:41:01 PM EDT
[#1]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Marie: AN/DP/Helitrox will hopefully be done in the spring with same instructor. The cave diving season in WI goes from Nov through April so full cave would be done next winter. ETA: I’m doing TDI. There is no apprentice level. Cavern, Intro, Full Cave. Full is done over two weekends. One guy who is halfway though Full was diving at the mine Saturday. Instructor was filling his dive buddies in about him and she said he was essentially “apprentice.” Instructor has a full time job doing something else (diving/archaeology related) besides running the dive shop, so all training is on weekends. Cave training is pretty much the same across the agencies; there are some difference but they're small. The major differences is how they approach beginning certification; NAUI and GUE allow you to do 1/3 after your intro class, the other agencies are 1/6ths. |
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Posted: 12/2/2020 1:46:51 PM EDT
[#2]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Marie: 20-30ft viz. This is a former lead/zinc mine that closed in the 60s. No current at all. That viz is familiar to me from my quarry diving. Be very careful with that. The higher the rate of flow the faster silt and debris in the water will be cleared. In no flow systems like a mine if you kick up a lot of crap it can hang in suspension for days or weeks. I've been in some passageways (The Distance Tunnel) where there is no flow and the floor is clay. Between the clay floor and percolate coming off the ceiling of the cave from out exhaust it was touch contact on the way out. That's the kind of thing that can get really scary really fast. We have a lot of moderate to high flow systems here in N Florida and a lot of people like to bitch about swimming into the flow. However, flow=forgiveness in terms of silting out the passageway cause in a minute or two it's clear again. |
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Posted: 12/2/2020 2:01:14 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Marie]
[#3]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By jerrwhy01: Be very careful with that. The higher the rate of flow the faster silt and debris in the water will be cleared. In no flow systems like a mine if you kick up a lot of crap it can hang in suspension for days or weeks. I've been in some passageways (The Distance Tunnel) where there is no flow and the floor is clay. Between the clay floor and percolate coming off the ceiling of the cave from out exhaust it was touch contact on the way out. That's the kind of thing that can get really scary really fast. We have a lot of moderate to high flow systems here in N Florida and a lot of people like to bitch about swimming into the flow. However, flow=forgiveness in terms of silting out the passageway cause in a minute or two it's clear again. Yep. The floor is silty just like the bottom of all Midwestern quarries. I stayed up near the ceiling. |
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Posted: 12/4/2020 9:06:50 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Marie]
[#4]
I’ll be diving at the mine next weekend. A gal I know who is one of the frequent divers invited me to dive this weekend, but I just want to chill. Last weekend was really intense due to class and I hurt for several days after.
Should have my my drysuit by mid-week. I’ll get my weighting figured out in the mine access pond then dive. The gal and I will be diving with another guy I’ve dived with me. So happy I have experienced divers who are willing to dive with me so I can build up experience. That’s it at the mine until after New Year’s. I’m out to an Ohio quarry to dive on New Year’s. |
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Posted: 12/5/2020 3:24:19 PM EDT
[#5]
It’s funny - a buddy I’d dive with occasionally at the local quarry now refuses to dive with me anymore. Considers me too dangerous to dive with now I’ve got my cave cert.
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Posted: 12/5/2020 4:11:36 PM EDT
[Last Edit: jerrwhy01]
[#6]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Marie: It’s funny - a buddy I’d dive with occasionally at the local quarry now refuses to dive with me anymore. Considers me too dangerous to dive with now I’ve got my cave cert. Look him straight in the face and say: "You're damn straight I'm too dangerous to dive with." You will find that the attitudes on this side of things are significantly different. There's not as much bullshit to deal with. |
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Posted: 12/5/2020 4:26:11 PM EDT
[#7]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By jerrwhy01: Look him straight in the face and say: "You're damn straight I'm too dangerous to dive with." You will find that the attitudes on this side of things are significantly different. There's not as much bullshit to deal with. That’s essentially what I said. Yeah, I’m pretty tired of the attitude of some recreational divers. |
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Posted: 12/7/2020 8:42:08 PM EDT
[#8]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Marie: That’s essentially what I said. Yeah, I’m pretty tired of the attitude of some recreational divers. Finding good dive buddies has little to do with cert level. Personalities are more important, like most things in life. |
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Posted: 12/8/2020 10:24:06 AM EDT
[#9]
Got my new drysuit last night. It fits SO much better than the Fusion I am glad to be rid of. Custom undies come next month. Got silicone zip seals. Using the Viking pullover glove rings with the zip seals.
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Posted: 12/9/2020 1:46:38 PM EDT
[#10]
Just sold my remaining 4 HP80s. Amazed they sold so quickly.
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Posted: 12/12/2020 12:12:45 PM EDT
[#11]
A Midwest acquaintance has been trying to get me interested in Cannonball Cave in MO. Did some reading. Very steel hill down into the water. Told him, nope, not going to risk injuring my knees on that hill.
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Posted: 12/14/2020 9:25:58 AM EDT
[#12]
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Posted: 12/20/2020 5:40:49 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Marie]
[#13]
Found a dive shop 40 min away that will give me a slight overfill on my 85s (to 3000 or so) AND only charge be $10/tank for banked 32%l
Diving New Year's in Ohio. Diving at the WI mine starts again Jan 9th |
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Posted: 12/27/2020 6:25:40 PM EDT
[#14]
Anyone else diving right now?
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Posted: 12/27/2020 11:26:20 PM EDT
[#15]
Signed up for my ice diving class. WI. Late Feb/early March. Hope there’s ice!
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Posted: 12/30/2020 9:19:15 PM EDT
[#16]
Had to cancel New Year's diving in OH. 5 hour drive with freezing rain? Don't think so.
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Posted: 1/9/2021 7:28:46 PM EDT
[#17]
Selling off my single tank gear. Don’t need it anymore when I’ve got LP50s!
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Posted: 1/13/2021 8:32:54 PM EDT
[#18]
All the single tank gear is sold and my savings account is nice and fat!
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Posted: 1/13/2021 10:14:08 PM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Marie: https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/279183/CC19C811-6D50-4CE1-A1F4-554F03C9825D-1730109.jpg |
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Posted: 1/13/2021 11:12:01 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By KingRat: That's a neat shot. Thanks! Don’t know when I’m going to be diving next. Mine diving buddies’ availability is very limited. I’m not sure I’m going to get wet before ice diving class at the end of February. I’ll head out to Ohio the next time friends out there go diving. |
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Posted: 1/14/2021 10:20:59 PM EDT
[#21]
Got lucky! The quarry I like in OH is open for four hours on Saturday for cold water diving. I’m meeting a friend from MI. Driving out after work tomorrow night.
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AR, USA
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Posted: 1/16/2021 4:33:29 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Marie: Anyone else diving right now? Just pool. Sold my drysuit for more than I had in it, and it had somehow gotten far too big anyway. I think I'm going to wait until next year to order another one though. My dive buddy is too new to get her into cold water stuff, and I have too many trips this year to blow that kind of money right now. |
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Posted: 1/17/2021 12:36:19 AM EDT
[#23]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Dan_Gray: Just pool. Sold my drysuit for more than I had in it, and it had somehow gotten far too big anyway. I think I'm going to wait until next year to order another one though. My dive buddy is too new to get her into cold water stuff, and I have too many trips this year to blow that kind of money right now. Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Dan_Gray: Originally Posted By Marie: Anyone else diving right now? Just pool. Sold my drysuit for more than I had in it, and it had somehow gotten far too big anyway. I think I'm going to wait until next year to order another one though. My dive buddy is too new to get her into cold water stuff, and I have too many trips this year to blow that kind of money right now. @Dan_Gray Buddy too new to get into cold water stuff? I hope you realize how silly that sounds. There are plenty of us who d been diving cold water from the beginning. I got dry suit in conjunction with OW. What about the people who learn to dive in California or the Pacific NW, let alone Canada or the UK. |
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AR, USA
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Posted: 1/17/2021 2:43:11 PM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Marie: @Dan_Gray Buddy too new to get into cold water stuff? I hope you realize how silly that sounds. There are plenty of us who d been diving cold water from the beginning. I got dry suit in conjunction with OW. What about the people who learn to dive in California or the Pacific NW, let alone Canada or the UK. The culture of where you're at isn't prevalent everywhere. People that learn in 80 degree bodies of water tend to want to stick with 80 degrees for awhile. We grow up wanting to go dive gulf wrecks, florida reefs, etc. Quarries, Channel diving, Scapa Flow, etc aren't local things that people here come up wanting to learn to dive so they can visit, like in the NW and UK. It may sound silly to people that come into diving places like that, but it's a cultural difference that many just don't get. |
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Posted: 1/17/2021 2:54:09 PM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Dan_Gray: The culture of where you're at isn't prevalent everywhere. People that learn in 80 degree bodies of water tend to want to stick with 80 degrees for awhile. We grow up wanting to go dive gulf wrecks, florida reefs, etc. Quarries, Channel diving, Scapa Flow, etc aren't local things that people here come up wanting to learn to dive so they can visit, like in the NW and UK. It may sound silly to people that come into diving places like that, but it's a cultural difference that many just don't get. I dived 40 degree water yesterday. I had a dry glove not on quite right and got very wet and my buddy was having CCR issues so we called it after 10 min. Would have kept going much longer otherwise. As long as you’re dressed for the cold, it’s fine. |
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AR, USA
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Posted: 1/17/2021 3:48:43 PM EDT
[#26]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Marie: I dived 40 degree water yesterday. I had a dry glove not on quite right and got very wet and my buddy was having CCR issues so we called it after 10 min. Would have kept going much longer otherwise. As long as you’re dressed for the cold, it’s fine. It is for you. It even is for me. It's not for everyone. Some think deep wreck divers are stupid. Others think cave divers are retarded. Some people don't enjoy 40 foot reef dives. Nobody is wrong. Nobody is silly for being different. People are allowed to like or dislike whatever they want and there isn't anything wrong with that. |
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Posted: 1/24/2021 10:49:47 AM EDT
[#27]
Mine diving yesterday. Did want to do both days, but there was 4” of snow forecast up there for today. Mine is miles off the main road on a twisty, turny road that you have to be careful on with no snow. Buddy and I didn’t want to deal with in and snow.
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Posted: 2/9/2021 10:15:06 PM EDT
[#28]
Haven’t had any buddies available to go diving but it’s been very cold here. Instructor did a class this weekend with -13 air temps.
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Posted: 2/20/2021 9:36:13 AM EDT
[#29]
Found a pool session 2 hours from me for this morning. Have to get my weighting figured out with new thick undersuit before ice diving class in two weeks. Diving my LP50s for class.
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Posted: 2/20/2021 9:50:36 AM EDT
[#30]
Ice diving? Wow. Neat to see you adapting your hobby to the Midwest. I keep expecting to click on this thread and find that you have moved to Florida or Fiji or somewhere.
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Posted: 2/21/2021 10:22:43 AM EDT
[#31]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By KingRat: Ice diving? Wow. Neat to see you adapting your hobby to the Midwest. I keep expecting to click on this thread and find that you have moved to Florida or Fiji or somewhere. Haha, nope! |
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Posted: 2/25/2021 9:25:35 AM EDT
[#32]
Ice diving got moved to this weekend. Someone else wanted into next weekend’s class and I was happy to switch.
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Posted: 3/6/2021 10:44:17 AM EDT
[#33]
Ice diving class went well. Did a thread in GD about it. Needed a fun thread in the midst of all the gloom and doom.
Class was fun, but a load of work. Don't see me ice diving again any time soon, although I do have friends in Michigan who do it occasionally My new undersuit is VERY buoyant! Have to work on getting my weighting figured out. Pool session next weekend. |
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Posted: 3/15/2021 10:22:13 PM EDT
[#34]
I was in the pool for an hour Saturday. It would have been longer, but I was roasting in my thick undersuit. Pool water was 80.
16lbs with my 85s. |
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Posted: 3/22/2021 9:47:51 PM EDT
[#35]
Mine diving this weekend. Ohio quarry the following weekend. Tech sidemount workshop the weekend after that. Just got deco bottle handling skills. Never dived one for SM yet.
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Posted: 4/4/2021 8:03:41 PM EDT
[#36]
Had good diving yesterday. 44 degree water.
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Posted: 4/14/2021 7:52:38 AM EDT
[#37]
No full cave class half in FL at the holidays. I’ve got a new job and the coworker in my area is already off at the holidays.
So WI and MO caves. |
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Posted: 4/25/2021 2:34:44 PM EDT
[#38]
Working on wrangling a deco bottle SM. Dive Rite drop D rings and a franken rigged 40 are working for me better than the standard DR stage kit I had on it.
Tech instructor told me to conquer deco bottle skills and then we’ll talk about scheduling my Adv Nitrox/Helitrox class (DP is covered under Helitrox. Don’t get the DP card but you still have to do the bookwork). |
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Posted: 4/25/2021 5:05:55 PM EDT
[Last Edit: jerrwhy01]
[#39]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Marie: Working on wrangling a deco bottle SM. Dive Rite drop D rings and a franken rigged 40 are working for me better than the standard DR stage kit I had on it. Tech instructor told me to conquer deco bottle skills and then we’ll talk about scheduling my Adv Nitrox/Helitrox class (DP is covered under Helitrox. Don’t get the DP card but you still have to do the bookwork). If you're diving caves/mines then you're going to drop your bottles a few hundred feet after you enter the cave so it's not like you need some super amazing way to secure them. What you need is an easy way to don and doff them. Are you top or bottom mounting the bottle? If you're top mounting then you're going to need some bungee and time in the water; for that reason I bottom mount. I use a small length of bungee on the neck of the bottle and a small length of bungee affixed to the bottom via a stainless c-clamp. Personally, I top mount stage bottles. Stages bottles are a pain in the butt and I hate them so I rarely use them unless I have to. It's easier to don/doff bottles mounted on the bottom and since they get used a lot more that's the way I approach them. For my primary tanks (LP-85's) I run them valves up to protect them by getting them into my arm-pit. My deco bottles I run valves down.  Attached FileThe top part of the neck doesn't need much bungee. You're going to affix that to your shoulder D-ring.  Attached FileThe bottom is going to affix to a D-ring on your waist belt. Personally I position the D-ring at roughly where your hip bone is; then simply move it in or out if you need to.  Attached FileI use the right/rich, left/lean method. So my 100% bottle goes on my right side and my 50% bottle goes on the left side. The best way to don these is to affix the bottom clip to your waist belt then affix the top clip to your shoulder. When I doff them I use the same order; I unclip the waist first followed by the shoulder clip. It's better that way if it slips. Honestly, attaching them really isn't a big deal especially for cave diving. However, gas switches are verifying that you're selecting the right gas mix is far more critical. |
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Posted: 4/25/2021 7:59:03 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Marie]
[#40]
@jerrwhy01
Don't forget I'm doing to be doing wreck diving. You don't drop your deco bottle, unlike cave diving. I'm probably going to be doing wreck tech dives before I do cave/mine tech dives. Deco bottle will be bottom mounted. Stages will come during full cave. My primary tanks are run valve down. I had muscle memory for valve direction from doing doubles and my instructor wanted me to keep to valve down to maintain the muscle memory I already had. |
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Posted: 4/25/2021 8:04:32 PM EDT
[#41]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Marie: @jerrwhy01 Don't forget I'm doing to be doing wreck diving. You don't drop your deco bottle, unlike cave diving. I'm probably going to be doing wreck tech dives before I do cave/mine tech dives. Deco bottle will be bottom mounted. Stages will come during full cave. I never had a problem with that method doing traverses including the grand traverse which is about a mile in length. In a traverse you carry everything with you. I don't think you'd have a problem with wrecks either. As always YMMV. |
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Posted: 5/11/2021 4:13:54 PM EDT
[#42]
Debating on what to do this Friday: take the boat out to Anclote Island, or go to Buford and dive?
Haven't been fishing in two months, haven't been underwater (other than two "I can't take this shit anymore" dives at Hunter Springs, which don't count) since at least October 2020... |
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Posted: 5/11/2021 7:17:10 PM EDT
[#43]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By floridahunter07: Debating on what to do this Friday: take the boat out to Anclote Island, or go to Buford and dive? Haven't been fishing in two months, haven't been underwater (other than two "I can't take this shit anymore" dives at Hunter Springs, which don't count) since at least October 2020... Go diving! How is this even a question?!
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Posted: 5/12/2021 6:19:46 AM EDT
[#44]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Marie: Go diving! How is this even a question?! Somehow seems more fun to be on the boat than traipsing along through a swamp in 100 degree weather and full sun towing 80 pounds of stuff with me lmao |
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Posted: 5/19/2021 7:38:13 PM EDT
[#45]
Doing a half-day session with a Midwest friend who is a tech instructor (does Great Lakes wrecks/caves). He's going to help me some with my frog, as well as deco bottle handling, this weekend at an OH quarry. Supposed to be 91. Water is about 50. I'm going to roast topside in my thick undies.
Pulled out my AN/DP/Trimix books to review for class. |
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Posted: 5/22/2021 5:38:17 PM EDT
[#46]
In OH this weekend for session with tech instructor friend. Weather is high 80s. Gonna roast!
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Posted: 5/24/2021 1:31:47 PM EDT
[#47]
Had a great session yesterday. Definitely need to slow my frog down, but instructor said I’ve got the mechanics down.
Deco bottle is cattywumpus and pushing primary tank out of wack. Tech SM class will fix that in two weekends. |
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Posted: 5/25/2021 8:52:24 PM EDT
[#48]
My regular dive buddy, who I've dived with since the very beginning, had a bad heart attack today. He was transferred from a suburban hospital to a big teaching one downtown. Really nice guy. I've not dived with him in a few weeks since I've been working on the tech stuff. I'm so sad. Really great guy.
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Posted: 5/27/2021 8:47:13 PM EDT
[#49]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By floridahunter07: Somehow seems more fun to be on the boat than traipsing along through a swamp in 100 degree weather and full sun towing 80 pounds of stuff with me lmao I could go for a fresh snapper sammich |
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Posted: 6/1/2021 7:35:19 PM EDT
[#50]
Working out dates for my AN/Helitrox class. Just found out the other student is SM, too.
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