Skydiving to SCUBA

[AtrusBatleth 0]

I tried SCUBA recently, just one of those intro deals in a pool. I was surprised how much anxiety it gave me. I should back up and say I am a fairly calm, logical person, and I never really had any fear while skydiving even the first time. I'd get butterflies in my stomach when the door opened the first few times, but just that healthy sense of uncomfortable, nothing major. I assumed SCUBA diving would be a similar experience. But as I was kneeling in the shallow end, heart pounding, breathing rapidly, I started to wonder if this was what an anxiety attack felt like (I don't generally suffer from them). I knew I just needed to relax and breath normal, but it surprised me just how difficult that would be. I came very close to coming above the surface and just saying, "Nope, not gonna happen."

I made myself push through, and it did get easier. They started taking participants to the deep end and once again, I decided I would just stay in the shallow end but eventually made myself go down. I'm glad I did, it was a cool experience. But every few minutes or so my breathing would start speeding up and I had to focus to calm myself down again. I went into it with an attitude of "I do skydiving no problem, this will be a piece of cake" but I definitely ate a slice of humble pie that night. It gave me an appreciation for the nerves that most normal people have when new to skydiving.

I would have been happy letting this be a one-time experience, but my kid got really into it and wants to get certified. So I feel like I have to get certified too, because I'm not about to drop off my underage kid with some strangers for a day of diving without me. Already sank the money into our gear (pun intended) and working through the book work. Wish me luck. I hear the mask-off part of the cert freaks out a lot of people.

Max Peck
What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

[obelixtim 100]

AtrusBatleth

I tried SCUBA recently, just one of those intro deals in a pool. I was surprised how much anxiety it gave me. I should back up and say I am a fairly calm, logical person, and I never really had any fear while skydiving even the first time. I'd get butterflies in my stomach when the door opened the first few times, but just that healthy sense of uncomfortable, nothing major. I assumed SCUBA diving would be a similar experience. But as I was kneeling in the shallow end, heart pounding, breathing rapidly, I started to wonder if this was what an anxiety attack felt like (I don't generally suffer from them). I knew I just needed to relax and breath normal, but it surprised me just how difficult that would be. I came very close to coming above the surface and just saying, "Nope, not gonna happen."

I made myself push through, and it did get easier. They started taking participants to the deep end and once again, I decided I would just stay in the shallow end but eventually made myself go down. I'm glad I did, it was a cool experience. But every few minutes or so my breathing would start speeding up and I had to focus to calm myself down again. I went into it with an attitude of "I do skydiving no problem, this will be a piece of cake" but I definitely ate a slice of humble pie that night. It gave me an appreciation for the nerves that most normal people have when new to skydiving.

I would have been happy letting this be a one-time experience, but my kid got really into it and wants to get certified. So I feel like I have to get certified too, because I'm not about to drop off my underage kid with some strangers for a day of diving without me. Already sank the money into our gear (pun intended) and working through the book work. Wish me luck. I hear the mask-off part of the cert freaks out a lot of people.

All you need to do, if it goes tits up, is to engulf the water before it engulfs you. Practise your drinking....

My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

[ryoder 1,381]

Just remember that unlike skydiving, if you run out of air , you can just go back up and get more.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

On a more serious note, it you are going to do them in close succession, go up then down, not down then up.

Sky then sea. Not the other way around.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[AtrusBatleth 0]

wolfriverjoe

On a more serious note, it you are going to do them in close succession, go up then down, not down then up.

Sky then sea. Not the other way around.

I wondered about that; something to do with decompression? I can't imagine I would ever be doing both on the same day, plus doing SCUBA with my kid we would be limited to a depth of 60ft so I'm not going super deep. I do have a long term goal of doing some HALO jumps though so I'll be sure not to combine them on the same trip.

Max Peck
What's the point of having top secret code names, fellas, if we ain't gonna use 'em?

[ryoder 1,381]

You can safely make a (SCUBA) dive and return to the surface, but still have some excess nitrogen dissolved in your tissues. Abrupt exposure to lower pressure of altitude could make some of the nitrogen come out of solution.

http://www.alertdiver.com/altitude_and_decompression_sickness

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[gowlerk 1,903]

SCUBA scares me just to think about it. I'm never going to try it. I can swim, and I'm only respectful not fearful of water. But breathing under water? NFW

[wolfriverjoe 1,340]

AtrusBatleth

***On a more serious note, it you are going to do them in close succession, go up then down, not down then up.

Sky then sea. Not the other way around.

I wondered about that; something to do with decompression? I can't imagine I would ever be doing both on the same day, plus doing SCUBA with my kid we would be limited to a depth of 60ft so I'm not going super deep. I do have a long term goal of doing some HALO jumps though so I'll be sure not to combine them on the same trip.

Pretty much. You will learn about decompression sickness (the bends) and what you have to do to prevent it in class.

Pressure as you go down increases by 'one atmosphere' approx every 33 ft. So down to 60 ft is approx '2 atmospheres'.

Going up to 14k takes you to approx 6/10ths of an atmosphere.

As Ryoder noted, if you go down and dissolve nitrogen into your blood, you may be able to come up to the surface without problems (or with standard decompression stops). But going up to 14k too soon may cause issues.

There are a few DZs close to good diving water.
There's also the Belize boogie, where scuba diving is one of the options for 'non jumping' activities.
Puerto Rico boogie is also right on the water.

"There are NO situations which do not call for a French Maid outfit." Lucky McSwervy

"~ya don't GET old by being weak & stupid!" - Airtwardo

[wmw999 2,116]

My husband and I both scuba and skydive (no, not on the same trip).

As someone who doesn’t do water in her eyes well, you really just have to make it through the certification dive. Then, unless someone kicks it off completely and you can’t see it, AND you don’t have an aware buddy and/or a backup, it’s never a problem again.

They’re both fun. Just remember that relaxing can help you as much in scuba as skydiving, and the more you know, the more you’ll be relaxed.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Iago 8]

That's normal in a lot of cases. Part of your brain is rejection the idea of breathing when you head I'd underwater, because, well, you can't do that right?

Practice and you'll get over it. Extra time paddling around with a tank, or baring that just getting used to snorkel breathing in the pool with your face in the water.

SCUBA is actually really, really, cool. You'll be glad you did it.



I'd recommend a book called 'Deco for Divers.'. It's a collection and summary of what we know about decompression theory. Quite well written and not a big thick text book.

Confirmed cynical sarcastic bastard since 2003

[Westerly 61]

gowlerk

SCUBA scares me just to think about it. I'm never going to try it. I can swim, and I'm only respectful not fearful of water. But breathing under water? NFW

Yea, well the same goes for SCUBA divers talking about skydiving. Only a few do both. SCUBA and skydiving doesent mix because you need to wait 24 hours after diving before you can jump. So you can jump on a Sat and dive on Sun, but not the other way around. Breathing through a regulator is not that hard anyway. Like skydiving in many ways, SCUBA is largely about being comfortable in uncomfortable situations. Once you get used to it, it's not that bad. But also like skydiving, if shit hits the fan in SCUBA, crap gets real very quickly. Underwater emergencies are life threatening and require prompt and correct action.

[ryoder 1,381]

gowlerk

SCUBA scares me just to think about it. I'm never going to try it. I can swim, and I'm only respectful not fearful of water. But breathing under water? NFW

I didn't think it was any big deal. I had been diving with mask/snorkel/fins (and six-pound weight for neutral buoyancy), for years. I was a relief to be able to stay down as long as I wanted, instead of making all the frequent trips to the surface for air.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[gowlerk 1,903]

Quote

Yea, well the same goes for SCUBA divers talking about skydiving.

I know I could do it if I had to. I think it's largely because in my mind the idea of SCUBA is enclosing and claustrophobic. Skydiving seems open and free.

[billvon 2,380]

Quote

SCUBA and skydiving doesent mix because you need to wait 24 hours after diving before you can jump.

Two quick stories about that.

First was back around 1995 when we were in St. Maarten. We took a day trip to Saba to go diving. We were with a cheap dive operator operating out of a Zodiac. On our first dive (to 80 feet) we went a little over our planned time and depth. I got out the tables after the dive to see if we had gone over on nitrogen but by that time we were slamming through the waves to the next site, where the divemaster hustled us into the water ("storm coming!") We did the second dive at 50 feet and again went slightly over.

When we got back to the dock I finally looked at the tables - and we were significantly over safe nitrogen loads on both dives. I asked my three friends who I was with if they felt OK and we all did.

Thinking we dodged a bullet and could chalk it up to a learning experience, we decided to get lunch before we went back. (Fortunately we came by boat, so no risks of flying back.) So we got a taxi who drove us 20 minutes to a restaurant further inland.

While we were waiting for a food I noticed my thumb going numb. Jan got a splitting headache. Marc's knee started to hurt. I looked out and noticed how the view was REALLY nice - you could see for miles.

"How high are we?" I asked the waiter.

"Oh, very high, 500 meters here," he said. I hadn't even thought about a taxi ride being a problem.

The second was an example of the opposite. We flew out over the Blue Hole during the Belize boogie, did an 8-way from 13,000, landed in the water, then did a 100+ foot dive into the hole. Worked out fine. Normally it's a several-hour trip by boat both ways, so we avoided half the boat ride.

[BillyVance 34]

gowlerk

SCUBA scares me just to think about it. I'm never going to try it. I can swim, and I'm only respectful not fearful of water. But breathing under water? NFW

Same here. Very easy for a minor fuck-up to kill you.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[ryoder 1,381]

I only have a certification for open-water SCUBA, but a good friend went through a 6-month course FL to be a certified commercial hard-hat diver. He has a lot of good stories, but the wildest one didn't even happen in the water.

He was in a hyperbaric chamber with a half-dozen other students, when one student experienced nitrogen narcosis and freaked out. The guy started grabbing valves, trying to release the pressure, at a rate which would have given everyone the bends. Now this guy was a massive dude who had been sent there for diving training by French special forces. It took everyone else in the chamber to jump the guy and hold him down, with instructors (outside the chamber) screaming over the intercom to stop him.

They were able to hold him down and decompress safely, and a bunch of bloody, beat-up students exited the chamber.
The French guy did not complete the training.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[obelixtim 100]

BillyVance

***SCUBA scares me just to think about it. I'm never going to try it. I can swim, and I'm only respectful not fearful of water. But breathing under water? NFW

Same here. Very easy for a minor fuck-up to kill you.

And don't have the theme from Jaws running thru your skull...

My computer beat me at chess, It was no match for me at kickboxing....

[billvon 2,380]

>And don't have the theme from Jaws running thru your skull...

It's funny how quickly you go from worrying about sharks to straining your eyes to see one. Sighting of a hammerhead shark has been known to quickly empty dive boats - with people swimming _towards_ the suspected shark.

[BillyVance 34]

billvon

>And don't have the theme from Jaws running thru your skull...

It's funny how quickly you go from worrying about sharks to straining your eyes to see one. Sighting of a hammerhead shark has been known to quickly empty dive boats - with people swimming _towards_ the suspected shark.

When I was a kid, some 40 years ago, a friend from Texas that I would see at the beach every summer, and I went fishing in knee deep water in the surf. He was fishing for hammer head sharks. Small ones. Slapping the water with his hand repeatedly, and sure enough they started coming, swimming around our legs, no more than a foot and a half long. He caught maybe 6 or 7 of them.

Just one of those things you don't forget after all these years.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[grimmie 173]

The first jump/dive into the Blue Hole in 2005 was pretty scary.

50 miles out to sea.

And then we saw how many huge sharks lived there.

Nothing like fresh meat trailing big colorful lures splashing down in the middle of a hundred sharks.

A couple of hundred jumpers later into the Blue Hole, no shark bites and zero diving issues.

[Westerly 61]

billvon

Quote

SCUBA and skydiving doesent mix because you need to wait 24 hours after diving before you can jump.

Two quick stories about that.

First was back around 1995 when we were in St. Maarten. We took a day trip to Saba to go diving. We were with a cheap dive operator operating out of a Zodiac. On our first dive (to 80 feet) we went a little over our planned time and depth. I got out the tables after the dive to see if we had gone over on nitrogen but by that time we were slamming through the waves to the next site, where the divemaster hustled us into the water ("storm coming!") We did the second dive at 50 feet and again went slightly over.

When we got back to the dock I finally looked at the tables - and we were significantly over safe nitrogen loads on both dives. I asked my three friends who I was with if they felt OK and we all did.

Thinking we dodged a bullet and could chalk it up to a learning experience, we decided to get lunch before we went back. (Fortunately we came by boat, so no risks of flying back.) So we got a taxi who drove us 20 minutes to a restaurant further inland.

While we were waiting for a food I noticed my thumb going numb. Jan got a splitting headache. Marc's knee started to hurt. I looked out and noticed how the view was REALLY nice - you could see for miles.

"How high are we?" I asked the waiter.

"Oh, very high, 500 meters here," he said. I hadn't even thought about a taxi ride being a problem.

Yep, I've heard that story many times. It's pretty common I think. People do a dive, drive inland and suddenly everyone in the car is having issues.

So the real question, which is more dangerous, SCUBA to recreational depths (130' max) or skydiving? I bet if I went on a SCUBA forum, everyone would say skydiving.

edit: I decided to look it up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micromort

SCUBA: 1 death per 186,666 dives.
Skydiving: 1 death per 117,675 jumps.

If you consider a skydiver will get in more jumps in a weekend than a diver will get in dives (probably by double easily), then skydiving comes out as being 2x as risky as SCUBA according to Wikipedia.

[Niki1 1]

BillyVance

***SCUBA scares me just to think about it. I'm never going to try it. I can swim, and I'm only respectful not fearful of water. But breathing under water? NFW

Same here. Very easy for a minor fuck-up to kill you.


Joe Morgan told me, "What goes up must come down. But what goes down doesn't have to come up"

Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done.
Louis D Brandeis

Where are we going and why are we in this basket?

[mr2mk1g 10]

Skydiving and SCUBA - both sports where you're fucked if you run out of air.

[BillyVance 34]

mr2mk1g

Skydiving and SCUBA - both sports where you're fucked if you run out of air.

TRUTH!

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[GordianKnot 0]

Yeah, having to plan how much fun you're going to have on the weekend/vacation gets really tough

To the OP: where are you doing your open water dives? The "take off your mask, put it back on, and then clear it" part probably is the most stressful for a lot of people (it was for me), but it's over pretty quickly and then you never have to do it again.

Tropical diving is pretty relaxed and there's lots of wild stuff to see underwater. Cold water/drysuit diving is a little less relaxed but still fun and there are some pretty epic things that just happen to be at higher latitudes. Hang in there, you'll be fine!