A Few More Notes
Tom, You said two opposing statements. "To me using an underwater breathing apparatus is just an extention of snorkling." "Breathing with a hooka should be safer than snorkling AS LONG AS YOU BREATH OUT WHILE ASCENDING." (my empahsis) That last part is what makes the first sentence just wrong. It's not an extension of snorkeling because you are using compressed air. It is because you are using compressed air that you should breath out while ascending. Crossing the street is a pretty safe endeavor, as long as we follow "the rules". The rules are pretty simple, but deadly if you don't follow them. While it's simple to say "look both ways before crossing", we sort of assume that everyone knows and understands that the reason you look both ways is to make sure a car isn't coming. Unfortunately, just telling someone that they should exhale while ascending doesn't tell them why, and the reason isn't as obvious as why you look both ways crossing the street. Just from what you've seen here, surely you can see how if you simply tell someone "you should exahale when ascending" isn't enough. You can be sure that without understanding WHY, there will be SOMEONE who'll say to themselves "Hey self, when I hold my breath and go down 6' to my keel, I don't exhale. When I go down to the bottom of the 10' pool, I don't exhale. Shoot, whoever told me that is nuts, I don't need to worry about exhaling". That's the difference between being quickly told what to do, and being educated. As for teaching that equipment is what makes for safety, I'm not aware of that, but then I haven't taken classes for a while. If true, it's a poor thing to teach. Equipment is definitely PART of the safety factor, but a full understanding of the physics involved, and your physical capabilities is as important, if not moreso. When I was first certified (1979), we were required to swim 100 yards, and tread water for 5 minutes with our hands out of the water. When my wife certified 11 years ago (when we got married) she was required to do the same (both requirements allowed us to use fins, I didn't do it that way, because I didn't need to). Of course, we both went to the same dive shop, so I don't know if it was a PADI requirement. You've got my curiosity up. I'll check into it. ===== Franklin, First of all, the only "rules" that require your card are those of the business from which you want to get the equipment, or your tank filled. It's simple, find one that doesn't have that rule, or get the c-card. I don't know who you were certified by, but if the process didn't teach you the difference between breathing uncompressed surface air and compressed air underwater, then you're right, it was taught by someone unqualified. You should take a refresher class. If you don't want to do that, you can STILL get your c-card without "wasting" two weekends or spending $300. PADI and NAUI both certify for life. I think you have to pay $25 to replace your card. At least, that's what mine (PADI) cost about 11 years when I got it replaced. However, I decided to just invest some extra money and get a refresher course. If it wasn't PADI or NAUI (didn't the YMCA used to do some sort of cert), then it explains a lot.
