Sentinel Try Dive

DanTam1

Had my Sentinel trydive at the weekend. Although I really enjoyed the experience have been left with a nervous feeling:

Limited gas: I know as I went down the ADV wasn't on and I had to add dil into the loop, however I kept feeling as if there wasn't enough in there, added more, bouyancy went weird, got hamster cheeks, couldnt breathe out, vented, which in turn made me breath faster, get flustered and generally act like a novice and want to bolt.

Is this normal when you start on a unit?
Is it something which I'll get used to, considering I'm about to spend some cash on a unit?
Will I need to buy a unit with counterlungs the size elephants legs?


Thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Dan

subbaltica

Quite normal when comming from OC to CC
No, You will learn to control bouyancy, and work with counterloung
You mean hoses ? Cause counterloung is only one and quite small, You can not change loop volume.
Welcome

hebails

It would be uncommon to get on a unit and feel 100% natural Dan so there is nothing to worry about from that perspective but if you felt overly panicked then I'd get in and do another dive on the unit to make sure. If the person supplying the unit you will eventually buy is the person you did the try dive with then they should be more than happy to let you try it again.
This is a massive financial outlay so give yourself some peace of mind and go for another dive to make sure.

The breathing aspect is something you learn to control as it is very different to OC. There will be some resistence but you train yourself to run the unit on minimum loop which in turn makes breathing more relaxed and so on and so forth.

Good luck with it.

Cheers
Paul

jkaterenchuk

I did my try dive on a Kiss Classic with 6L of total CL volume. I felt the same as you. When I inhaled there was not enough gas and when I exhaled i reached the point in which I could not exhale anymore as the loop was full.

This is not a good indication of how you will feel once you become use to how to breath on a CCR. Which does not take much time once you get going on your Mod 1 course.

Later I came back and bought a Kiss Classic and ended up changing the counterlungs to be a total 4L of total CL volume as the 6L model seem far to large now that I khew how to manage the gas in the loop properly.

John

Kim Smith

I think it's worth mentioning that demos can be a bit tricky. Most demos are anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. the instructor has a very short period of time to work with the diver, to explain the unit, show him how to run it, and then get the diver in the water. there is a lot to remember.

The biggest problem seems to be the feeling that the diver can't breath proplerly. While nerves certainly play a part in this, this can also be caused by lungs that are too small, harness's that don't fit properly causing the unit to slide down the divers back or float away. And the most common reason is that the loop is full of gas, then the diver puts the mouthpiece in his mouth, starts breathing, and they feel like it's difficult and can't get a proper lung full. It's simple to fix, just exhale out of your nose to dump part of the loop, and the problem goes away.

Over the years, i've also heard from many divers that their first day of in water training..dives 1 and 2, were uncomfortable and stressful. by the first dive of day 2, the nerves are calmer, the muscle memory has started to build, and the diver starts to have fun.

so for the new people out there, give it time. It's worth the effort.

kim

__________________
Kim Mikusch Smith
www.kissrebreathers.com

DanTam1

Thanks, thought it probably was that which was to blame, therefore time and patience is the key here then.

Humm, onto finding a unit and Mod 1...

As I'm not Adv-Nitrox at the mo, is it a course which can be taught at the same time as Mod 1?

dan

Kim Smith

i think any rebreather instructor, for any unit, can teach your ad nitrox and then go right into the CCR class....

__________________
Kim Mikusch Smith
www.kissrebreathers.com