PADI Open Water Chapter 1

Katryna is a PADI certified Scuba intructor who is taking me through my classroom, confined water, and open water dives to certify me as an open water scuba diver. This is the very first class one takes to become a scuba diver within PADI's curriculum. In this post i will be sharing what i learned in Chapter 1. i will have followup posts on the subsequent chapters, which are five in total. So far it has been an interesting journey and i cannot wait until i am FINALLY certified and i get to swim in the deep blue sea with all the fishies and other beautiful and interesting aquatic life. It's A LOT to learn and take in, but so far i am really enjoying my class. Yesterday Katryna and i completed the classroom lecture part for Chapter One. Sunday we will cover chapter Two. i am nervous about putting all into action in the pool for the confined water dive skills though! Katryna says i will do just fine but i am always insecure and nervous!

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Chapter One is divided into five sections:

1. The Underwater World
2. Dive Equipment
3. Scuba Systems
4. The Buddy System
5. Confined Water Dive Preview

Here are Summary Points from Chapter One on the Underwater World:
* Whether an object sinks, floats or does neither in water depends on its weight & its displacement.
* Use lead weight and a BCD (Buoyancy Control Device), as well as lung volume, to control your          buoyancy
* The body is made up mostly of incompressible liquid, so you only feel pressure on the air spaces, which hold compressible air.
* There's a proportional relationship between pressure, air volume & density.
* You can use one of three techniques every metr/few feet to equalize your ears to prevent a squeeze while descending.
* You exhale into your mask through your nose to prevent a squeeze.
* NEVER continue to descend if you can't equalize.
* The MOST IMPORTANT RULE in scuba diving is to NEVER HOLD YOUR BREATH!
* Don't dive with a cold or allergy congestion, even with a decongestant.
* The deeper you go, the faster you use up your air supply.
* When scuba diving, breathe SLOWLY and DEEPLY, and AVOID getting out of breath.

Here are Summary Points from Chapter One on Dive Equipment and the Buddy System:
* Comfort and fit are the two most important criteria in purchasing dive gear.
* You can't use goggles for scuba diving because they don't enclose your nose.
* You need to rinse your equipment in FRESH WATER after each use.
* The jacket BCD is by far the most common BCD used by recreational divers.
* Your scuba tank needs an annual visual inspection, and periodic pressure (hydrostatic) testing.
* You NEVER leave scuba tanks standing unattended. You block/secure them when transporting so they can't FALL or ROLL.
* Regulators reduce tank pressure in two stages to breathing pressure.
* A regulator's most IMPORTANT feature is EASE of BREATHING.
* You need to have your regulator professionally serviced annually.
* Have the dust cap in place and don't push the purge button when you rinse your regulator.
* You need an SPG (submersible pressure or contents guage) so you can tell how much air you have at any time during the dive.
* You ALWAYS dive with a BUDDY for safety, practicality and fun.

Confined Water Dive One Skill Requirements ( i will be doing ALL of my confined water dive skills at Dolphin Scuba while in Sacramento at the end of the month. Katryna used to teach scuba at Dolphin. i will hopefully be doing my Open Water Dive Skills in the warm waters at Key Largo this spring!):

1. Don mask, fins, snorkel, BCD, scuba and weights with the assistance of a buddy, instructor or certified assistant.
2. Inflate/deflate a BCD at the surface using the low pressure inflator.
3. In shallow water, demonstrate propper compressed-air breathing habits, remembering to breathe naturally and not hold the breath.
4. Clear regulator while underwater by exhalation and purge-button methods, and resume breathing from it.
5. In shallow water, recover regulator hose from behind the shoulder while undewater.
6. In shallow water, clear parttially flodded mask while under water.
7. Swim underwater with scuba equipment while maintaining control of both direction & depth, properly equalizing the ears and mask to accommodate depth changes.
8. While underwater, locate & read the submersible pressure guage & signal whether air supply is adequate or low based based on the guage's caution zone.
9. In shallow water, breathe underwater for at least 30 seconds from an alternate air source supplied by another diver.
10. While underwater, recognize and/or demonstrate standard hand signals.
11. Demonstrate the techniques for a proper ascent.