PROTOCOLLO PER LO SVOGLIMENTO DELLE ATTIVITÀ SUBACQUEE PROFESSIONALI NEL RISPETTO DELLE MISURE ANTI CONTAGIO COVID-19

SIMSI releases the joint technical protocol about the operation of professional scuba diving activity in compliance with the COVID-19 infection reduction measures. The documentation has been already forwarded to the Italian Government: click here or on the picture below to read the full article (Italian language only).

A FEW (RELAXED) CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT FINS

Speaking about fins my first consideration is... before thinking about which fins style and shape better adapts to you, train on the development of proper kick techniques, learn how to maximize (but also control) propulsion while minimizing physical exertion and consequently air consuption, focus on trim and buoyancy. At this point, the shape of your fins will be just a secondary problem.

During our Open Water course we realized that there are basically two macro tipologies of scuba fins (here I am not even talking about light open heel fins to be used barefoot as I consider them snorkeling fins not suitable for scuba activity):

1. foot pocket fins;
2. open heel fins with strap, to be used with neoprene boots.

The first category can be worn also bare foot and may seem a good solution for hot tropical environments, also because they are generally lighter and easy to pack in the luggage. All of us did use them at least once in our life, in the swimming pool or by doing snorkeling.

Nevertheless, if you are seriously into scuba diving I suggest to leave this kind of fins to snorkelers and always go for open heel fins and neoprene boots. You will soon recognize the advantages of this solution:

1. the rubber sole of the boots offer extra stiffness to your kick, transmitting the energy in a more direct way to the blade, thus maximizing the propulsion;
2. boots seat better in the foot pocket, tightly secured by the strap, and you do not risk to lose the fins as it may happen with lighter foot pocket fins when you kick too hard;
3. boots protect your feet from excoriation caused by the contact of your bare foot with the rubber foot pocket;
4. neoprene boots can be used as normal shoes and offer protection while walking on the boat or on the shore;
5. boots guarantee extra thermal isolation.

One word about the strap: open heel fins are distributed with a large variety of straps. By choosing your fins, you are also choosing your strap: make sure that the strap is of the right size of your foot, opt for one piece rubber bands or better iron springs, avoid adjustable or expanding plastic clip buckles that are often fragile and soon or late will break as well as bungee cords that are more likely to wear out by the use in salt water.

Finally speaking about fin design, in the mega expanded universe of market offer it is possible to identify main 5 categories, based on the blade shape.

Paddle fins: generally optimized for flutter kick, they represent the simplest design and basically display a blade directly attached to the foot pocket. Most models are mono or bi-material (plastic + rubber). Paddle fins often have different inclinations between foot and blade for optimized kicking angle. Many bi-material blades are designed with two or more channels that funnel the water flow along the whole blade length, improving propulsion.

Jet fins: technical fins by definition, optimized for frog kick technique. With the exeption of very few models they are prevalently made out a single rubber mold (thus very heavy) and display vents on the blades that have the purpose of minimizing the mechanic resistance of the water in the kick loading phase.

Split fins: thought and designed to make flutter kick less exhausting, split fins offer the same propulsion of paddle fins but with less strain. Basically the split, when you kick, creates an open angle in the blade that causes a pressure disbalance which “sucks” the water along the whole blade length, minimizing the effort but keeping the propulsion constant. Basically useless if used with frog kick technique.

Hinge fins: Recent design concept, the blade is connected to the foot pocket by a hinge. Developed in aquadynamic flume, this fin has been thought to reduce stress and strain in the foot ankle while mantaining good propulsion. In my – personal – opinion this is more a marketing claim rather than real and concrete measurable advantage.

Force fins: niche product, designed to imitate the tail of marine animals, used with flutter kick they offer a very good propulsion. Very good fins for walking on the boat. Not performing with frog kick and ridiculously expensive.

📸 Stefano Festini

Now that we learned something about the market offer, it is time to choose the right fins. Here some food for thought:

• choose the fins according to your personal kicking technique: if you practice only flutter kick, jetfins will not be performing and as anticipated, split fins will be almost useless if you try to do an helicopter turn;
• consider the kind of exposure suit you will use: many drysuit divers prefer to use very heavy jetfins in order to balance the slightly positive buoyancy of their legs given by the drysuit. On the contrary, using heavy jetfins with a 2 mm shorty could lead to feet down or dropped knees trim;
• this leads to the next suggestion: always consider the weight of your fins and its impact on your buoyancy. You may find very similar fins models and shapes distributed by different brands with very different weights;
• remember that wearing the wrong fins causes more strain and possibly cramps, so it is worth to invest some time and trial dives to find the right fins.

Conclusions:

• always choose a combination of open heel fins + neoprene boots;
• learn different kick techniques and try different kinds of fins;
• fins play an essential role on your trim. Study your position and your weight; distribution, choose a fin that helps you mantaining an horizontal position.

If you still do not have clear ideas, I suggest to opt for the simplest bimaterial paddle style channel fin with high and stiff sidebars that you can find. This solution offers a good compromise between propulsion and comfort and allows very good control also in case of frog / back kick and helicopter turn.

One last word about freediving fins: although some scuba divers use them, I suggest to avoid long blade freediving fins. They are specialty fins, and their long flexible blade offers high propulsion and minimizes physical exertion only in combination with the proper kicking technique. Moreover in our OW course we learned that in the water we want to move as less as possible so manoeuvrability, and not propulsion, must be our primary focus. In fact, using freediving fins in bigger groups may result clumsy and their long blades could lift lots of sediments. Eventually, long blades use a lot of space on the boat and are most likely to damage by giant stride entry.

And you? Which fins do you use, and why?

DRYSUIT AS BUOYANCY COMPENSATOR?

When I am home and dive at Lake of Garda, in Northern Italy, I am used to temperatures between 22-14°C in summer and 12-6°C in winter, so one of my first specialty training has been, of course, Drysuit Diving.

Over time I have been drysuit diving with many buddies and some of them use the drysuit as a primary buoyancy compensator, giving the BCD or wing a role of mere redundancy and using it only as a floating device for positive buoyancy on the surface. This way, they have to manage only one single volume of air during the dive, still having the BCD as a redundancy and safety option.

SSI at least, discourage this practice, opting for jacket or wing as a primary buoyancy compensator and recommending to transfer to the drysuits only the minimum quantity of air necessary to detach it from the body preventing squeezes.

I personally fully agree with this orientation, in the light of following:

1. less air volume in the dry suit impacting on buoyancy and trim position. In fact, a greater volume of air in the drysuit can move from the waist area to the legs, creating problematic situations that can be solved only through specific techniques;
2. the extra air pressure in the dry suit, in connection to ungraceful body movement, could lead to air loss through cuffs and / or collar, increasing the risk of flood;
3. given its great surface, the dry suite is more likely vulnerable to lacerations and punctures;
4. bcd are easier to control and do not require extra body movement to deflate.

Even though the majority of newest training standards seem to follow the same direction, I keep hearing of divers using the drysuit as as BCD, so I am happy to read your opinion! What does your training agency recommend?

DAN & A.DI.SUB RELEASE 10 RECCOMENDATIONS ON COVID-19 RISK MITIGATION FOR SCUBA OPERATORS

Waiting for the reopening of SCUBA Diving activities in Italy, DAN in cooperation with A.Di.Sub, releases a document with 10 reccomentation on the correct risk mitigation protocols for SCUBA Diving Operators: click here or on the image below to read and download the full documentation (in Italian).

 

ATTIVITÀ SUBACQUEE: PROTOCOLLO TECNICO PER I COMPORTAMENTI CORRETTI

Finally in Italy something is moving in the direction of setting new guidelines for the prosecution of SCUBA activities in the phase 2 of COVID-19 emergency.

SIMSI, ASSOSUB, AISI and Diritto & Subacquea are working on a joint technical protocol about correct behaviours during the Phase 2 of the pandemic: click here to read the article.

Let us wait until the 27th of April before any further consideration.

 

SURFACE AIR CONSUMPTION (SAC)

Many entry level, but also more experienced divers, are unfamiliar with SAC: many times, when speaking to students and divers about this topic, they look back at me with the eyes wide open!

Not all teaching systems include SAC calculation in entry level courses material. Anyway in my opinion is essential that divers get acquainted to its calculation in order to be independent and be in the condition of planning their dives and knowing their personal limits, for their own safety.

Even when dive planning plays a secondary importance, like for example in the case of diving tourism, knowing your own SAC can simplify the activity of your divemasters and facilitate the choice of the right cylinder size, making the dive more comfortable out and in the water.

Let us have a look at the SAC formula and at the data necessary for its calculation [metric system].

Air Consumpton (AC).

This is our total air consumption during the dive, indicated in bar. This data can be calculated by subtracting from the initial pressure of the full cylinder the pressure left when we exit the water (e.g. 200 bar - 50 bar = 150 bar).

Volume of the cylinder (V).

Easy to understand, this is the volume of the cylinder in use, expressed in liters (e.g. 10l, 15l…).

Time (t).

Total time of the dive, in minutes.

Absolute pressure at depth (P).

This is the absolute pressure, indicated in bar, corresponding to the average depth of the dive. To obtain this value we simply need recall from your dive computer the average depth of the dive in meters and convert it in bar. Make sure that the value indicates the absolute pressure!

These data can be put toghether in the following formula to calculate the SAC:

SAC = AC x V / ( t x P)

Now a concrete example, assuming that we have been 50 minutes underwater, at an average depth of 12 meters (corresponding to 2,2 bar absolute pressure), and we used a total of 150 bar from a 12 liters cylinder:

150 bar x 12l / (50min x 2,2 bar) = 16,36 l/m

Now that we have our SAC we can easily plan our next dive (depth, duration and gas supply needed) or check if it will be within our personal limits!

It is important that we record our SAC in our logbooks on a larger number of dives, so that we dispose of a significant average value. In fact, SAC rate may vary by many factors such as water temperature, level of fitness, ambient conditions, buoyancy and trim, underwater activity and air leaks.

Moreover, by monitoring the SAC you will be able to track any improvement of your gas consumption over time and experience!

BUDDY CHECK

Before entering the water all of us diving professionals always remember to our divers to perform a complete buddy check with their buddies.

But are we looking at them during their check? Do we pay attention and correct them if we notice something wrong?

In my day to day activity I see a lot of experienced divers directly skipping this step, or carrying it on very superficially, just inflating the BCD and taking some deep breathes from the regulator. Moreover, all the attention of the divers is usually directed to their own equipment, they only give a brief look at their buddies configuration.

When performing it, divers must keep in mind that the buddy check is the moment where they have the chance of knowing and getting familiar with their buddy’s equipment: this step is very important especially when divers are on holiday and they get assigned potentially to a new buddy every day.

But why is this step so important? If we think about the role of the buddy, we all agree that he’s the person that will help us in the water in case of necessity (this works of course both directions). He must be in the condition of using and operating with our equipment, by example by arranging our BCD, removing / adding weights to our pockets, fastening the cylinder, and so on...

Thus, the buddy check has two specific purposes: making sure that we are ready to dive safely, but also making sure that we know exactly where to locate and how to operate our buddy’s gear.

We all remember the magic formula for the buddy check “BWRAF", so go through it together again:

B - BCD

• Is the low pressure hose attached and functioning properly?
• Check if the BCD has any air loss.
• Check and operate all the damp valves.

W - WEIGHTS

• Did we wear the appropriate amount of weights?
• Where are the weights located?
• Is our buddy familiar with how to release our weights, in case of necessity?

R - RELEASES

• Are all the releases closed properly and easy to locate?
• Is our buddy familiar with the releases of our BCD? Is he able to open them indipendently in case of necessity?
• Divers often forget the most important release(s): is the cylinder properly secured on our back?

A - AIR

• Is the cylinder open?
• Enough pressure to dive?
• No leaking between cylinder and 1st stage?
• Take a couple of deep and long breathes from the regulator, by looking at the manometer. If the needle is not moving from 200 bar, the cylinder is open.
• Check also the alternative air source same way as above, make sure that your buddy is familiar with its position and operation.

F - FINAL OK

• General final check.
• Are all the hoses in the right position?
• Mask ok?
• Fins ok?
• Computer ok?
• Other instruments (torch, compass…) ok?

And you? Do you have your magic formula for the buddy check?

GEAR CONFIGURATION AND ALTERNATIVE AIR SOURCE

Jacket style BCD, backplate, wing, double cylinders, single or redundant first stage, hogartian configuration, sidemount, closed circuit…

Major agencies normally do not require a specific gear configuration for teaching purpose, they only mention a list of the minimum standard necessary equipment and, SSI at least, specifically requires that the instructor, during the course, shall use the same configuration of the student.

In this scenario, there is not any prohibition, for the instructor, to choose any of the above mentioned configurations also for recreational entry level courses, under the condition, of course, that ALL skills can be performed properly by the student.

Given this many different configuration options, it is essential that the instructor, from the very first lesson, acts as a role model and an example, showing the correct gear set up and hoses positioning. Monkey see monkey do, they say: the first impression received by the students will impact on how they will set up their own gear in the future, when diving independently.

In this direction, in my own opinion primary relevance must be given to the management of the alternative air source (the yellow hose 😁), also in the light of the almost infinite possibilities offered by the many BCD brands and models available on the market. It is essential to remember that the alternative air source must be fastened in an accessible position and must be reached and released quickly and easily.

Too many time I saw divers just folding the yellow hose and shoving it through a random D ring of the jacket! Moreover, in any dive shop we walk in, we can see a vaste range of clips and hooks of any shape, that are “designed" to fasten the alternative air source to the jacket by the hose, or even worse, directly by the mouthpiece… 🤔. In addition, how often do we incur more or less handmade solutions such as O-ring, plastic ties, bungees, neoprene cuts?

Finally, taking into consideration the way we fasten the alternative air source to the jacket we should ask ourselves following questions:

 

1. Will I be able to locate and access the alternative air source in the shortest time possible, if needed?
2. How much strenght will I need to free the secondary regulator from its clip?
3. Am I sure that I am not going to damage (or worse to lose!) the mouthpiece if I pull too strong?
4. In case of necessity, is my buddy in the condition of locating, reaching and independently accessing to the alternative air source even without my cooperation?

In the light of my personal experience, the best solution is the simplest. When using recreational jacket type BCD, just fold the hose and put it in the octopus pocket right below your right armpit!

 

And you? How do you fasten the alternative air source to jour BCD? 

HOW TO PREPARE A SCUBA RESUME

Even though agencies promote professional careers in the scuba industry as a dream job, this is still a business and most of the diving centers and schools are profit oriented. Needless to say, even the smallest diving centers rely on revenue in order to keep the activity going.

I often see dive professionals posting generic applications on many Facebook groups, with none to very little personal information.

In this business, finding a good position is frequently a hard task as we apply for positions located in the other side or the World, and employers are likely forced to take their decision without any personal meeting. That’s why a good cv and a good personal presentation are fundamental.

In the following I give you some advice about how to prepare a good resume and a valid application.

PICTURE

Your picture is the first contact with your future employer. You are going to work as a professional, so you should look like a professional:

• avoid silly underwater poses and shabby outfits;
• show your face, no sunglasses or underwater pictures with mask and regulator;
• wear a tidy t-shirt or a polo, clean yourself up and take a nice medium close-up picture;
• pictures with beers or cigarettes are a no-go!

COVER LETTER

You need to prepare a short personal presentation including your motivation.

If you post a generic application on Facebook or in one of the agencies' portals be short but specific, avoid general applications, try to pick up a target country or a specific geographic area, indicate the typology of diving center you are looking for and your temporal availability.

If you send a targeted application to a specific diving center via e-mail:

• your presentation should be in the body of the message. I discourage the choice of separate attachments because they are often overlooked;
• the message must not be too long and must include information that let you stand out from the mass of other applicants with a single look;
• spend a couple of minutes personalizing your cover letter for every diving center you are addressing. If you use the same template for everybody, they will notice. You want your future employers to have the impression that you like their philosophy and that you want to work specifically with them. Visit the shop website, learn about the activity of the diving center and mention what makes them special for you!

CV

Use a standard cv structure:

• personal and contact data;
• personal scuba experience, including highest certification level, specialties, number and tipology of dives;
• education;
• work experience;
• other relevant personal information;
• language skills (it may be very relevant for your employer so I recommend to put this information in the first part of the cv).

📸 www.padi.com

Keep it short and brief. I recommend a maximum of 2 pages as normally employers do not have time for reading a document with 4 pages. You can give extra information at a later stage.

Insert only the information that you assume relevant for the targeted position. Keep in mind that also non scuba related experience could be a plus (e.g. sales position, marketing, customer care, retail). Do not forget to list your duties and operation by your previous diving center (compressor care, gear maintenance, tour guide, shop activity) and, of course, courses you attended and related certifications, if any.

The resume must have a clear look and be easy to read. Use a standard font (arial is perfect), opt for black and white and keep an homogeneous, fluid format (e.g. for lists and titles). Send a .pdf, the format will be always the same and this kind of file can be opened by any device.

Always remember that your final objective is to make life easier for the person reading your cv. If the employer is in a good mood, he will be more likely to talk to you!

SOME GENERAL ADVICE

• Avoid miss-spelling and grammar mistakes, go through your file 10 times before sending it!
• Agencies use very specific names for different professional positions: a SSI Dive Guide is not the same as a PADI Divemaster or a ***CMAS. A “simple" OW Instructor is not the same as an Advanced OW Instructor! Avoid trivial mistakes in the description of your qualifications.
• Always include your references, when available. The world of scuba is small and knowing the right person can be really helpful!
• Be honest, employers will always find out if you lie about your qualifications and skills.
• Be persistent and follow up your application! Employers often do not reply not because they do not like you, but just due to lack of time! It is enough to send a new e-mail and ask if they received your e-mail and that you hare available for a Skype call at any time.
• If possible, go personally to the shop and present yourself. Personal contact is very important! Anyway, I would send my resume via e-mail first and pop up in the shop after a couple of days asking if they received the documentation.

I hope you'll find all of this information useful. Please comment or write me a PM if you have any further question or you need help with your cv.

Share this information with your friends if you like!

DIVING DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Follow the link below to read the EUBS (European Underwater and Barometrical Society) and ECHM (European Commitee for Hyperbaric Medicine) "position statement on the advisability of recreational and professional diving and performing diving medical examinationsduring the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak":

EUBS & ECHM position statement on the advisability of recreational and professional diving and performing diving medical examinations during the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak

The statement, that advises against recreational scuba diving activity during the pandemic, has been shared by the Italian Federation of Underwater Activities (FIAS).

Let us wait and see which will be the position of major European Federations...

DIVING AND SMOKING

I know what you are thinking now: all diving professionals are smokers...

📸 www.gettyimages.com

Some weeks ago, sitting in a restaurant with friends, I was listening to a discussion about how smoking impacts the human physiology with particular focus on diving activity. They all obviously agreed that smoking is bad and must be avoided in general, but nobody really was in the condition of explaining why divers in particular shall not smoke and what are the consequences of smoking in combination with diving.

I am not a physician myself so I am not going to arrange a self made text with the risk of sharing incorrect contents. By the way, I found this two articles on the website of DAN Asia Pacific (www.danap.org), which I think can give us a good and brief basic scientific overview about the consequences of smoking and diving (click on the title to read the full article):

• Caution first: why smoking and diving don’t mix, by Dr. Jim Caruso

• Smoking and Diving: do the two make a risk factor for decompression illness?, by Dr. David Buch

So if we really can not resist and keep smoking also after reading this articles, please try to follow some simple rules at least:

1. on the boat, smoke only in designated smoking areas;
2. smoke down-wind;
3. dispose properly of cigarette butts.

I am happy to read other scientific information or documentation, if you have any to share!

SMB DEPLOYMENT

In this video I was demonstrating how to deploy an SMB during my instructor training. I was pretty satisfied about how I performed the skill, until a friend of mine (experienced diver and instructor) correctly noted that I forgot to look up before releasing the buoy.

How many of you look up before releasing the SMB? How many forget?

Here my personal discussion points:

Here I am using a 30 lbs open ended self-sealing surface marker. This particular model gives the advantage of oral inflation, with an air seal on the open end that keeps the buoy inflated when it reaches the surface, offering a better visibility from the boat.

I am inflating the buoy using the exhausted air coming out from my regulator, without removing it from my mouth. This practice in my opinion offers 4 major advantages:

• modest impact on buoyancy, as the SMB inflation is the result of a standard breathing pattern; 
• increased security, as I am not removing the reg from my mouth in the whole procedure; 
• improved speed and agility, as I do not have to put both buoy and reel in one hand and to search for the alternative air source with the other, thus minimizing the risk of dropping the reel;
• reduced air consumption: this is a minor aspect but still, taking into consideration that normally SMB are deployed by the end of the dive with the cylinders almost in reserve, I do not see the point in wasting air from the cylinder just for inflating the buoy.

And you? What kind of SMB do you use? How do you inflate it?

INTRODUCTION

I have been a scuba diving professional since a very short time so far, but during all of my training and in my whole diving educational path I had the opportunity of meeting and learning from many instructors, all of them with different backgrounds and life experience.

From all of them, whom hereby I thank from my hearth, I could develop my own diving philosophy and teaching style. Nevertheless, I still use my own personal judgement when learning and I do not just take any information received as a unique and immutable truth - rather investigating and trying different configurations, habits and styles in order to meet the safest and most reasonable practices.

Following the web media of major diving agencies I noticed that they are full of wonderful and colorful pictures and videos, with the purpose of luring new potential customers, but they all really lack in concrete theoretical but also practical contents about how to develop diving good practices and safety, leaving all the responsibility to the single instructors. On the other hand tech agencies, whilst very punctual and precise, often use a scientific approach that may result boring or too complicated for newbies.

For this reason I am starting this blog, with the hope of being in the condition of explaining and sharing, with a simple language, solid awareness towards "scuba diving good practices" to be implemented by divers but also by dive professionals in their day-to-day activity. In fact, I am strongly convinced that prior to thinking about becoming professionals, divers shall focus and work hard on responsible practices, aiming for excellence and learning correct protocols and skills. Only this way a professional can be a good example for his future students.

I’d like to say loud and clear that I am not here for teaching anybody and I am not so arrogant to tell people what they should do - or not do. I want this blog to be an opportunity of contribution to scuba diving good practices and I am happy to learn from all of your opinions, experiences and suggestions, whether you are a scuba professional or not!

Please feel free to contribute with your own comments and ideas!