OC and Rebreather Divers: Quick Quiz
EVERY DIVE SHOULD START WITH A {please fill in the correct answer} A good pre-dive checklist must include all the usual suspects: from being correctly weighted to following a sensible dive plan. That’s a given and a piece of advice that every diver should follow without fail. However, a GREAT pre-dive checklist has all that but also includes everyone performing an S-drill before venturing any deeper than five or six metres. So, if you included S-Drill or Safety Drill in your answer, you win. Congratulations. Most RAID-trained divers know that an S-Drill is an essential pre-dive skill that confirms everyone in the dive team can safely and quickly hand-off a working second stage (and the breathing gas it delivers) to a diver who is out of gas — simulated or real. The exercise — completed in a few moments and more than worth the small time investment it takes — certainly makes sure that gas can be shared with a buddy cleanly and quickly in a time of stress. It also confirms that backup regulator hoses are free and untangled, and not caught in other peices of equipment. A properly performed S-Drill has the added advantage of checking equipment is bubble-free (no leaks), and that every diver in the team have no issue maintaining buoyancy control and trim while the skill is performed. (Which in turn confirms there are no issues with BCDs or wings.) Once something only cave divers bothered to do, at RAID, the S-Drill is considered an essential skill for every diver (except freedivers). It’s appropriate for all diving environments, and for divers planning to take their adventures to every depth. The take-home message, RAID certified diver or not, please make sure you include an S-Drill in your pre-dive checks every time you dive. Watch the videos linked to below for tips and demonstrations of standards open water S-Drills.
“Well that explains everything…”
With RAID, You Know What You’re Getting…
AND YOU CAN TELL US WHAT YOU GOT We’ve really tried hard to let divers know exactly what to expect from a RAID class… from an entry-level, open water diver whose adventure is just starting, all the way to a CCR cave diver exploring the darkness 100 metres deep. It starts with FREe-Learning. FREe-Learning opens access to every RAID manual in our library. (Just to be clear, that includes core programs, freediving courses, recreational, DM, Instructor, technical… everything: even the end of chapter quizzes.) And yes, it’s free, and you’re invited! And, not only is it free, it’s ultra convenient too because if you like what you see, the online system lets you pick a local RAID dive centre and sign up for the class on the spot. {LINK} But, all that aside, we also try hard to make sure you (every student for every class in fact) get value for your time and money. At the end of a RAID class, there is a short questionnaire. It lists the skills required by our class standards, and asks if all of them were covered in the class. It’s a basic quality assurance to make sure you got what you paid for. The final piece is an online logbook for each student to log their dives. Certainly, logging the dives associated with the class they just finished, but the app is available anytime for any dive. RAID is about skill-based learning… AKA competency-based learning. We put strong emphasises the importance of practical skills and diver competence throughout a student’s long-term development with the agency. RAID goes beyond traditional knowledge-based learning, which primarily focuses on theory and information retention. Our approach aims to create divers who are committed, confident, and comfortable. That’s The RAID Way™ and that’s our promise.
“Is that climb a grade 3 or 4?”
DOES DIVING HAVE A COMPARABLE SCALE TO WHAT ROCK CLIMBERS USE TO GAUGE THE DIFFICULTY OF A CLIMB… The short answer is: ‘Nope!” Followed by a pause and: “Well, not really.” Then there is another pause, pursed lips and a finger pointing skyward: “Hummm, actually, to tell the truth, it’s a long story…” Okay. So, when one thinks about it, there is no short answer. The situation is way more complex and the only answer is a hybrid one. Any climber, or downhill skier, can tell a lot about a rock or ice climb, or a ski run, from the grade it’s given. These grades are published and shared within each respective community freely. For example, a double black diamond at Whistler Blackcomb has a big sign at its entrance telling skiers what it is. They know the run is going to be a physical workout and a test of their skills before they point their skis or snowboard down it. Dive sites don’t have that. Along similar lines, an active ice climber knows that without the right experience and gear, attempting grade 3 ice has the potential to maim or kill. Divers are not quite so lucky. We are left to our devices when it’s time to compare our skills, the kit we’re wearing, our recent experience and cert level, with what the dive site requires. But there’s a lot of, what an engineer would call slop in that method. Essentially, there’s enough play in the moving parts that efficiency is lost. Efficiency is lost and there’s more. For example, do the challenges of an ocean wreck dive remain constant or are there variables at play… many of them hidden from the surface observer. Equivalent environmental variables are more apparent to a climber or skier. They can see and feel them BEFORE they set out. Divers have to guess. What complicates the issue in the diving world is we too often equate difficulty with depth, and depth alone. This is a simplistic comparison, yet divers and dive instructors commonly make it. By default, a trimix dive is classified as more dangerous than a nitrox dive, and both are said to be more risky than a 10 metre bimble on a tropical reef off Cozumel. But is that true? Can’t a diver suffer lung overexpansion ascending from 10 metres? Can’t a diver drown in 10 metres of water and be just as dead as one who drowned two or three times as deep? There is no argument that a trimix dive may be more complicated than the others. And convention suggests each requires a different level of experience (and certification). But is it that alone that makes one more dangerous than another? Is one really more risky while the other two and are both risk free? Certainly, swimming around the USS Oriskany’s sail and flight deck most would consider less dangerous than penetrating the wreck, but is that open water dive actually safer than a Cenote dive in Dos Ojos, Mexico, for example? Is one the equivalent of a blue ski run and the other a green one; or are they both the same as a grade 3 scramble up a mountain in the Dolomites? I’m reluctant to say. Oddly enough, it’s not unusual for an diver with just an OW20 to swim in a Cenote, but a dive below 20 metres requires additional work. Is that acceptable? It must be, since that’s what the community supports. But does the “slop” that’s present in the way we classify dive risk, correct and acceptable… in all cases… for every dive site? The truth is that divers are more of less left to “self-police” when they decide whether they have the chops to successfully dive a specific site. After all, there are no warning signs bobbing around on the surface. Perhaps that’s part of the attraction. But perhaps not. Maybe dive sites should be classified and signposted. Do divers have it wrong or are climbers and skiers living in a fool’s paradise? Lots of questions. The bottom line, then, has to be proceed with caution. Every dive has the potential to be a double black diamond or grade 4 ice. And the smartest approach is to treat them as such.
Comfort Reimagined
Diving with an OCEAN REEF Integrated Diving Mask is a totally new experience and brings a different vision to your underwater adventures. Full face masks offer greater safety and comfort, especially in cold or dirty water. For ice-diving, they are the closest thing to a ‘must-have.’ And they are often part of a public safety diver’s basic kit. But they have plenty of benefits for day-to-day sport diving as well. A IDM gives divers a clearer and broader field of view, and breathing with a full face mask is extremely comfortable because the diver can breathe more naturally than with a traditional scuba second stage—through their nose! Another benefit for instructors (and other divers too) is the option of fitting the OCEAN REEF IDM with communications. Being able to communicate with students, one-way or duplex brings a whole new dimension to confined-water training. Ask your local RAID dive centre about the RAID IDM program and the features and benefits of OCEAN REEF’s flexible, feature-packed, and revolutionary IDM. While you’re talking, ask about how easy it is to make your IDM fully customized with useful and functional accessories. #TheRAIDWay™
What does “global acceptance” mean exactly?
The RAID Way™ in action Compared to some of the original diver certification agencies (the dive industry’s granny and grandpa companies), RAID is a relative newcomer with a little more than a seven-year history. However, in that time we’ve earned a reputation for delivering quality instruction, respecting student safety above the almighty dollar, and delivering excellent customer service. All this while providing an innovative and inclusive learning environment, and providing our members with rock-solid support. We call this ‘bringing positive change to the dive industry’ because investing more time in instructor/student interactions, and paying attention to a student’s in-water comfort and skills, translates into happy divers who keep diving. Our organisation (Dive RAID International) is diver owned and operated. We’re not a faceless corporation: RAID is about our customers and teaching them to enjoy scuba and freediving while respecting the marine environment… and them As part of our business ethos, RAID is an active member of several organizations which serve as “industry watchdogs.” These act in a sort of supervisory role when it comes to training standards. Being a member of WRSTC, a regional RSTCs, ISO, EUF, et al. means our courses meet and exceed certain minimum standards. And our training practices, certification levels, and course content is well above average. Working to a higher benchmark helps to protect our students, as well as the excellent professionals who teach for us. There are more than 100 training agencies in the world but the vast majority of diving certs (scuba and freediving) are issued by “the Big Seven:” BSAC, CMAS, NAUI, PADI, RAID, SDI/TDI, and SSI. And for the most part, this group are the backbone of the scuba diving industry, and make up the core membership of those watchdog organisations. One thing that the Big Seven agree upon is that we recognize each other’s certifications. That’s one of the benefits of membership and a sort of quid pro quo for the fees we all pay to be members. This means that a diver who’s earned a e-Card from XYZ agency, can dive with a dive operator or shop that’s affiliated with ABC agency. At the agency headquarters level, there is a true understanding of this respectful agreement and in day-to-day operations, the training department at one agency might speak to the folks in the training department of a “rival” agency several times a month. We get along because there’s strength and stability behind this level of cooperation. However, there are dive operators, dive shops, resorts, freelance instructors, even live-abords who determine to NOT follow the rules and break that arrangement. They insist that whatever agency logo they have on their door is the only one that’s any good and they refuse to recognize any other. RAID sees this as a false dichotomy: false logic. We respect choice, and we respect attention to safety and compliance regardless of agency affiliation. Of course, we understand that dive shops and instructors may have personal reasons for showing a bias, and they are free to conduct business however they wish. But we will continue to suggest to our growing network of RAID dive centres, outstanding professionals, and business partners that, respecting our sister agencies certifications is good business, and boosts the reputation of the whole industry in the consumer’s eyes. Stay safe and dive often!
Lungfish Rebreather Training with RAID + Paul Toomer
Although our focus at RAID has drifted more towards the recreational/sport diving end of the dive agency spectrum in the past few years, we do have a pretty solid grounding in breathers and offering CCR training. Right now we are excited that one of our senior staff Tech Examiners and one-time president, Paul Toomer, has been appointed a factory-sanctioned instructor for the Lungfish CCR. “It has been so enjoyable working with the Lungfish team and Dave Gration putting the course materials together. “I am so excited about the release of this course and we are super excited to train the first wave of RAID Lungfish divers.” Paul Toomer. The Lungfish CCR is a late-generation unit with a “travel weight” of around 10 kgs (less bulky than a traditional twinset), and which can be configured for lightweight or expedition diving. For more information about this innovative , compact unit, visit the WEBSITE>>> To speak with Paul about training on the unit for RAID, email him: paul@diveraid.com.
This isn’t the Vatican… off your knees, please!
WHY WE MAKE SUCH A BIG DEAL ABOUT BUOYANCY (AND TRIM) You may have heard that students in RAID Open Water 20 programs (and beyond) are expected to demonstrate skills while neutrally buoyant. What skills? All of ’em: mask removal, second-stage recovery, gas sharing, all of ’em. And it’s easier than you think. So, what exactly do we mean by: “while neutrally buoyant”? We mean, floating in the water column and not touching the bottom, the sides, a piece of rope; nothing. Simply put, no kneeling on the bottom of the pool, in the sand, or anywhere else. Just floating and looking like a correctly-trained diver. We’re told that some instructors teaching for other agencies are not so picky. Ours are mindful of the environment—kneeling on some little critter or disturbing its home is not nice—and want to make the diving experience as enjoyable as possible. And that means for our students, but also from the creatures whose environment we visit when we dive. Controlling buoyancy and being in trim (which usually means being able to hold a more or less horizontal body position in the water) has a bunch of benefits besides respecting the environment. Above all, it makes swimming easier for the diver, and results in them using less gas, which results in longer and less tiring, more enjoyable dives. So, that’s why RAID makes a big deal about buoyancy and trim. Those two skills go hand-in-hand and make diving more fun, divers more relaxed, and mean any impact divers have on the environment, including the creatures who live in it, is kept to a minimum. Interested to learn more? Contact your local RAID dive center. They can start you right or, if you are already a certified diver who was taught it’s Okay to kneel, they can help you kick the habit. SEARCH HERE>>>
Twinsets are not just for technical diving!
Diving with two cylinders used to be the sign of a hard-core technical diver but that’s old-school when nitrox was considered “technical.” RAID‘s new program encourages any diver to enjoy the comforting feeling of having “tonnes of gas.” Twinset Foundations (diving with doubles) is a totally new program is the RAID catalogue. It is RAID‘s answer to delivering formalized training for divers who want to learn the safe and responsible way to use this classic kit configuration for any type of diving. In effect, twinset foundations opens up diving with redundant gas to the whole diving community. Designed as a valuable standalone for anyone who wishes to understand and enjoy the benefits of extending their bottom time, having a second first stage ready to deliver gas, and learning how to plan their dives to take full advantage of these benefits. This course may also be combined with other RAID courses and will become a prerequisite for students wishing to use twinsets on advanced decompression courses and overhead programs (much like our existing sidemount course). RAID‘s focus in 2023 will be on launching more programs aimed at the broader recreational market, and we view this brand-new program as a perfect fit for that promise to you and your dive centres. The full standards follow this introduction to the new course but its key points are: combination of confined water training to work on and show mastery of required skills, with at least two open water dives logging three hours or more in-water time. This course is available to any open water 20 certified diver who is 15 years old. Take a look at the current standards for this RAID course here>>>
