Top 10 Pro Diver Skills & Traits #scuba #top10 @ScubaDiverMagazine

Thanks Mark, great video as always.
When I started diving I was told “If you buy cheap, you’ll buy twice”. Sounds like good advice, but is it really?

For example dive computers. It can be difficult for a new diver to see what the difference is between a Shearwater Perdix 2 (€1300), a Shearwater Peregrine (€580) and a Cressi Leonardo (€150)?
From a novice divers point of view they all do the same job.

The same goes for BCDs, Octos pretty much everything … I spent days (weeks) reading reports, reviews (watching your videos) and taking to divers before investing in mine..

Finally a Pro Tip from my friend who is a MD. Ask yourself the question “does your life depend on it?” If the answer is yes, spend as much as you can afford on that item. Concentrate on your regulators, BCD, dive computer before you worry about which snazzy pair of fins will look best with your new wetsuit.

During my DM training ( and previous work ) Plan everything out. I’m If I’m doing a course, be it at the pool or open water, I arrive 30 mins – 2 hours before students to go over my kit, check conditions and do a check dive if possible. Myself and another DM where doing a check dive at swanage pier prior to students turning up, and we voiced concerns about the current & swell to the shops Master Instructor. It ended up being 1 student per PRO level diver, where as the instructor could usually handle 4 students herself. We aired on the side of caution due to the experience and trust within the team.

Some of these traits apply elsewhere as well. I’m a skydiver and acrobatic pilot. In my case, any error no matter its degree, can result in my death. Pre flight checks of my parachute or aircraft is essential. Things happen quickly in the sky, and it needs to be fixed within a few seconds or less otherwise it will literally spiral out of control. SCUBA is arguably much more tame but a similar mindset is still necessary. Keep calm, asses the situation, and execute based on your training and experience.

Pro diver tip: warch mark’s Videos

I Learned since my Rescue course, 5 Years ago that im not the best diver but I can survive, I know what I’m doing and be able to help others :D
Now I’m a Padi OWSI here in Germany and I learned that our hobby is f*cking expensive 😂

Now serious:
Establishing a routine is really important for me. When I’m assembling and checking my gear I don’t wanna get disturbed.
The next best thing, I Learned from you Mark: Emotional support BoltSnap.
I really try to have one in my pocket from the W7 or D9X just in case… And at the IE it safed one of my team mates because there shoulder buckle got damaged during rescue 7. And with the BoltSnap he was able to secure it so he can make the evaluation.

Hi, Second recent mention of the frog quick. Second recent suggestion of a frog kick video. 🐸 #askmark

#ASKMARK Thanks, as always, for the great videos. One of the best resources out there I’ve found so please keep up the great work! My question has to do with breathing (something it seems to me is another bit trait of pro divers, particularly as it relates to buoyancy). Most of the agencies talk about breathing “normally” or taking deep, steady, breaths and/or exhaling fully, but it seems to me this very much skips over why we need breath control and, in particular, using breathing for buoyancy control. I’ve watched many dive videos and if you count how long a particular, professional, calm, neutrally buoyant and in trim diver breathes in versus breathing out even those can be vastly different (and not at all which I would think of as a normal, calm, breathing cycle). For example sitting here calmly now I may breath in for, say 4 seconds to maybe 40 or 50 percent of my lung capacity and exhale for another 4 seconds with a pause for another second before inhaling again. While not always consistent I often see where it would appear a diver might be somewhat consistently breathing in for 5 seconds and then breath out for all of maybe 2 seconds while staying perfectly still in their buoyancy and trim. Is there something I’m missing as to why that might be the case instead of a steady rhythm?

I would further note that normal breathing doesn’t use our full lung capacity. At the bottom of my breathing cycle I can force exhale more air from my lungs (and sometimes do when getting under from the surface or to lower my current depth a bit) and breath a bit more shallow to change depths. Conversely at the upper end I could sip in more air than a full breath would consist of, although I don’t see too many reasons for doing that and it has the potential for being a bit dangerous as you are likely ascending in that case and wouldn’t want air expanding in the lungs like that. When trying to get neutral since my normal breathing cycle is at the lower end of lung capacity should I be aiming to be neutral while breathing in that range of my lungs, or should I aim for breathing more in the middle of my capacity instead to give extra “room” to exhale more to go deeper if needed? I rarely see any discussion, at least not on most videos on buoyancy or any of the training I’ve seen or even in the Perfect Buoyancy class I’ve had with SSI that really talks about the in-depth details of lung capacity and vast range we have in how we breath and how to optimize that for diving, only what I had noted above and that we can use our lungs as our primary BCD for maintaining buoyancy. Well if it’s a primary tool why don’t we see more details about how to really use that tool?

Most of my diving has been off the east coast of FL. Usually fairly short distance to sites. So, as soon as everyone is onboard and equipment stowed, I assemble and check my gear. This way I have plenty of time to fix equipment for myself or other’s. And not dealing with the mass of people trying to get ready latter.

Pre-dive briefs and post-dive debriefs are critical to understanding and learning. Check lists are intended to slow you down so you don’t miss something important. Proper diet, hydration and fitness.