Hello from LA

TomR · July 28th, 2006, 12:15 AM

Hey Everybody,

My name is Tom and I live in Long Beach, CA. I've been diving the last few years fairly regularly, got about 175 dives under my belt. Anyway, I just passed DIR-F (rec rating). I'm hoping to continue learning, up my skills and meet some like-minded buddies along the way. Let me know if anyone wants to get a group together to dive in the LA area.

Tom

**neilh** · July 28th, 2006, 09:24 AM

Hey Tom, welcome to the board!

I'd love to join you for some dives... but you're a little too far away

Good luck on getting the valve drill nailed - a lot of us have been there!! I don't know what you're struggling with, but I spent several happy evenings sitting on the floor watching TV in my twinset whilst doing shutdown drills

You don't necessarily need to be underwater to practice - it just needs understanding friends and family!!

wilbo · July 28th, 2006, 09:47 AM

Hey Tom - welcome to the boards..

There's a wealth of information on here.. enjoy!

GLOC · July 28th, 2006, 10:51 AM

Quote: (Originally Posted by neilh)

Hey Tom, welcome to the board!

I'd love to join you for some dives... but you're a little too far away

Good luck on getting the valve drill nailed - a lot of us have been there!! I don't know what you're struggling with, but I spent several happy evenings sitting on the floor watching TV in my twinset whilst doing shutdown drills

You don't necessarily need to be underwater to practice - it just needs understanding friends and family!!

I agree, I sat there with a BP and tins and just ran through the drills until I had them sorted. Bit weird, but if that is what it takes to get the muscle memory there, go on and do it.

Welcome BTW!!

wilbo · July 28th, 2006, 11:03 AM

Quote: (Originally Posted by GLOC)

I agree, I sat there with a BP and tins and just ran through the drills until I had them sorted. Bit weird, but if that is what it takes to get the muscle memory there, go on and do it.

Welcome BTW!!

yes.. he is well known in the village as the man who walks around looking like a member of SO19/SWAT/a Counter Terrorist unit* mumbling mantras to himself. The speedos really ruin the image though..

*delete as applicable

GLOC · July 28th, 2006, 11:05 AM

Quote: (Originally Posted by wilbo)

*delete as applicable

Deleted

marine521 · July 28th, 2006, 01:20 PM

Hey TomR welcome!! Enjoy your stay here!!!

limeyx · July 28th, 2006, 04:44 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by TomR)

Hey Everybody,

My name is Tom and I live in Long Beach, CA. I've been diving the last few years fairly regularly, got about 170 dives under my belt. Anyway, I took the DIR-F class in May and still need to pass the valve drill. I'm hoping to up my skills and meet some like-minded buddies along the way. Let me know if anyone wants to get a group together to dive in the LA area.

Tom

Welcome.
There are a growing number of us in the area

(For some reason your profile says you are in Florida tho...)

TomR · July 31st, 2006, 10:26 PM

Hey Everybody,

Just checking in to let you know that I passed the drill and got checked out for DIR-F this weekend. I originally took the class up in Monterey and couldn't reach my valve. I've been stretching a lot over the last couple of months and I made some equipment mods: smaller diameter tank (I was using a fat 120), ditched the single tank adapter, used my wetsuit instead of the drysuit. Anyway, now I can reach the valve no problem so I passed. I don't mind ditching the tank adapter, but I want to add the drysuit back into the mix. Since I changed so many things, I'm not sure what fixed my problem. Hopefully it was the single tank adapter and the stretching since those are the cheapest fixes. We'll see as I start adding back the potential problem components.

Tom

TobinGeorge · July 31st, 2006, 10:38 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by TomR)

Hey Everybody,

Just checking in to let you know that I passed the drill and got checked out for DIR-F this weekend. I originally took the class up in Monterey and couldn't reach my valve. I've been stretching a lot over the last couple of months and I made some equipment mods: smaller diameter tank (I was using a fat 120), ditched the single tank adapter, used my wetsuit instead of the drysuit. Anyway, now I can reach the valve no problem so I passed. I don't mind ditching the tank adapter, but I want to add the drysuit back into the mix. Since I changed so many things, I'm not sure what fixed my problem. Hopefully it was the single tank adapter and the stretching since those are the cheapest fixes. We'll see as I start adding back the potential problem components.

Tom

Congrats on passing Tom.

I dive occasionally at Vets and in OC, perhaps we can get together for a dive.

Tobin

Tobin

July 28th, 2006, 12:15 AM	#1 (permalink)
TomR(Offline) New Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: California Posts: 4	Hello from LA Hey Everybody, My name is Tom and I live in Long Beach, CA. I've been diving the last few years fairly regularly, got about 175 dives under my belt. Anyway, I just passed DIR-F (rec rating). I'm hoping to continue learning, up my skills and meet some like-minded buddies along the way. Let me know if anyone wants to get a group together to dive in the LA area. Tom Last edited by TomR; July 31st, 2006 at 10:49 PM.

July 28th, 2006, 09:47 AM	#3 (permalink)
wilbo(Offline) Chimp 4 Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Swindon, UK Posts: 877	Hey Tom - welcome to the boards.. There's a wealth of information on here.. enjoy! __________________ Cheers! Wilbo DIR explorers: DIR Yorkshire Divers: YorkshireDivers One of the Foxturd chimps

July 28th, 2006, 10:51 AM	#4 (permalink)
GLOC(Offline) Moderator Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Fleet, Hants Posts: 1,994	Quote: (Originally Posted by neilh) Hey Tom, welcome to the board! I'd love to join you for some dives... but you're a little too far away Good luck on getting the valve drill nailed - a lot of us have been there!! I don't know what you're struggling with, but I spent several happy evenings sitting on the floor watching TV in my twinset whilst doing shutdown drills You don't necessarily need to be underwater to practice - it just needs understanding friends and family!! I agree, I sat there with a BP and tins and just ran through the drills until I had them sorted. Bit weird, but if that is what it takes to get the muscle memory there, go on and do it. Welcome BTW!! __________________ Gareth Images of Life Photography DIR Team Foxturd Travels Underwater and Further Afar If you don't have the time to do something right, where are you going to find the time to fix it? - Stephen King

July 28th, 2006, 11:03 AM	#5 (permalink)
wilbo(Offline) Chimp 4 Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Swindon, UK Posts: 877	Quote: (Originally Posted by GLOC) I agree, I sat there with a BP and tins and just ran through the drills until I had them sorted. Bit weird, but if that is what it takes to get the muscle memory there, go on and do it. Welcome BTW!! yes.. he is well known in the village as the man who walks around looking like a member of SO19/SWAT/a Counter Terrorist unit* mumbling mantras to himself. The speedos really ruin the image though.. *delete as applicable __________________ Cheers! Wilbo DIR explorers: DIR Yorkshire Divers: YorkshireDivers One of the Foxturd chimps

July 28th, 2006, 11:05 AM	#6 (permalink)
GLOC(Offline) Moderator Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Fleet, Hants Posts: 1,994	Quote: (Originally Posted by wilbo) delete as applicable Deleted __________________ Gareth Images of Life Photography* DIR Team Foxturd Travels Underwater and Further Afar If you don't have the time to do something right, where are you going to find the time to fix it? - Stephen King

July 28th, 2006, 09:24 AM	#2 (permalink)
neilh (Online) Haemoglobin on the bus... Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Barnsley, UK Posts: 1,900	Hey Tom, welcome to the board! I'd love to join you for some dives... but you're a little too far away Good luck on getting the valve drill nailed - a lot of us have been there!! I don't know what you're struggling with, but I spent several happy evenings sitting on the floor watching TV in my twinset whilst doing shutdown drills You don't necessarily need to be underwater to practice - it just needs understanding friends and family!!

July 28th, 2006, 01:20 PM	#7 (permalink)
marine521(Offline) New Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Athens Posts: 61	Hey TomR welcome!! Enjoy your stay here!!! __________________ Hellenic Underwater Times: Everything is Different Down Under

July 28th, 2006, 04:44 PM	#8 (permalink)
limeyx(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 708	Quote: (Originally Posted by TomR) Hey Everybody, My name is Tom and I live in Long Beach, CA. I've been diving the last few years fairly regularly, got about 170 dives under my belt. Anyway, I took the DIR-F class in May and still need to pass the valve drill. I'm hoping to up my skills and meet some like-minded buddies along the way. Let me know if anyone wants to get a group together to dive in the LA area. Tom Welcome. There are a growing number of us in the area (For some reason your profile says you are in Florida tho...) __________________ my divelog: http://www.mydivinglife.com/limeyx

July 31st, 2006, 10:26 PM	#9 (permalink)
TomR(Offline) New Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: California Posts: 4	Passed the valve drill! Hey Everybody, Just checking in to let you know that I passed the drill and got checked out for DIR-F this weekend. I originally took the class up in Monterey and couldn't reach my valve. I've been stretching a lot over the last couple of months and I made some equipment mods: smaller diameter tank (I was using a fat 120), ditched the single tank adapter, used my wetsuit instead of the drysuit. Anyway, now I can reach the valve no problem so I passed. I don't mind ditching the tank adapter, but I want to add the drysuit back into the mix. Since I changed so many things, I'm not sure what fixed my problem. Hopefully it was the single tank adapter and the stretching since those are the cheapest fixes. We'll see as I start adding back the potential problem components. Tom

July 31st, 2006, 10:38 PM	#10 (permalink)
TobinGeorge (Online) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Southern California Posts: 568	Quote: (Originally Posted by TomR) Hey Everybody, Just checking in to let you know that I passed the drill and got checked out for DIR-F this weekend. I originally took the class up in Monterey and couldn't reach my valve. I've been stretching a lot over the last couple of months and I made some equipment mods: smaller diameter tank (I was using a fat 120), ditched the single tank adapter, used my wetsuit instead of the drysuit. Anyway, now I can reach the valve no problem so I passed. I don't mind ditching the tank adapter, but I want to add the drysuit back into the mix. Since I changed so many things, I'm not sure what fixed my problem. Hopefully it was the single tank adapter and the stretching since those are the cheapest fixes. We'll see as I start adding back the potential problem components. Tom Congrats on passing Tom. I dive occasionally at Vets and in OC, perhaps we can get together for a dive. Tobin Tobin __________________ http://www.deepseasupply.com