A Trailside Guide: Scuba Diving

by Berger, Karen

• ISBN13: 9780393319446
• ISBN10: 039331944X
• Edition: 00
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-07-17
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Summary

Whether it's the balmy waters of a tropical coral reef, a wreck in Lake Michigan, the kelp forests of Monterey Bay, the icy waters of the North Sea, or the caves of a Florida spring, scuba diving is a way to explore the world beneath the surface.Trailside Scuba Diving is a comprehensive diving guide that includes all the information divers need to get started on this exciting sport. It reviews the information standard in all certification courses, with chapters on gear, diving planning, safety and first aid, the science of diving and how it affects the human body, diving techniques, the underwater environment, and using dive tables and computers. It also introduces divers to new opportunities and skills such as underwater photography, navigation, wreck diving, night diving, and cold-water diving.With an emphasis on safety and a respect for the underwater environment, author and diver Karen Berger introduces divers to a magical new world, and gives them the tools to pursue their exploration of "inner space."Consulting with author Karen Berger on this guide is the YMCA/Scuba program. The YMCA was the first agency to organize a nationwide course in scuba diver training and today offers one of the most thorough and comprehensive diver training programs available.

Table of Contents

Introduction	7	(2)
The Underwater World	9	(14)
Scuba: A Brief History	10	(2)
Recreational Diving	12	(3)
Kinds of Diving	14	(1)
Certification	15	(6)
How to Choose a Dive School	16	(1)
The Course	17	(4)
Continuing Education	21	(2)
Skin Diving	23	(18)
Gear	25	(12)
Masks	25	(3)
Keep Your Mask Down	28	(1)
If You Wear Eyeglasses	29	(1)
Snorkels	30	(1)
Snorkel Keepers	31	(1)
Fins	32	(1)
Avoid Fin Blisters	32	(2)
Equipment Care	34	(1)
Exposure Suits	35	(1)
Dive Flags and Floats	35	(1)
Weights	35	(1)
Keep Snorkels to Your Left	36	(1)
Snorkeling Vest	37	(1)
Techniques	37	(2)
Mask Clearing	37	(1)
Snorkel Clearing	37	(1)
Breath-Hold Diving Safety	38	(1)
Free-Diving	39	(2)
Breathing	39	(1)
Ups and Downs	39	(1)
Air Pressure and Free-Divers	40	(1)
Gearing Up	41	(34)
What to Wear	42	(3)
Body Suits	42	(1)
Wet Suits	43	(2)
Full Scuba Gear	45	(8)
Getting Dressed	46	(2)
Dry Suits	48	(1)
Which Suit Suits You?	49	(1)
Exposure Accessories	50	(1)
Suit Up Booties	50	(1)
Buddy, Can You Spare a Snorkel Keeper?	51	(1)
Maintaining Your Wardrobe	52	(1)
Snorkels, Masks, and Fins	53	(2)
Snorkels	53	(1)
Masks	53	(1)
Mask Strap	53	(1)
Fins	54	(1)
What's My Flipper Doing on Your Foot?	54	(1)
How You Breathe	55	(9)
Tanks	55	(1)
Maintaining Your Tanks and Valves	55	(2)
Valves	57	(1)
Regulators	58	(1)
What Do All Those Hoses Do?	59	(1)
Maintaining Your Regulator	60	(1)
Submersible Pressure Gauges	61	(1)
Information Instruments	62	(2)
Floating and Sinking	64	(4)
Buoyancy Compensator	64	(1)
BC Inflator/Deflator	65	(1)
Weights	66	(1)
Maintaining Your BC	66	(1)
How Much Weight Do I Need?	67	(1)
Accessories	68	(7)
Lights	68	(1)
Packing an Equipment Bag	69	(1)
Knives	70	(1)
Surface Float	70	(1)
Slates and Tables	71	(1)
Collecting Bag	72	(1)
To Rent or Buy?	72	(1)
Emergency Signaling Devices	73	(2)
Getting into the Water	75	(24)
Pre-Dive Safety Check	75	(2)
Entrances	77	(3)
Surface Swimming	80	(2)
Coping with Surface Conditions	80	(1)
Regulator Free Flow	80	(2)
Snorkel-to-Regulator Exchange	82	(1)
Descending	82	(3)
Position	83	(1)
Equalizing Your Ears	83	(1)
How to Descend	84	(1)
Equalizing	84	(1)
Rate	85	(1)
Using a Reference Line	85	(1)
Breathing	85	(4)
Air Consumption	85	(1)
The Primary Rule of SCUBA Diving	86	(1)
Deflating Your BC	87	(1)
Learning to Breathe	88	(1)
Retrieving Your Regulator	88	(1)
Airway Control	89	(1)
Moving Underwater	89	(1)
Buoyancy Control	90	(1)
Practicing Buoyancy Control	90	(1)
Ascending	91	(3)
Position	92	(1)
Rate of Ascent	92	(1)
Controlling Your Ascent	93	(1)
Ground Rules for Safe Diving	93	(1)
Out of Air!	94	(3)
Alternate Air Source	94	(1)
Your Buddy's Alternate Second Stage	94	(1)
Buddy Breathing on a Single Air Source	95	(1)
Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent	96	(1)
Exits	97	(2)
Natural Environments	97	(1)
Man-Made Environments	97	(2)
Dive Tables	99	(14)
Different Agencies	100	(1)
Dive Tables	101	(3)
How Long Can I Dive?	104	(6)
Single Dives	104	(1)
Repetitive Groups and Multiple Dives	105	(1)
Safety Stops	105	(1)
Surface Intervals	106	(1)
Repetitive Dives: Residual Nitrogen Time	107	(2)
Multiple Repetitive Dives	109	(1)
Minimum Surface Intervals	109	(1)
Dive Profiles	109	(1)
Decompression Stops	110	(3)
Rules for Multiple Dives	110	(1)
Flying After Diving	111	(2)
Health and Safety	113	(26)
Before You Dive	115	(2)
Dan (Divers Alert Network) First Aid Kit for SCUBA Divers	116	(1)
Diving First Aid	117	(11)
Seasickness	117	(1)
Sunburn	118	(1)
Oxygen	118	(1)
Hyperthermia and Dehydration	119	(2)
Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke	121	(1)
Hypothermia	121	(1)
Divers Alert Network	122	(1)
Overexertion	123	(1)
Cramps	124
Contaminated Air	123	(1)
Squeezes and Blocks	123	(1)
The ``Bends''	124	(1)
Relieving a Cramp	124	(2)
Lung Overexpansion	126	(1)
Nitrogen Narcosis	126	(1)
Oxygen Toxicity	127	(1)
Treating for Shock	127	(1)
Assisting a Diver	128	(4)
Distress Signals	128	(1)
Stress and Panic	129	(1)
Assisting a Tired Diver	129	(1)
Commonsense Safety	130	(1)
Under the Surface	131	(1)
Rescue Breathing	131	(1)
Marine Plants and Animals	132	(7)
First Aid for Stings	133	(1)
Stingers	134	(1)
Stabbers	135	(1)
Biters	136	(2)
Entanglement	138	(1)
Lacerations	138	(1)
Dive Smart	139	(26)
The Buddy System	139	(7)
Communicating with Your Buddy	141	(1)
Bottom Time and Your Buddy	142	(1)
Air Consumption and Your Buddy	143	(2)
Where'd She Go?	145	(1)
Solo Diving: A Warning	145	(1)
Where to Dive	146	(3)
Dive Centers	146	(1)
Know Before You Go: Questions to Discuss with Your Buddy	146	(2)
Independent Diving	148	(1)
Planning Major Trips	148	(1)
Conditions	149	(5)
Water Movement	150	(3)
Visibility	153	(1)
Sea-Floor Morphology	154	(2)
Bottom Composition	154	(1)
Temperature	155	(1)
Weather	155	(1)
Freshwater Considerations	155	(1)
Obstacles and Hazards	156	(1)
Diving Smart	156	(3)
Site Selection	156	(1)
Planning for Safety	157	(1)
Day of the Dive	157	(1)
At the Dive Site	158	(1)
Gear Check	158	(1)
Diving Your Plan	159	(1)
After the Dive	159	(1)
The Logbook	159	(2)
Leave-No-Trace Diving	161	(4)
Boat Protocol and Boat Diving Tips	161	(4)
Beyond the Basics	165	(45)
Navigation	166	(3)
Finding the Site	167	(1)
Underwater Navigation	167	(2)
Anatomy of a Dive Compass	169	(4)
The Out-and-Back Pattern	171	(1)
Finding Your Way	172	(1)
Underwater Photography	173	(7)
Photography Basics	174	(2)
Equipment	176	(2)
Good Photography	178	(1)
Caring for Equipment	179	(1)
Skills	179	(1)
Deep Diving	180	(5)
Hazards of Deep Diving	181	(1)
Equipment	181	(2)
Dive Deep, Dive Safe	183	(2)
Night Diving	185	(6)
Signing in The Dark	186	(1)
Training	187	(1)
Night-Diving Equipment	187	(2)
Night-Diving Techniques	189	(1)
Preventing Nightmares	189	(2)
Wreck Diving	191	(3)
Wreck-Diving Stategies	192	(1)
Wreck-Diving Hazards	193	(1)
Other Specialties	194	(1)
APPENDICES
The Science of Diving	195	(10)
Responsible Diver's Code	205	(3)
Glossary	208	(2)
Sources & Resources	210	(10)
Photo Credits	220	(1)
Index	221