Index

What Is SCUBA Diving?

What Is Skin Diving?

Certification

1. Course Organization
2. Your Certification Card
3. Continuing Education Courses

Common Misconceptions

1. Sharks
2. Running Out Of Air
3. Equipment Failure

The True Risks of Diving

1. Facing Your Apprehensions

Health and Fitness

1. Health Requirements

Masks

1. Mask Features
2. Optional Mask Features
3. Selecting a Mask
4. Defogging Your Mask
5. Rinsing Your Mask
6. Storing Your Mask
7. Inspecting Your Gear

Snorkels

1. Snorkel Features
2. Snorkel Size and Dead Air Space

Fins

1. Fin Styles
2. Fin Features & Components
3. Selecting The Correct Size Fins
4. Rinsing Your Fins
5. Storing Your Fins
6. Inspecting Fins

Wetsuits & Drysuits

1. Why Divers Wear Exposure Suits
2. Selecting an Exposure Suit
3. Skin Suits
4. Wetsuits
5. Sizing A Wetsuit
6. Wetsuit Styles
7. Wetsuit Thicknesses
8. Depth and Wetsuit Compression
9. Dry Suits
10. Using A Dry Suit
11. Hoods
12. Booties
13. Gloves
14. Exposure Suit Maintenance

Weight Systems

1. Why Divers Wear Weights
2. Hard Weights
3. Belts For Hard Dive Weights
4. Assembling Your Weight Belt
5. Soft Weights
6. Quick Release
7. Accessory Weights
8. Weight Belt Maintenance

Buoyancy Compensators

1. Essential BCD Features
2. Power Inflator
3. BCD Styles
4. Weight Integrated BCD
5. Selecting A BCD
6. Rinsing & Storing Your BCD
7. BCD Inspection

Scuba Tanks

1. Cylinder Materials
2. Capacity and Pressure
3. Cylinder Markings
4. Valves
5. "K" Valve
6. "J" Valve
7. DIN Valve
8. Rinsing And Storing Scuba Tanks
9. Filling Your Scuba Tanks
10. Cylinder Inspections

Regulators

1. First Stage
2. Second Stage
3. Reliability and Safety
4. Selecting A Regulator
5. Rinsing and Storing Your Regulator
6. Regulator Service & Inspections

Alternate Air Sources

1. Octopus
2. Integrated Air Sources
3. Pony Bottles

Gauges

1. Submersible Pressure Gauge (SPG)
2. Depth Gauge
3. Compass
4. Dive Timing Device
5. Dive Computers

Dive Accessories

1. Dive Knives
2. Dive Lights
3. Logbooks
4. Signaling Devices
5. Dive Flags
6. Spare Parts Kits
7. Gear Bags

The Buddy System

1. Finding a Dive Buddy
2. Qualities of a Good Dive Buddy

Hand Signals

1. Surface Hand Signals
2. Underwater Hand Signals
3. Using Hand Signals Effectively

Gear Assembly / Disassembly

1. Attaching Your Tank to the BCD
2. Attaching The Regulator
3. Opening the Cylinder
4. Testing the Scuba Unit
5. Stowing the Scuba Unit
6. Disassembling Your Scuba Unit

Site Assessment

Dive Plan

1. Emergency Plan
2. Dive Activity

Donning Your Gear

1. Donning Your Wetsuit
2. Donning Your Weight Belt
3. Donning Your Scuba Unit
4. Donning Your Mask and Fins

Buddy Checks

1. Reviewing Special Dive Procedures

Entry & Exit

1. Giant Stride Entry
2. Back Roll Entry
3. Seated Entry
4. Shore Entry
5. Water Exits
6. Boat Exits
7. Shore Exits

Equalization

Using Your Mask

1. Clearing Water From a Mask
2. Breathing Without A Mask
3. Removing and Replacing a Mask

Using Your Fins

1. Surface Swimming
2. The Flutter Kick
3. Dolphin Kick
4. Swimming With One Fin
5. Relieving Leg Cramps While Diving

Using Your Snorkel

1. Breathing Through Your Snorkel
2. Clearing Your Snorkel

Using Your Weight Belt

1. Removing Your Weight Belt
2. Replacing Your Weight Belt

Surface Dives

1. The Tuck Dive
2. The Pike Dive
3. Feet-First Dive
4. Surfacing From A Skin Dive

Using Your Regulator

1. Monitoring Your Air Supply
2. Clearing Your Regulator
3. Regulator and Snorkel Exchanges
4. The Sweep Regulator Recovery
5. The Reach Regulator Recovery
6. Breathing from a Free-Flowing Regulator

Using Your BCD

1. Maintaining Neutral Buoyancy
2. Using the BCD Oral Inflator
3. Removing Your BCD
4. Replacing Your BCD

Ascents & Descents

1. Descent Precautions
2. Descent Procedures
3. Ascent Precautions
4. Ascent Procedures

Navigation

1. Natural Navigation Aids
2. Using Your Compass
3. Setting a Reciprocal Course

Problem Solving

1. Responding to Incidents
2. Finding a Lost Dive Buddy
3. Underwater Entanglements
4. Air Starvation
5. Power Inflator Malfunction
6. Heat Loss
7. Overheating
8. Coughing and Choking Underwater
9. Seasickness
10. Underwater Disorientation
11. Out of Air Emergencies
12. Sharing an Alternate Air Source
13. Buddy Breathing
14. Emergency Swimming Ascent
15. Emergency Buoyant Ascent
16. Your Role as a Dive Buddy
17. Tired Diver Tows
18. Assisting Panicked Divers
19. Rescuing an Unconscious Diver

The Air Divers Breathe

1. The Composition of Air
2. The Density of Air
3. Measuring Scuba Cylinder Air Weight

Water Density

1. The Density of Water
2. Water and Refraction of Light
3. Water and Absorption of Color
4. Effects of Water Density on Sound
5. Effects of Water Density on Body Heat
6. Effects of Water Density on Drag

Buoyancy

1. Archimedes Principle
2. Three States of Buoyancy
3. Factors Affecting a Diver's Buoyancy
4. Weight and Buoyancy
5. Volume and Buoyancy
6. Breathing and Buoyancy

Pressure Underwater

1. Atmospheric Pressure
2. Gauge Pressure
3. Absolute Pressure
4. Absolute Pressure in Salt Water
5. Absolute Pressure in Fresh Water
6. Boyle's Law
7. Open Air Space Volume, Descent
8. Open Air Space Volume on Ascent
9. Pressure and Closed Air Spaces
10. Calculating Air Volume Changes
11. Pressure & Air Density
12. Depth & Air Consumption

Ear Injuries

1. Anatomy of the Ear
2. Middle Ear Squeezes
3. Ear Equalization Techniques
4. Health and Equalization
5. Preventing Ear Equalization Problems
6. Ear Reverse Blocks
7. Ascending With A Reverse Block
8. Treating Ear Injuries

Sinus Injuries

1. Sinus Squeezes
2. Sinus Reverse Blocks

Lung Injuries

1. Causes of Lung Overexpansion Injuries
2. Types of Lung Overexpansion Injuries
3. Pneumothorax
4. Mediastinal Emphysema
5. Subcutaneous Emphysema
6. Treating Lung Overexpansion Injuries

Pressure Related Injuries

1. Mask Squeezes
2. Tooth Squeezes & Reverse Blocks
3. Digestive System Reverse Blocks

Decompression Sickness

1. Ingassing & Offgassing
2. Dive Depth & Nitrogen Absorption
3. What Is Decompression Sickness
4. Factors That Increase Risk of Decompression Sickness
5. Symptoms of Decompression Sickness
6. Treating Decompression Sickness
7. Preventing Decompression Sickness

Gas Toxicities

1. Partial Pressure of Gasses
2. Oxygen Toxicity
3. Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Nitrogen Narcosis

1. Responding To Nitrogen Narcosis
2. Preventing Nitrogen Narcosis

Carbon Dioxide

1. Hypercapnia
2. Breathing Rate
3. The Danger of Skip Breathing

Shallow Water Blackout

1. Hyperventilation and Shallow Water Blackout
2. Preventing Shallow Water Blackout

Planning Your First Dive

1. Dive Planning Terms
2. The Dive Profile
3. Table 1 Overview
4. Dive Planning Rules
5. Maximum Dive Time
6. Exceeding Maximum Dive Times
7. End-of-Dive Letter Group

Surface Intervals

1. Surface Interval Terms
2. Residual Nitrogen
3. Table 2 Overview
4. Surface Interval Rules
5. Determining the Letter Group After a Surface Interval

Planning Repetitive Dives

1. Dive Planning Terms
2. Table 3 Overview
3. Adjusted Maximum Dive Time
4. Minimum Required Surface Interval
5. Repetitive Dive Letter Group
6. Residual Nitrogen Time
7. Total Nitrogen Time
8. Calculating Repetive Dive Letter Groups

Dive Computers

1. Benefits of Dive Computers
2. Using Dive Computers
3. Display Modes

Dive Sites

1. Coral Reefs
2. Kelp Forests
3. Rocky Reefs
4. Wharfs & Piers
5. Shipwrecks
6. Lakes

Dive Site Conditions

1. Tides
2. Swells
3. Surf
4. Surge
5. Currents
6. Longshore Currents
7. Rip Currents
8. Tidal Currents
9. Diving in Currents
10. Visibility
11. Diving In Low Visibility
12. Climate and Water Temperature
13. Upwelling
14. Thermocline
15. Bottom Composition
16. Bottom Contours

Underwater Life

1. Preventing Injuries From Aquatic Life
2. Animals That Bite
3. Animals The Sting
4. Animals With Spines
5. Animals That Cut And Scrape
6. Treating Aquatic Life Injuries
7. Negative Impacts of Diving
8. Effects of Poor Buoyancy Control
9. Abuse to Aquatic Life
10. Hunting & Collecting
11. Trash & Pollution
12. Positive Impacts of Diving

Advanced Scuba Diver

Nitrox

1. Benefits of Nitrox
2. Nitrox Requirements

Rescue Scuba Diver

Master Scuba Diver

First Aid & CPR

Diver Refresher Course

Local Diving Orientation

Specialty Dive Courses

Technical Diving Courses

Leadership Diving Courses