Scuba Confidential: An Insider's Guide to Becoming a Better Diver (The Scuba Series)

This is a nice read, with chapters and items easily organized and references throughout the book. It is a great source of General information source for many different dive disciplines, techniques, and etiquette. Some things I knew already, others learned for the first time, which I appreciated. This is a.Great place to start if you are considering photography, tech diving, or interfaces of the diving world. Other books abound with specific information for that particular branch of scuba.I learned a lot from this, as I had hoped: what to.expect on a liveaboard; what is a muck dive? Is a rebreather good for me? I'll be taking these hints and tips on how to be a better diver the next time I go out. Good luck, and Happy Diving!

This is truly a book for any diver interested in "becoming a better diver". I have a few hundred dives under my belt, and I learned a lot from this book. I wish there had been something like this for me to read after my initial certification 25 years ago.The book is full of safety tips, etiquette and lots more food for thought for the advancing diver. If you've been a dive professional (Divemaster/Instructor) for a long time, this may be old news, but there's good material in here for just about every other kind of diver. It's written in very clear and accessible language.The book also contains very up-to-date survey of the range of experiences the sport has to offer, from liveaboards to "muck diving", wreck diving, cave diving, rebreathers and more. The book does a great job at getting the reader excited about these pursuits while being realistic about the risks and dangers.Highly recommended.

The book is very lucid and packed with information. However, it began falling apart almost immediately. The binding stabilized after about 40 pages but the first 40 pages are loose leaves. This is unfortunate in that it should be a reference book rather than a discard.

I've dived for nearly fifty years so I'm in a good position to evaluate this book. I enjoyed it and agree with everything he says. Well done. Just one missing piece of info, though, which I have found to be a game changer. In the section on navigation Simon talks about observing the underwater terrain so that you can get back to base. That's certainly true, but I have used a far better method for years - an underwater homing beacon. You hang the sender on the anchor or shot line and you can make a bee line back every time. Of course you also use the common sense methods Simon recommends, but outside of caves and wrecks a sonar homing beacon trumps every other underwater navigation method in my experience.

This is a great book with alot of good knowledge. I finished it in a short time and plan to read it again. There is alot good points made and tips on becoming a better and safer diver. It goes into detail that isn't covered in many classes, Strongly recommend for anyone!

I’ve been diving for awhile…but haven’t dove in awhile… great book to brush up on things and even learn more advanced techniques and skills.

Hi all. Having previously read Scuba Fundamentals by the same author, I started reading this. I'm waiting for the PADI AOW Class next Spring. Aug 2023 I Passed the PADI OW Class. He has Lots of Information. Would be nice if he provided images of some of the stuff being referenced.

In view of the subtitle ("... becoming a better diver") the book contains bits of useful information but, overall, lacks depth and substance. Rather than touching upon a whole slew of subjects, many at superficial levels, it may have been better to select key topics to becoming a better diver and focus on them.The positives: Factoids such as, resistance of diving industry to technical diving and some of its advances after the early 90s, a case against the ubiquitous 1/4-turn practice, very slow breathing (4 breaths per minute), adopting the what-if mentality of technical divers, numbers pertaining to air depletion of free flowing tank at different depths, the discussion of black gases (esp. CO2) which covers aspects perhaps not sufficiently emphasized as it relates to oxygen toxicity and shallow water blackout, comprise useful material.I also liked the somewhat skeptical view of the dive industry (esp. PADI) projected in the author's writing and attitude. Their least common denominator approach, some point out, is not always conducive to promoting good diving skills.The negatives: the aforementioned material, at the depth covered, could have been effectively conveyed in about 20-30 pages. The rest is, more or less, tertiary filler material that's not particularly pertinent to becoming a better diver. An example of where depth is lacking: in the discussion of free flow, there is no mention (never mind discussion) of free flow due to the first stage freezing up. Deeper quarry diving or wreck diving in Lake Michigan at depths around 100 feet, temps can fall down to the 40s. As temps fall, even with the first stage environmentally sealed, it can freeze up leading to free flow.A mistake that divers can make is try to stop free flow by manipulating the second stage (useless), switch to an octopus (useless), or even try to alert and swim toward a buddy several feet away. The best approach, and requiring practice (part of what-if thinking), is to engage in a controlled ascent while sipping air from the free flowing second stage (which as page 197 points out won't last long). Try it. The air is very cold, so without practice it's easy to panic and deaths have resulted from such scenarios. In temperate waters, the situation is different.Another example: the book mentions cave diving (clearly a book such as this cannot do much justice to this highly technical subject matter and it is not attempting to) but little useful information is conveyed. In particular, the importance of buoyancy control, especially in silty environments is mentioned but almost nothing is mentioned about finning techniques to reduce stirring up silt. This is not only relevant to cave/wreck divers in overhead environments. Even for recreational divers who do not penetrate wrecks, when visibility is poor practicing good buoyancy control along with proper finning can significantly reduce silting. This, in turn, reduces the chance of losing sight of your buddy, among other potential dangers.These are but two obvious examples and essential components to becoming a better diver. The full list of important topics is much longer. For these reasons, the book may deserve 2 stars. However, the dearth of informative scuba diving books, comparatively, justifies bumping up the rating to 3 stars. The authors appears to be knowledgeable, and hopefully, in future revisions, the author will consider making major revisions to put out a significantly improved product.

Non patronising. Expert input. Very useful.

Tem muito a ver com meu hobbies.

A very nice reading for beginners. Found a lot of things that are not tough in classrooms. I am now better armed as to what to buy and what to look at when purchasing scuba items/accessories. After reading this, went to a pool session and the MD was impressed with my knowledge above the teaching material. It made me a more confident diver as I understand better the physiology of the sport. A recommended reading for anyone new and/or semi-advanced level of divers.

Review - Scuba confidential - Simon Pridmore - sandsmedia publishing, bali, indonesia - ISBN 978 - 1491049242I have just had the pleasure of reading most of this fine book - which i picked up from a a liveaboard library. I'll purchase it as soon as i return and also supply a copy to my dive shop, which has been looking after me for more than 15 yrs; i owe them this favourI have been diving since the late 80's, as a fanatic at first, DM in 1996, Nitrox 1999, but the last 20 yrs have been limited to one, sometime two liveaboards a year, so, intense diving for 10-14 days, then none for 8-10 months, year in year out without failNo problems, i pick my skills right up and have a fantastic time each trip, where all my "assumptions" go unchallenged, and i've survived without incident. I can't say this for many others i've encountered on these myriad trips, nothing serious, but some have made unfathomable errors all the sameThat's the context from which i approached this bookIt is for divers like me, and any diver who "knows how to dive" - not beginners ( i believe there is another book for them ((scuba fundamental- start diving the right way)),)What this wonderful book does in encourages and explains - not preaches!It goes through every mistake i've made, and more, then suggests not a remedy, but a prevention built on the clear explanation of why it happened in the first placeAs an emergency service worker i very very much enjoyed "breaking the chain", about empowering everyone to speak up if they perceive any threat"An out of air emergency - what really happens" happened to me 10 yrs ago in the maldives, fortunatly i kept my mask, helped the distressed diver to the surface with little more affect than his acute embarassment for a day or so, but i could've done better - a tough section, but it happens, and i intend to survive it should it happen againThe "something is wrong feeling" on deep dives also hit homeThe reassessment of your buoyancy "lose that weight" a few dives into the trip was also a welcome refresher, and i took off another kg to great effect - thanks for the reminderI was tempted to knock the book off, but that would be criminal, especially as it's addition to the library has already made me a better diver, and to deny that gift to the next person who picks it up would be very "un-buddy" likeNow I've brought the book, I'll add it to my dive treasures, like all those clips and bit n'pieces which i've built up over the decades, safely stored away which are then first packed for each new tripGreat read and great value in the way it coaches me to dive safer and with far more enjoyment ( especially considering the cost of liveaboards)Fabulous book, thank youPeter [Lukey] - MelbourneP.S. "Assumptions"? Did you know that the safe bottom for Nitrox 32% is 32m., not what i always assumed it was

The book gives insights that every dive should have... it would be so much easier for us dive customers and dive guides if scuba dives knew the tips of this book!It was helpful for me and I am sure that I will be re reading it from time to time