What have you learned in the last year, regardless of how long you have been diving?

[dumpsterDiver]

This year I learned that many divers, (even experienced ones), will not take a rational look at their own diving practices and gear configurations until they have lost a good friend to a diving accident.

 

[downdeep]

I've been diving since 1998.
I learned Murphy's Law of diving this year - when you plan to do that deep advanced wreck dive you've never done before, your reg (that was just serviced 10 dives ago) is sure to fail on the shallow reef dive the previous day, forcing you to use rental gear.
Then there will be a ripping current running across the wreck and you will surely be placed on a dive boat with a group of cave diving, rebreather certified members of the media who each have each logged at least 5,000 hrs underwater and will be writing a story about this particular wreck - hopefully not about how you got swept off of it and lost at sea.
No pressure there at all.

 

[caseybird]

Adapted to BP and long hose, got my weighting and trim together. Deep, dark and cold is cool.

 

[SDE Dennis]

I learned that if your computer don't reset after every dive to make sure you change it to air after using Nitrox. I did a dive in the keys at about 100 ft. on my ascent I remembered that I never reset my computer to air and I was down my maximum stay. When I got to 50 feet I started decompression stops for every 10 ft I did five minutes. I wasn't sure of my deco time and I thought this would definitely be enough.

 

[LiteHedded]

finally got my weighting nailed and totally trimmed out. hence my hoovering DRAMATICALLY decreased

 

[Skookumchuck]

Slow down. Even after 17 years of cold water diving I still find myself pushing too hard to get in, do the dive and get back up whatever hill we've decided to scuba hike.

 

[opalobsidian]

I've learned that...

A little bit of water in your mask can be your best friend for washing away persistant perma-fog

if you break a nail diving in Cozumel and get it repaired by the nail shop over by Especias, that within a few days you can have an impressive fungus farm growing under the repaired nail

the DM you have today will most likely tell you the info you got from yesterday's DM is completely wrong

 

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

This year I learned that many divers, (even experienced ones), will not take a rational look at their own diving practices and gear configurations until they have lost a good friend to a diving accident.

Dumpster, that is a most wise observation. We would all do well to remember this bit of wisdom as we plan each dive.

 

[marshallkarp]

I have learned that I look forward to checking in on the ScubaBoard everyday and keeping tabs on my friends and dive buddies.

 

[Txfirefighter4305]

Ok, you really need to elaborate on this one...

puking through a regulator...