Pace of Cave Diving Instructional Progress

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SNIP
Tao, can't say much as I did the same as you. However I know I wasn't very smart for doing it. I personally pulled an ow diver out of a safe cavern after stuff went wrong and he was going to drown. Luckily I was prepared. Be safe and welcome to the addiction.

I know man, thanks for your concern. But we would not be there if we were not taking every precaution we could, and did not avail ourselves of every useful drill to make us that much safer. A great many OW divers enter those caves treating it as they would any OW dive, now following the rule of thirds, not having proper lighting, or any sort of redundancy, not staying near their buddy...there are a myriad of ways an OW diver can muck up an OW dive, and that applies to "OW safe" cavern dives. Most people our your touristy sort of divers. They enter with the wrong mindset. When I enter those caverns, its to learn and drill, until every motion is by memory. My son knows that every dive will come with drills attached to it.

Using Ginnie Springs for instance; When we are in new territory, we never drill in overhead. I reinforce that by telling him, no drills here, its all real here. That way, he knows, if things went sideways, there is no doubt, it's not a drill. But if its a cavern we've dove many times, like Ginnie, Devils Den, or Blue Grotto and our orientation inside is without doubt, then we drill. and we did no mask drills of making an ascent from that location, going strictly on the glow. We repeated that drill several times that weekend, using both the line, and no line with no mask. Each time, I was an arm length above and behind, keeping him from bumping rock, and monitoring his speed. On each ascent, a tap on his shoulder would have been me telling him to slow down. (an agreed upon signal) Not once did we need to use that signal. Each ascent was safe and slow, and damn near perfect despite his mask being in his hand. We've also done one fin drills, so he would know he can still propel with just one fin. If you can think of a drill that a diver in a single tank can do, we've done them.

All this I guess to reassure you that we are as safe as two divers can be, while trying to learn what we will need to know to progress through each stage of our dive evolution. And in our minds there is a very distinct difference between us and more touristy divers. There is purpose in every dive we do.
 
Tao, without instruction, how do you know that your practice drills are being done correctly, instead of developing a strongly ingrained habit of bad techniques? You say yourself "When I enter those caverns, its to learn and drill, until every motion is by memory". I truly am impressed with your excitement, and I don't want to tear you down, but the mindset you are projecting in the above post is EXACTLY that of the type of diver that gets themself or someone else into trouble (not those "touristy type of divers"). This message board has hundreds of posts referencing a young man who "possibly" died in Vortex who had the same mindset. Also, what if down the line, your son goes on to dive without you? You have taught him that diving beyond his training without an instructor is an acceptable way to gain experience. Could he perhaps think "Dad and I did "drills" in the caverns all the time before our cavern course, and now I have my into to cave under my belt. There is no reason I shouldn't do a few line jump "drills" in the cave, and I think I can maybe try a few no-mount "drills" too!". It seems to set a dangerous example for him. A cavalier approach to proper training is easily inherited from a parent. Those "touristy sort of divers" you mentioned may not know any better but I get the impression that you do. I wish you and your son continued luck and hope you dive safely.
 
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Doug as usual I agree with most of what you said. However we can stack the odds in our favor. Go slow and learn, patience is a great virtue in cave diving.
Patience is probably one of the least mentioned aspects of caving....Sometimes I'll go to a new cave as many as 20 times, just to get 'comfortable'/'familiar' w/it and each time making sure my gear is suited to it.....Impatience is one of the biggest factors in the 'domino' effect.....
 
Doug, I highly respect both your advice, your skill, and your concerns. I really do. So I hope you do not take my responses as contrite, sarcastic, flip or disrespectful. The lack of instruction isn't a major factor to me, as the skill sets are the simpler skills; lost fin, lost mask, following a line in those circumstances, sharing gas, or working on buoyancy. No double tanks, no advanced tech drills. All are merely done in caverns where we are allowed to be, or on land. We respect the rules as they stand, we do not venture into caverns where we are not allowed, nor do we venture into caves.Tyler, my son, understands the very important reasons for this, and has even voiced his own logic on this, which match conventional cave diver thinking. He is not parroting what he has read or heard, he is giving his thoughts on the matter. And he firmly understands that the drills and training we do are to merely make him safer in caverns where OW divers have died, despite the conventional thinking that they are save caverns. He understands that they are to help him know that he can survive in a critical incident if things go sideways if he keeps his head about him, and relies on what he knows, and does not panic. Above all else, he knows he should do everything he can to keep from becoming a statistic.

We've both read the analysis of the Vortex death you reference, we've both opined on that death, and how it could have been prevented. I think the guy was way in over his head, poorly trained, diving in conditions he had really no business in at all, and not even in a place where conventional thinking gave him grace to be. All that disregards the fact he was alone. He lacked proper equipment and training and a buddy or team to rely on. yet there are distinct differences in him versus us. While I agree that there really is no such thing as a OW safe cavern, I'm willing to use them to train so that I'm a better cavern diver when we take the course. But you will not catch us in caverns or caves where we are not supposed to be. We respect the rules, we respect the caves. We understand the reasons for the training. Are we using a technicality to get into caverns, yup, but so have scores of cavern and cave divers before us, and even as we speak, I'm sure there are some pre-cavern divers in Ginnie doing a galaxy dive or night dive.

As for Tyler diving without me, he knows he is only allowed to dive with me until he is an adult, and by then, he will be well on his way towards being a tech diver. I'm not willing to relinquish my responsibilities as his parent to another, and not be there to safeguard him. Because no other diver, no matter how well trained, will be willing to safeguard him in the manner that I will and do. They are welcome to dive with us, but not exclude one of us, we are by definition, a team. He understands that. He wants that team dynamic, because we understand each other on a dive in ways other divers take months or years of dives to develop. He understands the reasoning behind our training and dives. He knows that I'm not being cavalier, that I'm being intentional. He knows where the hard lines are drawn, and why those lines exist. I hope you see that Tyler and I communicate on a level that most fathers and sons wish they could communicate, and that we understand what we are doing, we understand the dos and don't s. I know there isn't a lot that i can say to sway your concerns. But I can promise you, we won't be statistics anytime soon. The day is coming where we will breath the 'rare air' of divers that I respect and call friends, after having earned our stripes as it were. But in the meantime, we are stuck doing what the recreational divers do. We just try to do it better.

Again, nothing but respect to you, and thank you for your concern. But its our intent to not let anyone, including us and our family down.

Tao, without instruction, how do you know that your practice drills are being done correctly, instead of developing a strongly ingrained habit of bad techniques? You say yourself "When I enter those caverns, its to learn and drill, until every motion is by memory". I truly am impressed with your excitement, and I don't want to tear you down, but the mindset you are projecting in the above post is EXACTLY that of the type of diver that gets themself or someone else into trouble (not those "touristy type of divers"). This message board has hundreds of posts referencing a young man who "possibly" died in Vortex who had the same mindset. Also, what if down the line, your son goes on to dive without you? You have taught him that diving beyond his training without an instructor is an acceptable way to gain experience. Could he perhaps think "Dad and I did "drills" in the caverns all the time before our cavern course, and now I have my into to cave under my belt. There is no reason I shouldn't do a few line jump "drills" in the cave, and I think I can maybe try a few no-mount "drills" too!". It seems to set a dangerous example for him. A cavalier approach to proper training is easily inherited from a parent. Those "touristy sort of divers" you mentioned may not know any better but I get the impression that you do. I wish you and your son continued luck and hope you dive safely.
 
Tao, I really wish you would heed the advice being offered to you. Without Proper training you are taking too many risks. You are risking your sons safety diving beyond your training. You think you know how to do it safely but I have my doubts. Having proper gear and training in the overhead is paramount. I appreciate your enthusiasm, I really do. You mentioned in the Ben McDaniel's incident he was in over his head, poorly trained, and in an environment he had no business in. How is this any different than you and your son. No matter how good your son is, at his age and certification level he is not mentally prepared to make these dives. You say you don't go places your not allowed, Where are these caverns that allow non certified divers to enter?
 
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As for Tyler diving without me, he knows he is only allowed to dive with me until he is an adult, and by then, he will be well on his way towards being a tech diver. I'm not willing to relinquish my responsibilities as his parent to another, and not be there to safeguard him. Because no other diver, no matter how well trained, will be willing to safeguard him in the manner that I will and do. They are welcome to dive with us, but not exclude one of us, we are by definition, a team. He understands that.

That's the dumbest thing you've ever wrote. You are not safeguarding him. You are placing him in danger. And you lacking the intelligence in this instance to even realize it. You're not cavern trained, but you're taking your son into a cavern, and he's safer with YOU??? Um, me thinks your CPU is broken. You write that your son understands that you guys are a "team" but does he understand that his father is putting his life at risk? That is what you are doing. And you need to man up and say "son, I don't really know what I'm doing, and I'm putting you at risk doing it. Are you ok with that boy?" Because that's exactly what the truth is.

Go get training. You can be trained at the cavern level at 15 with IANTD.
 
It seems to me that a lot of cave divers in the game want to believe that they are immune to spending the last minute or two of thier lives frantically scraping thier fingers against limestone while they suffocate. I find this disturbing, and please excuse an old fart for putting his 2 cents in. YOU ARE NOT IMMUNE! I recovered the body of my instuctor from a cave, and I feel that he was the best trained, and most conservative caver I have ever met (Sheck included). .

Interesting comments. I find that people are very liberal in the attitudes of cave diving,and sometimes we lose respect for the environment,even a place like Ginnie cavern seems to claim someone every few years. Things that surprise me is people advertising for a buddy on the internet,someone they have never met,which is fine for an easy dive,but the dive plan calls for something difficult. Are we willing to trust our survival to an unknown entity? Also,people will go to a site they've never gone to before,strap on a scooter,and go 2000ft+. Line doesn't guarantee an exit, but learning the cave with progressive penetration helps increase the survival probablity. I have been cave diving 16 years,and have lost several friends to the sport,and nothing is worth seeing that conservative cave diving practices shouldn't be employed. On a side note I would say be more conservative than Sheck. For example he is credited with 1/3rds,but he himself admitted this was too liberal,and would not guarantee an exit if the emergency was at maximum penetration.
 
Karstdvr, agree with you 100%, I guess I should not have used him as an example of conervatism, just trying to describe the level of preparedness that my instructor possesed.

---------- Post added May 13th, 2012 at 08:38 PM ----------

That's the dumbest thing you've ever wrote. You are not safeguarding him. You are placing him in danger. And you lacking the intelligence in this instance to even realize it. You're not cavern trained, but you're taking your son into a cavern, and he's safer with YOU??? Um, me thinks your CPU is broken. You write that your son understands that you guys are a "team" but does he understand that his father is putting his life at risk? That is what you are doing. And you need to man up and say "son, I don't really know what I'm doing, and I'm putting you at risk doing it. Are you ok with that boy?" Because that's exactly what the truth is.

Go get training. You can be trained at the cavern level at 15 with IANTD.
While I agree with you completely, I don't think taking a "terse" approach with someone who is convinced they are in the right (no matter how misguided they are), is very successful. I would rather appeal to the loving father that Tao obviously is. Tao, you state that your son "knows he should do everything he can to keep from being a statistic". That should include staying in open water until certified and equipped to do otherwise. Tao, you, yourself posted the following in another thread last month....

"Your TRAINING is your LIFE SUPPORT. If either one falters, then you become a statistic. If you become a statistic, you may very well be THE statistic that makes it harder for those of us who do dive more than twice or thrice a year, to dive"

Please follow your own advice
 
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Karstdvr, agree with you 100%, I guess I should not have used him as an example of conervatism, just trying to describe the level of preparedness that my instructor possesed.

---------- Post added May 13th, 2012 at 08:38 PM ----------


While I agree with this completely, I don't think taking a "terse" approach with someone who is convinced they are in the right (no matter how misguided they are), is usually very successful. I would rather appeal to the loving father that Tao obviously is. Tao, you state that your son "knows he should do everything he can to keep from being a statistic". That should include staying in open water until certified and equipped to do otherwise. I would be willing to bet that if you were reading someone else posting what you have, you would be shaking your head in a negative way.

Yah, that's not really me. I'm more of the type of guy who speaks his mind, tells it how it is, and calls a spade a spade. In my perfect world, everyone else would behave exactly the same way.
 
Tao, I really wish you would heed the advice being offered to you. Without Proper training you are taking too many risks. You are risking your sons safety diving beyond your training. You think you know how to do it safely but I have my doubts. Having proper gear and training in the overhead is paramount. I appreciate your enthusiasm, I really do. You mentioned in the Ben McDaniel's incident he was in over his head, poorly trained, and in an environment he had no business in. How is this any different than you and your son. No matter how good your son is, at his age and certification level he is not mentally prepared to make these dives. You say you don't go places your not allowed, Where are these caverns that allow non certified divers to enter?

@ TreyR & Superlyte27 - We dive strictly Devils Den, Blue Grotto, and Ginnie Springs (Ballroom only). Those are what I am referencing when I say we only dive where we are allowed to dive. My intent is to get him as close to the environment we will be diving,as I can. As I said before, I know most hardcore cavers do not believe that there is anything such as an OW safe cavern or cenote. For the most part, I used to feel the same way, despite 90% of my dives being in Ginnie Springs. Hypocritical? Sure. But their rules suit my purposes, which is to get wet, dive caverns, and bide my time until I can follow the course progression like everybody else. I'm not doing anything that scores of cavern and cavers before me haven't done.

The key difference between a certain Vortex casualty and myself, is that he willingly went beyond barriers erected to keep him out, whether they were physical, or educational by using a copied key and/or digging past the fence. He thumbed his nose at conventional wisdom and training, and even training organizations. I want to follow the advice I'm being given as fervently as I possibly can. I want us to do what we are supposed to do, learn what we are supposed to learn be where we are supposed to be. I do not like the circumstance of having to wait for cavern class, but unfortunately, that is the circumstance of seeking more training at his age. My goal was to seek out Jim Wyatt before he turned 16 in order to arrange the cavern class. This was based on checking Jim's website, which states 16 is the age he will accept. Per your post Superlyte, you say 15, so I plan to contact Jim to see if his website needs updating. But in Jim's defense, thus far, in most of my checking "most" instructors seem to require 16. But I really am trying to adhere as close to conventional thinking and training as I can, with a sincere desire to do so. And for the record, I've asked my son to read this thread, even though I've asked him to stick to teen divers and New Divers. (My reasoning is to keep him from getting bad opinion disguised as knowledge.)

I don't know if you guys were thinking that I was taking him into other caverns, or if you guys feel like many, that no cavern is "OW safe." I'm tending to think the latter. But if that's the case, then we are at divergent philosophy, and all I can do is tell you that we do everything we can do to minimize failure, problem, or accident when we are in those bodies of water. Not everything can be accounted for, but we can at least try to minimize it.
 
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