is there anything missing from the dive industry?

[Bob DBF]

so many accidents are caused by the external environment that includes other divers. it's better to learn that up front.

Fatalities: Inexperience a Big Factor | Diver Magazine
Quoted from the above article:

Divers Alert Network studied almost one thousand diving fatalities and they determined that the root cause of the triggering event was usually one of the following five factors:

A.Some sort of pre-existing disease pathology in the diver.
B.Poor buoyancy control.
C.Rapid ascent or violent water movement.
D.Gas-supply problems.
E.Equipment problems

.

If you can let me know which of these issues is caused by the external environment that includes other divers, I'd appreciate the information.

The lack of responsibility for ones own actions, that I see as a socitial problem, can have much greater concequences when brought underwater.


Bob
--------------------------
I may be old, but I'm not dead yet.

 

[cbm32]

Wow....the LAST thing I want to see is millionaire athletes and entertainers getting paid more big bucks to encourage people to take up diving. I think we see far too much of this in other areas already and all it does is drive up prices to line their pockets.

 

[DanLW]

How about competition Scuba? It would be interesting to have an agility course set up in a large pool. The diver would have to maneuver through various turns, do ascents, descents, helicopter turns, even remove/replace gear through an especially tight restriction. The whole thing could be timed, and penalty time would be added for making contact with the bottom, or any other part of the course, with a few exceptions. Penalties can also be added for ascending too quick. Points could also be awarded/deducted for form, danglies, etc.

Sure, it probably would never be shown on ESPN. But it could be a fun competition that could be set up regionally, and a good incentive for divers to work on real dive skills.


Celebrity endorsement was mentioned earlier. That would be hard, because it's hard to make Diving look exciting to the adrenaline crowd, and that's what seems to be selling these days. It's even hard to use sex appeal to sell Scuba. Sure, take a nice looking woman and put her in a wetsuit, and you have sex appeal. But then get her into full kit, stick a regulator in her mouth and take pictures underwater, and the appeal is largely lost. I don't care what supermodel you get, regulators and dive masks aren't sexy.

Also, the up front investment just to get OW probably scares a lot of people away. While somebody with zero experience can rent a snowboard and generally learn on their own with minimal investment, that's not true in Scuba. There's a lot more involved in getting an OW cert, and in today's microwave society, even a 4 day course is too much for most people. Especially when you show them that book they have to read.

The best thing that could be done to help scuba is for a really cool scuba movie to come out that doesn't make diving look incredibly dangerous.

 

[koozemani]

Celebrities work for me.

 

[j2s]

One certification card listing all qualifications/agencies.......I have 10 cards from 5 different agencies.....PAIN !!!!!!

 

[koozemani]

One certification card listing all qualifications/agencies.......I have 10 cards from 5 different agencies.....PAIN !!!!!!

Make an electronic scannable card with all Certs, dates, and you could even go as far as having a summerized dived log.

op swipes card and can see what level of diver you are, most recent dive, frequency of dives, etc...

---------- Post added September 6th, 2013 at 04:37 PM ----------

Scannable card could also be used in the automatic tank fillers to verify certification.

 

[TMHeimer]

How about competition Scuba? It would be interesting to have an agility course set up in a large pool. The diver would have to maneuver through various turns, do ascents, descents, helicopter turns, even remove/replace gear through an especially tight restriction. The whole thing could be timed, and penalty time would be added for making contact with the bottom, or any other part of the course, with a few exceptions. Penalties can also be added for ascending too quick. Points could also be awarded/deducted for form, danglies, etc.

Sure, it probably would never be shown on ESPN. But it could be a fun competition that could be set up regionally, and a good incentive for divers to work on real dive skills.


********************************************


Then I WOULD label it a sport.

 

[toddthecat]

They do this for firemen now - SCUBA cant be very far...

Skateboard Pro's, Surf Shops all have a generational figure to try and model or look up to for the young folks.

Soooooo you want carbon fiber light weight tanks? You'll just be spending a LOT more money for a light weight tank that'll be so buoyant you'll just have to add a ton of weight to your weight belt and negate the purpose of it.

Also, skateboard pros own surf shops now?

---------- Post added September 6th, 2013 at 05:54 PM ----------

Also, it seems to be customary to haggle for prices in a dive shop. I didn't learn about it until after I bought most of my gear. Regardless, I don't like it. Nothing else I've ever bought (except used cars) involve haggling. I wish shops would just put "the price" on stuff and call it a day. They usually DO have a pricetag on things, but apparently I'm just a sucker for accepting that and paying it.

People these days feel entitled to things for cheaper or free. I KNOW there have to be people who go to the store and try to say "Hey this gallon of milk that's $3.29...I think I'd like to just pay $2.19 for it...". I don't know where these people got this sense of entitlement but they are WAY off in my opinion. We aren't a pawn shop. Anyone who starts trying that pretty much gets told no. If they keep it up (which sometimes happens), they get shown the door.

 

[DiveNav]

What is missing in the dive industry? Inclusiveness.

Who is this guy?
We don't want YOU on this board

CIAO!

 

[3D diver]

A decent simple J snorkel.