What things in diving give you the willies?

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There's a wreck up here, the Daryaw, in the St Lawrence that is upside down in 90 ft of water. It's a popular dive in a fair current. You can go up into the cargo area, or if you have a line and are trained, you can penetrate to the engine room. I was on a dive where one of the divers who seemed overly confident to me, as he had no reel, (and I am guessing no training either) went into the passageway to the engine room on his own, just wandered off.
He was the last out of the water, and emerged a little pale. He didn't talk too much about it, but I gathered that he got turned around in a silty situation and was seriously wondering if he'd find the way out. He made a quick bolt to the head after the charter boat docked.
 
I've seen far too much of far too many men in/around diving. I don't know what it is, but soaking-wet tighty-whities are inappropriate under ANY circumstances, scuba included. Also, dropping those soaking-wet tighty-whities in an open area is ALSO inappropriate. I shiver when I think about how much "skin" I've seen. Why can't some gorgeous chick just strip naked?

Another thing that freaks me out, truly, is having to decide between myself and a loved one. Like, in a cave....crap happens, everything goes sideways, and there's only enough gas for one of us to exit. Could I live with myself if I didn't give my loved one my gas? Could I convince myself to give up my gas? Another example were the two buddies in a cavern, one died and the other survived by refusing help to the first. It was a relatively benign dive until they screwed everything up (valve half-opened, maybe?) and all of a sudden the diver that died nearly killed the diver that made it in an effort to save his life. THAT freaks me out. Tech or not, there are life-and-death-decision stories that really freak me out.

Having said that, poor vis doesn't, air share doesn't, remove/replace mask doesn't, wildlife doesn't, dark doesn't, wrecks don't, overhead doesn't. I guess I'm weird.
 
, but I gathered that he got turned around in a silty situation and was seriously wondering if he'd find the way out. He made a quick bolt to the head after the charter boat docked.

Like, in a cave....crap happens, everything goes sideways, and there's only enough gas for one of us to exit. Could I live with myself if I didn't give my loved one my gas? Could I convince myself to give up my gas? Another example were the two buddies in a cavern, one died and the other survived by refusing help to the first. It was a relatively benign dive until they screwed everything up (valve half-opened, maybe?) and all of a sudden the diver that died nearly killed the diver that made it in an effort to save his life. THAT freaks me out. Tech or not, there are life-and-death-decision stories that really freak me out.
From what I have heard, realizing that you are likely to die sometime in the near future because you cannot get out of an overhead environment in time, for whatever reason, does well beyond the willies. I have seen the phrase used that it is when the dragon goes down your back. A friend described to me the time he was well back in a cave and suddenly realized his life was very much in danger, and he was momentarily paralyzed with sheer terror. He somehow composed himself, gave himself a good talking to, slapped himself in the proverbial face, and managed to do what was necessary to get out--barely.

I don't ever want to know what that feels like.
 
The Great Blue Hole. As a new diver, there are still a lot of things that make me nervous or give me pause, but that place gives me the willies. I've never been, and I've heard it's a neat place to dive, but just pictures of it makes my skin crawl.
 
Wrecks. It stems from an experience as a kid. My family was on our boat at the west side of Isle Royale, and my Dad was looking for the America wreck. I was about 8. Well we found it and wow, that sucker looks like its 1 ft under, and I got really out of whack about it. I thought we were going to hit it. You just see the bow looking up at you, and you can see pretty far down the deck in the clear Lake Superior water. It is an irrational thing, but wrecks spook me out. I get a bit tense about it. Willies is a good way to explain it.
 
From what I have heard, realizing that you are likely to die sometime in the near future because you cannot get out of an overhead environment in time, for whatever reason, does well beyond the willies. I have seen the phrase used that it is when the dragon goes down your back. A friend described to me the time he was well back in a cave and suddenly realized his life was very much in danger, and he was momentarily paralyzed with sheer terror. He somehow composed himself, gave himself a good talking to, slapped himself in the proverbial face, and managed to do what was necessary to get out--barely.

I don't ever want to know what that feels like.

To me, that is sheer terror... Goes waaaay beyond the willies for me.
 
To me, that is sheer terror... Goes waaaay beyond the willies for me.

Interestingly enough, I wonder if some people don't have a different reaction.

A while ago, a sometime ScubaBoard participant and avid cave explorer had a description of such an experience featured on her web site. She described a time when it looked like she was going to die deep in a cave. She had another occasion on another dive in which she ended her dive and left the cave to the enormous surprise of the recovery team that was preparing to look for her body. Reading all that made me wonder if she didn't actually get a thrill from experiences that would terrorize most people. I wondered if she didn't actually thrive on that feeling. I never met her, though, and I only read those things after her body was recovered deep in yet another cave.
 
Interestingly enough, I wonder if some people don't have a different reaction. A while ago, a sometime ScubaBoard participant and avid cave explorer had a description of such an experience featured on her web site. She described a time when it looked like she was going to die deep in a cave. She had another occasion on another dive in which she ended her dive and left the cave to the enormous surprise of the recovery team that was preparing to look for her body. Reading all that made me wonder if she didn't actually get a thrill from experiences that would terrorize most people. I wondered if she didn't actually thrive on that feeling. I never met her, though, and I only read those things after her body was recovered deep in yet another cave.
There are certainly people like that. To some degree I'm a thrill-seeker also, as are many divers. There's a big difference, however, between someone who takes responsible, informed risks and someone who goes and gets themselves killed by continuing to repeat past mistakes. From what you described, this is someone who is fortunate to have survived more than one close-call, but ultimately did not take the time to do some honest reflection and make changes that their life depended upon. Then again, this is just the impression that I received from what you described and I do not know the full story, so this diver could have very well learned from past mistakes and then had some tragic, unforeseeable event occur. As far as it applies to myself, I take it as a warning to avoid getting into a similar situation - not by avoiding all risks, but rather by being honest with myself, acquiring proper training, and using common sense at all times.
 
On the subject of diving lost in a cave, here's a page of '10 final messages from people facing certain death,' and it includes this chilling quote I've heard before.

The cave systems of North Central Florida have claimed hundreds of lives from inexperienced cave divers. Among those to die there was Bill Hurst, a diving instructor. He failed to return from a dive in 1976, and a recovery team later found his body. On his slate was a simple message: “I got lost. Tell my wife and kids I love them very much. ”

Bold emphasis mine.

Now if that doesn't dump some ice water down your spine, I don't know what does.

Richard.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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