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Has she done enough diving to know what she prefers, equipment-wise? If not, I'd encourage her to try/rent a few different things for awhile so she can start getting a feel for what she enjoys the most, makes her life easiest, and makes her the most comfortable when she dives. So much money gets...

I was shocked when I saw the video because I've never seen any nurse shark behave that way at all. I can't see where the woman was doing anything provocative and it's my impression that she didn't see it coming. If the shark has come to expect handouts though, all bets are off. I always thought...

Oh, I beg to differ. I had a dive buddy once who was well-known for yelling at people in the bad way topside, and who managed it quite clearly via sign language underwater. It was kind of funny underwater though because a sign language tantrum is a sight to behold. I also got a big underwater...

I know an instructor with a naturally loud voice who ends up yelling (volume-wise) at the pool all the time. But because of the things he's saying (all useful, friendly, supportive) and his facial expressions and body language (friendly, supportive), I don't think anyone has ever felt "yelled...

That's the critical distinction, and thank you for making it. I hadn't gotten that from your previous posts.

I don't understand why some posters seem to be equating rigorous, demanding instruction with personal abuse. They are not the same thing and do not need to co-occur.

Yelling that simulates urgency is totally fair game. As is being crystal clear about truths that may be difficult to hear. I believe the people who know their stuff are capable of both in a manner that does not come across as abusive.

Another reason it's not a fair comparison to bring up military training is that, psychological goals aside, people who go through military training know when they sign up that it's going to be that way. I'm pretty sure that's not what the average dive student is expecting.

Oh ... those. Well, that would make for quite an interesting instructor sub-specialty now, wouldn't it?

Please introduce me to one, because that will be a first for me. Some people tolerate it better than others. Some simply don't know how to get themselves out of harm's way or have been taught not to. Some expect it because they've had so much of it. But I've never spoken to anyone who likes it.

My experience has been that abusers, regardless of their vocation or other position in life, behave the way they do because they find it personally gratifying to do so, not because they think it is the most effective way to get a job done.

I've taken my drysuit on several week-long liveaboard trips without difficulty. As OP mentioned, I packed the suit in one bag containing only soft things, taking care to fold or roll it in such a manner that the seals wouldn't end up pressed up against anything hard on the suit itself. My suit...

If you have small wrists with prominent tendons, you'll probably find that flexing your wrists in certain ways will open up a nice channel for the water to run past the seal. I learned the hard way to try to keep my arm straight from my elbow to my hand as much as possible but sometimes, you...

I'm so sorry that you went through all that. Congratulations on winning on the gamble to save your toe. You sound like a beast (in the best possible way).

Conversely, you could try a dawn dive where it starts out dark but you know that won't last very long, and you get to see the ocean gradually light up to what you're used to. Night diving can be surreal, in a really neat way. Quite a few people do it, actually. I think the biggest reason that...

In the horse world, where people can also get hurt in any number of ways, liability releases are extremely common. It's also commonly known that if the SHTF, they mean nothing. It all comes out in court. If an operator did something obviously wrong, the liability release won't protect them.

Every tank. It's amazing how much the actual mix can vary, especially on a liveaboard as the week goes on, and you have to check to assure that you're using a safe MOD.

Count me in as another who has never been asked to show any proof of experience other than cards.

Had you done a second dive, you'd probably have started out comfortable and ended up cold.

No idea, other than to say there was a wide variety and I don't recall seeing anything as heavy as a 7 mil.