Dan Dan the Scuba Man:
Lol, my age doesnt matter.. it's my mind set, maturity, self diciplen, and other charateristics that make a good diver... but yea.. i like diving deeper for wrecks.. i dive shallow for reefs and such... but thats for all of your imput guys =)
I disagree. At age 14 your body is still growing and developing. There are still many unanswered questions regarding issues of pressure, nitrogen absorption on developing bone and tissue.
While mind set, psychological & emotional maturity, self discipline all are big parts of being a good diver, they do not take the place of or over-rule the physical concerns. Add to this the unknown variable of each individual and you have a great deal of unknown.
Remember, dive tables are only guidelines. It is not written in stone taht as long as you stay within the tables nothing bad will happen. It only reduces the risk that something bad will happen.
Also factor in diet, hydration, amount of sleep, mental stress or anxiety, amount and type of exercise before and after diving, conditions, etc. and you have all kinds of variables that can affect the outcome of every dive.
Diving is a continual and gradual experience of building upon previously learned (and hopefully mastered) skills. Each person is different mentally and physically. I've seen divers get narc'd at less than 100' (wanted to share air with the fishies, didn't remember it at the surface) and some that show no apparent signs even at 130'+ (they are narc'd to some extent, but not extreme).
This is not a sport that you want to find your limit(s) the hard way.