Bad scuba advice you've received

[Wibble]

I have been a part of ScubaBoard for a couple decades now, and there is a lot I don't like about it, but I think it does a lot of good for the reason Wibble points out. Almost any thread that includes serious misinformation usually gets thoroughly corrected.

I will contrast that with a very popular FaceBook scuba discussion site I toyed with for a while. It was incredibly frustrating. Someone would ask a question, and by the time I opened FaceBook and saw the question, 30 people had already answered, and 25 or more of those answers would be wrong. There was no way to distinguish the correct answers from the flood of misinformation.

I remember especially one in which someone asked about decompression theory related to dive depth, and of the first 100 responses, I would say 90 of the posters believed that tissues were like buckets when they received nitrogen. You could fill them faster at deeper depths, but if you stayed at any depth (even 5 feet) long enough, the buckets would fill. The handful of people who knew better and who cited research (including me) were completely drowned out by the flood of nonsense.

Farsebook is appalling because it is so ephemeral; here today gone in an instant. Once data is handed over to Zuk, he'll use it any which way he pleases, but none of it will benefit society.

Scubaboard -- and other forums -- exist on the principle of permanence. A quick search will reveal masses of useful information. There is no search functionality on Farsebook -- you are the product.

You can learn an enormous amount from Scubaboard. Facebook not so.

Am so (not) looking forwards to AI: it's neither intelligent nor creative.

 

[Zach The Diver]

This gem just appeared in the in "Lessons for Life" column in the August 16 Scuba Diving Magazine:

No, no, nooooooooo! Jeez-a-pete, PADI... Not only is this statement factually wrong, if an inexperienced diver takes the implied advice seriously, then they could end up bent, embolized, or worse.

It makes me think, though... There's lots of bad scuba advice out there, ranging from statements by reputable sources to folklore from experienced divers to suggestions by sketchy instructors to wild ideas from folks who reeeeeally should've known better.

What bad scuba advice have you received? (Please omit watercooler talk found here on SB; let's focus on actual suggestions found in the wild.)

Had someone tell me during a boat dive in Hood Canal that my use of a SMB was “wrong” because the boat dive was “close to shore”. What’s better is the captain clearly briefing us beforehand to use a SMB.

 

[happy-diver]

Some people are so square they are more square than a square and even the other squares look away

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I have read somewhere where people use demeaning terms such as fleabay, farcebook, tank-reg monkey

They are obviously quite deficient in mining resources

 

[Bento.Box]

While I've seen my fair share of bad practices, it is mostly about gear where I actually received bad advice:
- diving school where I did my sidemount was unable to recommend/sell a practical setup for me. Not in theory, but just the individual parts etc. My instructor was very helpful and went above and beyond to consult me on proper equipment, explain what and why and provide me with learning materials beyond the PADI course.
- everyone and their dog here in Switzerland is obsessed with selling and using 200 Bar tanks instead of 300 Bars.

Bad advice from Padi that stuck in my brain (apart form insufficient course materials):
- Using rule of thirds
I tend to be on the conservative side, but always leaving 100bar (1450PSI) final reserve is a bit excessive. especially on larger tanks.
- diving with buddies is always safer
a lot of random "buddies" are more of a liability than an actual help under water.

 

[boulderjohn]

Bad advice from Padi that stuck in my brain (apart form insufficient course materials):
- Using rule of thirds
I tend to be on the conservative side, but always leaving 100bar (1450PSI) final reserve is a bit excessive. especially on larger tanks.

It looks like you got some bad advice from an individual instructor, not from PADI.

 

[happy-diver]

- diving with buddies is always safer
a lot of random "buddies" are more of a liability than an actual help under water.

How about I make it up to you
by suggesting that diving independently, with buddies helps both you and them become better divers