DM has a "Barney Fife" Moment

[Torgo]

Curse that evil razorfish. It attacks with out warning.
Like the Dropbear hear in the outback.
You know if two people see it at the same time all their wishes are granted!

 

[scubadobadoo]

Just a thought...what if he was using one of those "Amazing Ginsu Knives" that they used to advertise on late-night TV? The guy on the commercial cut through auto tires, steel cable and aluminum cans with his - and was still able to slice a tomato! Do you think they sell those in dive shops now... (I'M JUST KIDDING! Come on -- lighten up a little!)

Now you are talking! No harm done and nothing personal. We are just being silly. BTW, welcome to the board!

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

DA: Actually, he had 2 divers with him and he WAS offered immediate assistance.
NW: I have no problem admitting that he knows A WHOLE LOT about diving that I haven't yet had time to learn.

It was surprising to me how many people took offense at this post. It's obvious to me {now} that many other things could have caused the air hose to fail. I shouldn't have made assumptions...

I guess if I had left off the "big ego...dumb mistake" part, I wouldn't be catching so much flak. My sincere apologies to anyone who was offended by the remark. Oh, well - live and learn...

Just a thought...what if he was using one of those "Amazing Ginsu Knives" that they used to advertise on late-night TV? The guy on the commercial cut through auto tires, steel cable and aluminum cans with his - and was still able to slice a tomato! Do you think they sell those in dive shops now... (I'M JUST KIDDING! Come on -- lighten up a little!)

No offense taken ... and none intended ... we're actually a pretty friendly bunch once you get to know us ... :browsmile

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Diver0001]

I guess if I had left off the "big ego...dumb mistake" part, I wouldn't be catching so much flak. My sincere apologies to anyone who was offended by the remark. Oh, well - live and learn...

It's ok. If only I had a dollar for every stupid thing I've ever said....

Actually, getting on topic I think the left shoulder is a pretty good place to carry a knife....

R..

 

[Jim Kerr]

Did several boat dives last week in Grand Cayman. On the last dive, my buddy and I swam past the DM at about 50', who was showing some other divers some critters he had found. We weren't interested, so we swam on by. Back on the boat later, he asked us, "Didn't you guys hear the loud noise right after you swam past me?" We hadn't, and he told us that his inflater hose had "burst" suddenly, venting all the air from his tank. He and his buddy did a shared-air ascent, and all was well.

As I got off the boat at the end of the excursion, I noticed his reg hanging there, so I took a look at the "burst" hose. The edges were very clean - in fact, they looked more "cut" than "burst." As it happened, there was a videographer on the dive, and when we watched the video later, we noticed that our DM had been wearing his dive knife on his BC on his upper left chest RIGHT NEXT to his inflator hose. My buddy said she noticed that he had his knife out a lot during our dives throughout the day...

big ego...dumb mistake...happy ending...

I thought it only fair that the DM you were flaming have a chance to reply. Maybe he will and maybe he won't.

 

[Courtneyf82]

I only need a penny for every time I've said something stupid, and I then I'd finally be able to get that drysuit.

 

[Jim Ernst]

If I were the DM I would just tell people what happened. But I think you would need to have a pretty thick skin to do that. You're already calling it a big ego and a dumb mistake without even really knowing what happened.....

Last December I was in Egypt and a diveguide had a major problem with his regulator and bugged out to the surface from 15 metres. For *days* afterward a group of other divers moaned about the DM's failure to handle is problem the way they thought was appropriate. I think they even went to the guy's boss about it. In fact they put the poor guy under *so* much pressure that he came to me one afternoon to talk it through. He was looking for my opinion because I was one of the few who said nothing about it other than to go to him after the dive and ask if he was ok.

Basically what happened is that his 2nd stage literally blew off the end of the hose. I think either the 2nd stage housing snapped off or the hose crimp snapped off but I didn't see it. What ensued was an enormous jacuzzi. The hose was wipping around in circles and he couldn't see anyone else. He tried to grab the hose but wasn't able and after a few seconds decided to bug out. And yet they moaned about but it because he did'nt shut down the tank and then swim to one of his clients to share air during the ascent instead of bugging out on his own octopus. I don't know how, but they somehow convinced themselves that going to the surface was the wrong thing to do in response to a catastrophic regulator failure.

I told him that people who have never had something like this happen are always the ones with the biggest mouths. I also told him that I would probably have done the same thing because as a DM guiding other divers (something else the big-mouthed group had no notion of) you never know if you can trust your clients to assist you and for your own safety it's better if you act as if you are solo.

So, even though this situation is very different than what you write about, the point is, no matter what you do as DM there will always be someone playing the armchair quarterback and making big statements about your performance based on little or no information and practically no experience dealing with similar situations.

So with that in mind, it's possible that your DM decided to keep quiet about it, and if he has had similar experiences to the above, he may have had good reason to.

R..

i like the way you said all of this Diver0001, and i also agree, i to would admit to my mistake, we DM,INSTRUCTOR, or what ever are still human and very well capable of making mistakes!!! and at 30ft i think i would also consider myself solo and do a safe emergency assent, so long as i can hope all of my clients are safe, this would also be a major concern!!! still think Diver0001 has it all summed up!!

 

[Lead_carrier]

The edges were very clean - in fact, they looked more "cut" than "burst." ..

May I ask how many hoses you've inspected?

Was the inflator connector still connected or was the hose completely severed? You know that the hoses come on a huge roll and are cut before the various connections are crimped on. IF a crimp fails, and they will, then a "cut" piece of hose could very eaisly be visible.

later, we noticed that our DM had been wearing his dive knife on his BC on his upper left chest RIGHT NEXT to his inflator hose.

Sounds like a good place to me. I've carried one there for years.

It could be possible for the knife to have sliced enough of the outer shell of the inflator hose and caused a failure.

big ego...dumb mistake...happy ending...

Maybe, one day he'll have as much experience as you wond won't make the dumb mistake twice.

Unless you can PROVE different you should take his word for what happened.

 

[Diver0001]

Unless you can PROVE different you should take his word for what happened.

You know..... I disagreed with her assessment too but I agree with her questioning of what she sees. People who don't just blindly accept what an "authority figure" tells them make better divers overall....

Something to think about. Maybe she needs to learn how to ask "why" more often instead of just deciding for herself what's what but her instinct to question the "facts" is basically solid.

R..

 

[Lead_carrier]

You know..... I disagreed with her assessment too but I agree with her questioning of what she sees. People who don't just blindly accept what an "authority figure" tells them make better divers overall....

Something to think about. Maybe she needs to learn how to ask "why" more often instead of just deciding for herself what's what but her instinct to question the "facts" is basically solid.

R..

I totally agree R. Ask questions, that's the only way to learn. On occassion, I'll make an obvisious mistake during an advanced class just to see if I'll be questioned on it. If not then I'll go over the whole trust me, don't question me bit.

Like Happy said, if the "big ego.. dumb mistake" remark had been left off the post would have been read entirely differently.