Do not ever say you are a rescue diver

[L13]

I don’t know which type. I will get more interested in cylinders in my next dives. I just read something that puzzled me. It seems that in the US, cylinders are gauged bu the external volume while in Europe, it is the exact internal volume. In the former case, the wall thickness can really change it all.

@tmassey has a post on SB with spreadsheet showing all the US standard tanks (steel and AL) with all the details including internal volume, actual CF, weight, and buoyancy. Maybe I'll look up the link (i'm referencing my copy for my comments in this thread). @rsingler has a buoyancy spreadsheet that is an awesome tool that has many of the european tanks on it as well.

 

[L13]

Let's please leave a conversation about tanks out of this thread.

Will do...

 

[uncfnp]

As a “wife buddy” I am a bit troubled by the posters that would not leave them to aid another diver. Are they truly that dependent? I would be furious if my husband saw another diver in need and didn’t help because of me. But then again we aren’t your typical buddy team.

And ear issues. Another grey area. I know I am guilty of pushing my ears on occasion just to make a dive. Could I do any less to save a life. Hard choice.

 

[L13]

As a “wife buddy” I am a bit troubled by the posters that would not leave them to aid another diver. Are they truly that dependent? I would be furious if my husband saw another diver in need and didn’t help because of me. But then again we aren’t your typical buddy team.

And ear issues. Another grey area. I know I am guilty of pushing my ears on occasion just to make a dive. Could I do any less to save a life. Hard choice.

Assuming you are well matched buddies, you could do it together. More resources for the rescue!

 

[drrich2]

As a “wife buddy” I am a bit troubled by the posters that would not leave them to aid another diver. Are they truly that dependent?

I suspect it's fairly common. Ideally a pair of married divers ought to both be functionally capable, but I wonder how often the real situation is one is an avid diver, the other casual and 'along for the ride?' So maybe both have at least OW, maybe AOW and/or nitrox cert.s, but one tends to do the navigating and assumes a senior role in managing the dive.

I've noticed in forum posts some guys are thrilled to have their wives dive with them, and make various concessions (e.g.: only warm water, high viz. 'easy' diving) when with them, and I imagine some of would do things to make up for their spouse's weaknesses.

The same could apply to diving with one's teenager. The avid diver wants the other family member along and enjoying the activity badly enough to compensate for them. It may not be ideal or politically correct, but I think it's the truth. It'd be interesting to know what % of married couples fit that profile.

 

[SlugLife]

My primary dive-buddy's wife hangs out on the boat, while we go diving. She's not even slightly interested in diving, unless it's something like a tropical location. I don't think she's "unsafe" in the water, nor does he baby-sit her, nor would she be "dependent." However, I think it would be natural for him to pay much closer attention to her safety during a dive, than he pays attention to me.

(...which wouldn't take much, since he's often gone before I've hit the water, and we usually dive solo)

When you start to get a little obsessive about a hobby yourself, it's usually a bad idea to drag along someone who is only casually interested, as it will usually just push them away from the activity. It's like a kid who enjoys playing music and is good at it, and then his parents force him to practice every day until he hates it and eventually quits entirely.

 

[tursiops]

It's like a kid who enjoys playing music and is good at it, and then his parents force him to practice every day until he hates it and eventually quits entirely.

You knew my parents?

 

[Dody]

Let's please leave a conversation about tanks out of this thread.

 

[Rob9876]

The same could apply to diving with one's teenager. The avid diver wants the other family member along and enjoying the activity badly enough to compensate for them. It may not be ideal or politically correct, but I think it's the truth. It'd be interesting to know what % of married couples fit that profile.

I dive with my teenage son, who is now 17 and probably a stronger diver than I am (and enjoys it as much), but there's no way I'm going very far away from him to rescue someone else. I have both dive-buddy responsibility to him as well as parent-child responsibility, which trumps about everything else in the world. That said, he and I would help the person together to the extent we could without either of us becoming victims also.

 

[scubadada]

...I've noticed in forum posts some guys are thrilled to have their wives dive with them, and make various concessions (e.g.: only warm water, high viz. 'easy' diving) when with them, and I imagine some of would do things to make up for their spouse's weaknesses...

My wife is a skilled diver, very good basic skills, over 400 dives. She is just not interested in doing more adventuresome dives. We dive together every year in Bonaire, I do the Red Sea, Cocos, Galapagos, Revillagigedos, and Malpelo by myself. I'm very lucky that she understands my diving. Much, much better than having a non-diving wife. The best of both worlds

Edit: In addition to my wife, I have been diving with my 37 year old son since he was 12. I have been diving with my 33 year old daughter since she was 12. I have no problem about who I would prioritize if there was a problem underwater. Fortunately, I have little to worry about regarding the skills of my wife, son, or daughter.