Do you ever break the rules?

[TSandM]

I look down below me and I see people doing a safety stop. huh? what? nevermind, despite my better judgement, I swim "down" to the safety stop divers and pressure eases, needle drops down to 25m again.

Short hijack . . . I just wanted to tell this poster that he is not alone. The experience of getting up and down confused is one I've lived through more times than I can remember. It took me most of four years and 800 dives to get to where I have confidence that I can stay oriented in the water, but it can be done.

 

[Rhone Man]

I always remember being told on OW course about fixing your ascent rate against your bubbles: "If you are ascending and leaving your bubbles behind you, you are either going too fast, or you are swimming the wrong way..."

 

[drbill]

I have bent some rules in cave diving (but not broken them)

Lynne, I'm not sure what constitutes "bending" vs "breaking" a rule. If there is a definitive marker associated with a rule, how does one bend it and not break it? Although not necessarily applicable in your case of cave diving (which is something I personally have a hard and fast rule against for myself), let's use the example of a 130 ft depth limit. That was my limit after achieving my OW cert from LAC. If you go to 131 ft, you are breaking it. What would constitute bending it?

 

[Robert45]

I’d like to pose some different perspectives on following the rules. First, the rules aren’t entirely arbitrary. In terms of decompression-related limits, these are based on experimental data, sure, we can fudge our depths and times, and we might even “get away” with it, but we diminish our margin of safety. No problem if you love being underwater so much that a couple extra minutes is worth the potential injury. It’s your call, at least to a point. Other rules have come about from experience – not just the experience of a single person, but the collective experience of many in the sport. Those who can’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it.

When diving on a commercial dive boat, we really need to respect the limitations set out by the captain and crew. We’re diving on their insurance, and whether we like it or not, the operator has a lot to lose if an accident or injury occurs. Go ahead and whine about not getting your couple extra minutes, but that is ALL you have to lose. The dive operator has his livelihood on the line. He can lose his insurance, his boat, everything. If you want to ignore the rules, go out and buy your own boat, gather up a crew, and go out and have fun!

Certainly, divers should be able to make their own decisions, but not when those decisions have a direct impact on someone else. I’ve had friends and acquaintances injured and killed while diving. Sometimes they pay the price, and sometimes others end up paying for their mistakes as well.

 

[Kingpatzer]

My big ones:

Dive flag laws -- they cause more trouble than they solve -- I know how to look up and see what's there, but I've been nearly run over by ignorant boaters and I'd rather not attract them un-necessarily.

Safety Gear -- I consider reef gloves to be appropriate exposure protection and a line cutter to be a necessary safety items.

Odd how both of those tend to be real laws, while the 'guidelines' I tend to adhere to rather religiously.

 

[Peter Guy]

Dr. Bill -- a rule that you can "bend" but not "break" perhaps -- Rule -- You may dive on the mainline but may not do a "jump" to a "jump line" (sub-rule -- you must have your own line from open water to the "mainline") -- Bend -- You run your own line to the jump line instead of the mainline

Have you broken the rule or just bent it? But what is the purpose of the primary rule -- to not have you dive on the jump line (in that case you "break" the intent of the rule) OR to not have you have the issue of navigation changes required by doing a jump (in that case you have merely bent the rule)

That, btw, is the specific issue to which TSandM referred.

 

[Scubadam]

One main rule I have broken is the "Safety Stop". If you dive 60ft. max. depth or more, you are to take a three minute safety stop when acending to 15ft. from the surface. Well, on a dive I took last month, I was in 60ft. max. depth, and when accending, I accended to quickly and missed the "Safety Stop". Before I knew it, I was at the surface swimming back to my boat.

 

[charlesml3]

The coz thread wasn't about bending the rules. It was really about disrespecting the poor DM who can't turn the boat around and upset all the other paying customers. That just got lost with all the macho "take my knife out of my cold dead hand Jack!" talk.

Yea, the thread over in the Cozumel forum went way off into Stupid-Ville. I was just really disappointed to see a Master Diver and Instructor just sit there and stare at the DM in front of his student when asked to follow a rule of the Marine Park. It was disgusting and reprehensible. I even backed up the DM with "That's the rule of the Markine Park!" More staring....

The rules we're discussing here seem to be more around "Don't exceed this depth until you have X many dives," "Don't get into a deco," "Don't dive solo." Those are all personal risk rules that are designed to keep a given diver out of a situation for which they may not be prepared.

The rule we were discussing over in the Cozumel forum was a blatant disregard of a Marine Park rule and then a failure to comply when reminded of it. Twice.

-Charles

 

[drbill]

Thanks, Peter... I'm not into caves or wrecks. That's one of my rules (but no problem with those who enjoy that kind of diving of course). There's only one thing I penetrate and I'd violate the TOS if I told everyone.

Dr. Bill -- a rule that you can "bend" but not "break" perhaps -- Rule -- You may dive on the mainline but may not do a "jump" to a "jump line" (sub-rule -- you must have your own line from open water to the "mainline") -- Bend -- You run your own line to the jump line instead of the mainline

Have you broken the rule or just bent it? But what is the purpose of the primary rule -- to not have you dive on the jump line (in that case you "break" the intent of the rule) OR to not have you have the issue of navigation changes required by doing a jump (in that case you have merely bent the rule)

That, btw, is the specific issue to which TSandM referred.

 

[JeffG]

To break the rules means to know the rules.

Ignorance is bliss.