For anyone considering doing their first night dive

[CT-Rich]

I won't pass judgement on this video but there seems to be disagreement over some night diving techniques demonstrated. The Basic Forum is a Learning Zone, so what salient points would an optimum video on night diving contain?

If I am not video taping , I use a small to medium flash light with a narrow beam and will create a light slit by keeping to fingers over the lamphead. The little tank dongles can be different colors to help identify who is who at a distance. Unfortunatel, I always forget to turn them off. A good shore beacon placed near the exit point is also handy. A few years ago my buddy and I climbed out of the water and started to de-gear when we realized we were actually on a rock 50 feet from shore.

 

[OTF]

I want to thank all the commentors for teaching a very valuable lesson To all the people in the Basic Forum.

Don‘t post original content here, you will be punished. Don’t worry about constructive feedback back, we’ll just make sure you will never want to share or improve.

I disagree with this. On a whole the people on this forum seem kind and supportive of anyone posting even moderate quality content. If there's criticism it's usually very nice and constructive. I don't think the response to this video has a chilling effect at all.

This guy has repeatedly posted low-effort unhelpful videos (presumably to promote his business), refused to engage in discussion about any of it, and the increasingly negative feedback reflects that.

 

[The Cosmicist]

I want to thank all the commentors for teaching a very valuable lesson To all the people in the Basic Forum.

Don‘t post original content here, you will be punished. Don’t worry about constructive feedback back, we’ll just make sure you will never want to share or improve.

Your comment proves our point, but sadly not your own. The guy posting this is an instructor trying to catch the attention of newer divers in the Basic Forum, ostensibly for his own business. He's not a new diver asking a question or commenting on the Basic Forum. No one here would comment the same way if he were a new diver just showing a night dive he did.

What should newer divers (like me) be learning in this subforum? Should we allow bad practices to be spread and continued, especially if they are for profit? Are you next going to say that standing on coral or the sea floor is acceptable for an instructor to do if the video is about macro photography?

Nice try being the contrarian, but it doesn't fit. Sometimes, negative comments are constructive in and of themselves.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Hey I have one of those myself. Way better than a chemlight.

That's only because you can't see it. They're distracting to everyone else and if you're trying to see the bioluminescence, forget about it.

 

[CT-Rich]

Your comment proves our point, but sadly not your own. The guy posting this is an instructor trying to catch the attention of newer divers in the Basic Forum, ostensibly for his own business. He's not a new diver asking a question or commenting on the Basic Forum. No one here would comment the same way if he were a new diver just showing a night dive he did.

What should newer divers (like me) be learning in this subforum? Should we allow bad practices to be spread and continued, especially if they are for profit? Are you next going to say that standing on coral or the sea floor is acceptable for an instructor to do if the video is about macro photography?

Nice try being the contrarian, but it doesn't fit. Sometimes, negative comments are constructive in and of themselves.

I am not here to be contrarian. Anyone who has read my comments over the years probably has noticed that I try to be a voice of civility in forums like this (less so in the pub). I think you have it backwards, constructive comments can be negative. I am not here to defend anything depicted in the video, but, the commentary on light selection isn’t particularly off. Where did the background video come from? I have no idea. Was the narrator the one standing on the coral? Probably not. Would I chase a moray eel around for 8 minutes? Nope.

Have I seen crap videos on ScubaBoard? Absolutely, hell, I‘ve posted a few myself. As a content producer, I may spend a couple of hours reviewing video to splice together 2 or 3 minutes of video to share. A couple years ago some poor schmo posted a wreck dive video be shot during a class. It turned into page after page of bashing the instructor, who I don’t think even appeared in the video. The OP never posted again after the first day of negative comments.

The producer of this video does not deserve a public flogging. A) He wasn’t hawking anything. He wasn’t asking for business beyond mentioning his credentials. B) If you flame him in the Basic Forum, you are basically announcing flaming novice content producers is okay here. It’s not. The OP is obviously learning to make videos and posting them here is fair. I looked at a couple of his other videos, one was a perfectly reasonable review of a camera housing. If you don’t like this guy’s videos, feel free to not click on them. If you think you saw something transgressive, you can send him a PM and suggest and edit. You can post your concerns, but there is another person on the other end, receiving the message. Show them some consideration.

A recurring topic on ScubaBoard is why are divers not sticking with the sport. I know plenty of divers who avoid ScubaBoard because of the toxic “my way or the highway“ attitude about criticism. Correcting the errors committed in this video won’t occur if people stop reading and posting because there is a dog pile on every mistake.

As I sa

 

[drk5036]

I am not here to be contrarian. Anyone who has read my comments over the years probably has noticed that I try to be a voice of civility in forums like this (less so in the pub). I think you have it backwards, constructive comments can be negative. I am not here to defend anything depicted in the video, but, the commentary on light selection isn’t particularly off. Where did the background video come from? I have no idea. Was the narrator the one standing on the coral? Probably not. Would I chase a moray eel around for 8 minutes? Nope.

Have I seen crap videos on ScubaBoard? Absolutely, hell, I‘ve posted a few myself. As a content producer, I may spend a couple of hours reviewing video to splice together 2 or 3 minutes of video to share. A couple years ago some poor schmo posted a wreck dive video be shot during a class. It turned into page after page of bashing the instructor, who I don’t think even appeared in the video. The OP never posted again after the first day of negative comments.

The producer of this video does not deserve a public flogging. A) He wasn’t hawking anything. He wasn’t asking for business beyond mentioning his credentials. B) If you flame him in the Basic Forum, you are basically announcing flaming novice content producers is okay here. It’s not. The OP is obviously learning to make videos and posting them here is fair. I looked at a couple of his other videos, one was a perfectly reasonable review of a camera housing. If you don’t like this guy’s videos, feel free to not click on them. If you think you saw something transgressive, you can send him a PM and suggest and edit. You can post your concerns, but there is another person on the other end, receiving the message. Show them some consideration.

A recurring topic on ScubaBoard is why are divers not sticking with the sport. I know plenty of divers who avoid ScubaBoard because of the toxic “my way or the highway“ attitude about criticism. Correcting the errors committed in this video won’t occur if people stop reading and posting because there is a dog pile on every mistake.

As I sa

I think this type of response isn’t a general response, it’s specifically for this OP, who has been doing this over and over repeatedly, and refuses to have any discourse regarding it.

Did you see his SMB videos? It’s so bad that it could cause serious problems for new divers. And dispute people repeatedly commenting on this, he doesn’t stop.

I think another reason people might not stick with the sport is the preponderance of terrible dive professionals. If you are taught poorly or mislead by people claiming to be professionals but have no idea what they’re doing, it’s going to be a major turn off. This seems to fall into that category.

 

[THPetya]

My big dream is a night dive in the river Tisa. I was born in Vojvodina in Senta. My cousin was a CMAS instructor back in the day. I want to dive with him He knows some sweet spots to find some fresh water crayfish

 

[CT-Rich]

I think this type of response isn’t a general response, it’s specifically for this OP, who has been doing this over and over repeatedly, and refuses to have any discourse regarding it.

Did you see his SMB videos? It’s so bad that it could cause serious problems for new divers. And dispute people repeatedly commenting on this, he doesn’t stop.

I think another reason people might not stick with the sport is the preponderance of terrible dive professionals. If you are taught poorly or mislead by people claiming to be professionals but have no idea what they’re doing, it’s going to be a major turn off. This seems to fall into that category.

If he doesn’t take criticism, what is the point of the abusive posts? If he is advocating dangerous / unsafe dive practices ask a mod to remove the post. One the people saying he deserves the abuse has been diving less than a year With less than two dozen dives. How many of those were night dives? Is he really qualified to participate in a dog pile? The next time he sees something sloppy or wrong or he doesn’t agree with is he going to troll the poster? Is this the direction ScubaBoard should head in?

I missed a bunch of his videos because I didn’t find them something worth commenting on. I saw this video on YouTube a few days ago, watched it and moved on. I wasn’t going to comment on it here because that only pops it back to the top of the forum.

 

[rongoodman]

A couple years ago some poor schmo posted a wreck dive video be shot during a class. It turned into page after page of bashing the instructor, who I don’t think even appeared in the video. The OP never posted again after the first day of negative comments.

I don't think that is entirely accurate. As I recall, it turned into page after page of negative comments regarding some controversial practices espoused by said instructor, highlighted, if not promoted, in the video. I don't recall anyone bashing the student or the quality of his video. You could feel some sympathy for him because he stumbled into a mine field, I suppose.

 

[Aura]

If he doesn’t take criticism, what is the point of the abusive posts?

My guess would be that some people feel like this guy keeps uploading videos that promote harmful and dangerous practices, and the lack of response from the OP then results in a harsher and harsher tone trying to provoke some sort of response. I don't watch this guy's videos and usually don't read the forum replies to them either, so my knowledge is only based on the comments in this thread.

One the people saying he deserves the abuse has been diving less than a year With less than two dozen dives. How many of those were night dives?

I believe he has only criticized that someone was standing on the reef, and harassing wildlife. I don't think either are exclusive to night diving, and I think someone who's not even Open Water certified should be able to recognize this as poor behavior. And it is extra bad when he as an instructor condones it.
I don't think trolling or flaming is the way to go. Neither is gatekeeping new divers.