General Vortex Incident Discussion

[SC_Hoaty]

Thank you.
But FWIW, I agree in principle with Tommy, too. (no, I'm not piling on )
Rick

Yes, but you did it by pointing out where Nic is a competent, but VERY different kind if diver, instead of saying "Shame, Shame."

I understand Nic is not a role model for OW students, but he appears to know his limitations from what you have written.

I also understand that classicly trained cave divers have skills he does not, and an appreciation for the environment that may be foreign to someone from the former USSR. Hopefully Nic's appreciation for preserving the environment he encounters will grow as he spends more years in the US.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Ginnie's Ballroom has pretty much been obliterated from its natural state. That cave should be quite dark/black, and nowhere near so rounded...

I think we can say the same about Vortex to the gate, too - at least about the "roundedness." And not just OW divers... More than a few hundred cavern and cave students learned the "roof walking" propulsion technique there...
Rick

 

[boulderjohn]

While I don't think he's "promoting" his own style of doing anything, ...

We'll just have to disagree on the promotion part, to me having one's own youtube channel is a kind of promotion.....

I actually called him out, in this thread ( or one of the many other pertaining to this ) and he agreed he was promoting.

YouTube - deepswim's Channel

Maybe it's just me, but when someone has the divers unfurl a banner with the name of a website in the middle of a cave during a video and then at the end of the video while on shore, I tend to think of it is promotion. But, I guess I'm just old fashioned.

 

[Kevin Carlisle]

Well, sooner or later some OW diver is going to blow an o-ring or have a high pressure seat failure in the piano room... and hopefully s/he'll get out. Now, given the thousands of OW divers who make the trip, and of those the few that go with Nik, the chances of the failure happening with him are pretty low in the first place, but he's probably better prepared to get someone out than the average buddy that's down there.
Rick

Thanks Rick. Just wanted to see what you thought about that scenario using your years of experience as both diver and teacher. I don't think I give him the same odds, but I do appreciate that input.

 

[Belmont]

...and a free man.Rick

A concept we seem to forget more these days, good post Rick.

 

[mike_s]

here's a better view of his 'plastic tank wing' that he sometimes mounts his camera on.

While it's not very traditional to what we learned with, it seems sorta neat and does look like is faster (decreased drag).

Not sure about the practicality of having two of them "back to back" though.


here's the video showing it.


[youtubehq]6JmdswvDX1w[/youtubehq]

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I think we can say the same about Vortex to the gate, too - at least about the "roundedness." And not just OW divers... More than a few hundred cavern and cave students learned the "roof walking" propulsion technique there...
Rick

Absolutely, Vortex and the Ginnie Ballroom both have the most beatup cavern/caves I've ever seen out of over 50+ different FL cave systems. I agree completely and its not something I'd like to see in other caves.

Thank God the dude just dives Vortex.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Maybe it's just me, but when someone has the divers unfurl a banner with the name of a website in the middle of a cave during a video and then at the end of the video while on shore, I tend to think of it is promotion. But, I guess I'm just old fashioned.

Apples & oranges... to fall back on the Knievel metaphor, who promoted himself and his stunts but preached safe motorcycling ("Anyone who rides a motorcycle in the rain is a damn fool.") he's promoting himself and his website. I haven't seen him promoting his diving exploits for anyone else to do, just for us to watch & admire. There's a big difference.
He will let you swim around with his "front tank" if you ask him, though.
Rick

 

[Divedoggie]

So...here is a link to a pic of Ben McDaniel that shows a few tidbits of info about gear. For example, the Pinnacle semi-dry suit would be plenty warm for long dives in 68 degree water.
Photo: Scuba diver Ben McDaniel of Collierville never returned from exploring an underwater cave in Florida in August. - Memphis, TN | The Commercial Appeal

 

[Dive-aholic]

I have one of those suits and it's not enough thermal protection for long dives in 68 degree water. My max in that suit is about an hour.