Have you lost dive buddies because:

[OE2X]

Come on in to the darkside Catherine. The water is great.

Never said you couldn't join us.

FWIW - I've never dove with Catherine. I don't figure she would be caught dead in the same ocean as me.

Frankly I'm stunned that she even posts in this forum. Moth to the flame? ? ?

Come to us Catherine. Come to us Catherine. Come to us... she hears the DIR sirens call.

 

[jeckyll]

...

Come to us Catherine. Come to us Catherine. Come to us... she hears the DIR sirens call.

I thought she was planning to come to the PNW sometime... maybe it's more the cold dark water sirens ... hmmm

 

[OE2X]

Cold water. Visibility under 100'. Ummm make that under 30'. Ummmm make that under 15'. ??????????????????????????????????????????????

NOT LIKELY!

 

[jeckyll]

Cold water. Visibility under 100'. Ummm make that under 30'. Ummmm make that under 15'. ??????????????????????????????????????????????

NOT LIKELY!

It's a work in progress, I'll give you that

 

[Cacia]

I want too, but those drysuits are too much money and I don't want to wear diapers. otherwise, it sounds very appealing. I do not think it is ethical for you DIR-ers to stalk a girl's dive buddy of choice and try to convert him. Alienation of...affection, something like that. I am sure you make G.I. proud though, stealing the best divers and creating a brain drain.

oops, no banter in DIR! hey wait, that was on topic. I think I will plan on staying a hybrid diver. All that "who is DIR and who isn't" takes some of the glamour out. I am very interested and my goal is to mooch all the skills out of people who take the course....like Dennis. I already have all the videos!

Moth?

 

[Atticus]

You didn't lose him because he wouldn't go DIR, you lost him because you choose not to dive with him.

Excellent point Walter.

If your dive buddy is doing something unsafe then as his friend you owe it to him to discuss it with him. If he's just doing something different then it's only your choice that cost you a dive buddy.

Some of the best divers I know have no interest in diving a long hose. They're diving in unconfined water and they argue that their rig is safer for the kind of diving they do. I think the long hose is the cats meow, but I'm not obnoxious enough to tell them I think they're *unsafe* because they use a shorter hose length.

 

[Cacia]

yes, I agree. the long hose and bungeed reg are the bee's knees. I will never go back.

 

[Potapko]

You didn't lose him because he wouldn't go DIR, you lost him because you choose not to dive with him.

Actually, I haven't LOST anybody.

Some have asked about unsafe behavior. Well, he thinks safety stops are a waste of time as long as we are within ndl limits. He doesn't use a computer, but the only tables he uses are in his head and never does a calculation for a repetitive dive, just says he KNOWS he is within limits. Always ascends too fast. sharktooths to see whatever interests him at any point in a dive.

Hmm, what else can I add?

My point is that he is a friend before he was a dive buddy. I sort of got him back into diving after he had been out of it for 10 years. He thinks he is very experienced but every one who dives with us thinks I am the more experienced diver. He has near 200 dives and me only around 80. I am not trying to lift myself up but I think these things are important and he doesn't.

The friendship is still more important than the diving. But I was more interested in your experiences with this situation.

 

[Atticus]

Ok, so what does this have to do with DIR?

Rapid ascents, no safety stops, no NDL or deco calculations (be it computer, table, or otherwise), etc. goes against all present day dive training.

To answer your original question - I had an open water student who was certified years previously and was taking the course so he could see how his (not yet certified) wife was trained. His beliefs were "ascend slower than your fastest bubble", and "when the tanks out your dives over".

I addressed the issue by saying that decompression theory has come a long way in the past 30 years, tanks have gotten larger (though an old steel 72 is large enough for a reasonable breather to get into trouble), and that he isn't as young as he was when he used to get away with diving like that. I also told him that I could't pass him in the course unless he followed the guidelines. It took a couple of weeks and the purchase of a dive computer (yes, I know we're in the DIR forum), but I got him diving sanely.

One idea - you and your friend can take a con-ed course together and your friend can hear this from an instructor. Sometimes it helps to hear the lesson from someone else.

 

[DocWong]

This doesn't even sound like a DIR issue. The practice of too fast an ascent rate and no safety stops is something any decently trained diver would agree is not safe.

Also, it would be unfortunate that if he has the attitude that he "knows it all" or has a "know best" attitude it would be a major barrier to improving or learning more.

Try getting him some references to read on micro bubble formation and such, even on recreational dives.