Help keep a newbie from getting reamed!

[fisherdvm]

Basically just about any equipment or agency topic on the board can result in a flame war. How carefully crafted these wars are depends on the skill of the poster. Some can be very educational, and worth reading.

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This is now an ultra friendly forum. You can ask anything within reason (no trolls) and not fear people jumping all over you! EVERYONE who deigns to answer within this forum, must couch their answers with friendliness and respect! That's right. We even have some special hosts (not mods) whose job is to KEEP things on topic and nice.​

That surely is right!! I poorly worded a question about GUE-Fundamental vs. cavern course, and was quickly flammed by multiple posters, and called a troll http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/240820-why-bother-gue-fundamentals.html. It quickly put out any interest I ever had about taking GUE-F or associating with the technical side of diving. Not to say I don't respect their teachings or philosophies. On hind sight, it was poorly worded. But I did not expect to step on so many toes.

Hopefully, this new format will make it easier to ask questions without being caught in the middle of some preexisting battle on SB.​

 

[Catt99]

"My instructor / mentor said . . ."

Don't state / ask the above without: (i) specifying you're only interested in whether the mentor's suggestion has merit to you or others as divers; (ii) being prepared for a detailed analysis as to whether your mentor is qualified to offer that opinion; (iii) being prepared for a flame war on agency "standards" (which may be a term you're blissfully unaware of); and (iv) being prepared for a series of posts debating whether the question / experience / concept you're asking about is a standards violation by your mentor, and then, when the discussion that you didn't intend to start has largely petered out, whether it ought to be a standards violation (which revives the agency discussion and sometimes the mentor discussion - see items (ii) and (iii)).

 

[bowlofpetunias]

WELCOME!!! To a kinder gentler forum! This forum and the New to Scuba Forum have gotten new rules in the last two weeks. In other words:

ALL QUESTIONS ARE SAFE!!!

This is now an ultra friendly forum. You can ask anything within reason (no trolls) and not fear people jumping all over you! EVERYONE who deigns to answer within this forum, must couch their answers with friendliness and respect! That's right. We even have some special hosts (not mods) whose job is to KEEP things on topic and nice.

No off topic, acerbic or other wise mean spirited posting will be tolerated in this forum any longer. Our hosts will be alerting mods ASAP as well as making certain ALL posts will be answered.

If someone slips up and makes an egregious post, PLEASE don't take matters into your own hands. That only gives us more to clean up! Just hit the trusty

bad post button, conveniently located on the bottom left of each and every post, including mine.

Now, here is the rub. We need more hosts. Requirements? Patience in helping others, an in depth knowledge of diving (instructors are preferred) and TRUE humility! We certainly don't need the "Shell Answer Man", if you know what I mean. If you know someone like this, please send me their name and WHY you think they would be good. Give me two or three links to their posting style. BTW, we won't be considering those who recommend themselves. So, if someone asks you to recommend them, say yes and then don't even BOTHER to do it. We need humility, which is why I am not one of the hosts!

So thanks for bringing this up, FishOutUvH2O. This was a great way to clear the air about our new focus and rules for this forum.
​

:rock_band:admin:This sounds like a move in the right direction see my last post behaviour in the split forum. I will give this approach a fair try I've been finding ScubaToys freindlier and much more polite but I miss some of the people here

 

[Ken abucs]

either the boards populated by normal people, or I really am abnormal and just fitting in with my own kind.

I'm pretty sure it's the latter.

 

[LiamtheDiver]

Don't forget the never ending debate of cold water, no viz quarry diving versus warm water, 100 foot tropical diving.

 

[ScubaSteve]

....... and If I carry 2 can they be considered Doubles? .........

This may have already been commented on but my cover has been blown....co-workers are on to my daily routine on SB. I actually laughed out loud reading this one.

 

[perdidochas]

I'm new to diving and this board, but so far I've learned that there are a couple of topics that people are, to put it mildly, extremely passionate about.

For example:

1. "Octo vs. integrated octo/inflator, which is better?"
2. Brand loyalty, i.e. Saying "My Atomic is better than your Scubapro, is better than Poseidon, is better than Atmos. . . etc.

What are some other topics I should be aware of so I don't end-up blindly walking into the middle of a crap storm?

[-]
P.S. sorry about the "from from" in the thread title, my finger has a stuttering problem.
[/-]

Snorkel while scuba diving
Spare Air vs. pony
Backpack and Wing vs. Jacket BC
Knife vs. shears/line cutter
Knife on leg vs. belt/BC

 

[bfw]

What are some other topics I should be aware of so I don't end-up blindly walking into the middle of a crap storm?

Why do you care? What's a little crap storm - it's all on your computer screen, not REALLY in your living room. It's only words, not sticks and stones. Words on your computer screen can't hurt you, and once you realize that, you'll find that even in the fiercest crap storm, you can learn something. If words on a computer screen give you pause, what do you think that says about how you'll handle a REAL crisis underwater. Wade in there and form a few callouses on your psyche; it can't kill you, so, like the man said, it'll only make you stronger.

 

[Scott M]

To the OP, like others have said a little reeming is really not that big a deal, sometimes it brings out a point of view you may not have considered and in the end we all learn from it. The best part is you can just ignor the posts/posters you do not want to talk to. Jump in get your feet wet and see what happens, it'a all good!

 

[Puffer Fish]

What are some other topics I should be aware of so I don't end-up blindly walking into the middle of a crap storm?

Why do you care? What's a little crap storm - it's all on your computer screen, not REALLY in your living room. It's only words, not sticks and stones. Words on your computer screen can't hurt you, and once you realize that, you'll find that even in the fiercest crap storm, you can learn something. If words on a computer screen give you pause, what do you think that says about how you'll handle a REAL crisis underwater. Wade in there and form a few callouses on your psyche; it can't kill you, so, like the man said, it'll only make you stronger.

Does not say anything about how one will handle a "Real" crisis.

There are people that like that environment and people that don't...and there are lots of places for that sort of "discussion" on SB... but here...lets try to respect anyone that is nice enough to take the time to ask a question.

Personally, I've been thru military dive training... been in combat, had to do several dozen actual rescues... and still believe that someone new to diving deserves the same respect as me, or anyone else.