I do not agree with, "Dive and Let Dive."

[tursiops]

Who decides the proper training and the proper equipment?

The agencies that certify such training....SDI and PADI.

You can disagree all you want with the Dive and let Dive but it makes no difference. Why would your opinion matter any more than another diver's opinion? in particular a diver that dives in a way unacceptable to you.

It is a sort of community-based, evolving, set of best practices. For example avoiding kicking over stands of pillar coral. It used not matter very much...now it is a serious no-no. You, for example, do not have the right to do that if it greatly infringes on my enjoyment of the dive site, not to mention the hundreds/thousands of divers that do not get to see that pillar coral. So it's not really an opinion; it is rather a set of best-practices about conserving the environment.

 

[kaylee_ann]

I see plenty of students walking into the water at the local quarry looking an absolute cluster. Second stages and console all hanging down their back. Often tanks are very loose in camband and slipping. I don’t say a word. I just sit back and laugh to myself at the mess. If instructors can’t be bothered to make sure their students are squared away before they get in the water, the instructors get to be the ones to deal with the issues.

I don’t say thing now. I used to if I saw a tank slipping, but not now. I’ve gotten too much attitude back.

The people watching at the Midwest quarries is excellent. Maybe only airports are better.

personally I'd address stuff with a dive buddy, if it's a stranger, I leave them alone. but would make a mental note in my head of "this person is now on my list of who not to dive with".

 

[lowviz]

The agencies that certify such training....SDI and PADI.

...//...So it's not really an opinion; it is rather a set of best-practices about conserving the environment.

I get that. You came into the discussion rather ham handed (opinion) but now see your point with the exception of solo training. You do not seem to realize that some divers want to dive alone and leave no trace. Cards don't matter.

Kind of like some who are good people because they want to be, not because a magic man in the sky will force them to do so.

 

[KatieMac]

personally I'd address stuff with a dive buddy, if it's a stranger, I leave them alone. but would make a mental note in my head of "this person is now on my list of who not to dive with".

I guarantee you would address something with a stranger if they were putting you at risk.

Been there, done that. Although I started with the same opinion as you

 

[tursiops]

You do not seem to realize that some divers want to dive alone and leave no trace.

I get that. I enjoy diving like that too...maybe while fish-surveying or picture-taking, for example. My issue is only with folks that choose to not get the training or equipment to do it safely; solo per se is fine. Bad solo is, well, bad.

 

[James79]

I get that. I enjoy diving like that too...maybe while fish-surveying or picture-taking, for example. My issue is only with folks that choose to not get the training or equipment to do it safely; solo per se is fine. Bad solo is, well, bad.

So I'm not capable of diving solo properly unless someone else specifically trains me for it? The (for profit) agencies are the only ones who can dictate what is necessary?
I will agree that someone solo diving in an unsafe manner reflects poorly on the community... But my possession of a piece of plastic does not dictate my skills (or lack there if).
Just playing devil's advocate.
Respectfully,

James

 

[lowviz]

I get that. I enjoy diving like that too...maybe while fish-surveying or picture-taking, for example. My issue is only with folks that choose to not get the training or equipment to do it safely; solo per se is fine. Bad solo is, well, bad.

I would only say, in retrospect, that getting the proper experience rather than equipment or training before going solo is most important. Training can be knocked-off in a weekend.

 

[Ana]

The agencies that certify such training....SDI and PADI.

It is a sort of community-based, evolving, set of best practices. For example avoiding kicking over stands of pillar coral. It used not matter very much...now it is a serious no-no. You, for example, do not have the right to do that if it greatly infringes on my enjoyment of the dive site, not to mention the hundreds/thousands of divers that do not get to see that pillar coral. So it's not really an opinion; it is rather a set of best-practices about conserving the environment.

Agencies that certify such training have proven to anyone that wants to open their eye that they couldn't care less about safety, just about mass certification. I would admit that some instructors within said agencies do care some of them care deeply. Doesn't matter, there's more ways to arrive to safe diving besides going thru the agencies, takes longer but it works just as well.

You follow community-based, evolving practices. Others follow self-based evolving practices.

100% agree with protecting the environment. I care about my dive sites very much, I would turn in anyone I see poaching.
But did you mean the environment on your OP? it sounded to me more, way way more on the training and equipment.
I got the training I felt was sufficient in the format that suited me, may not be the training you chose for yourself, who is to say which training is superior?

We don't know each other, but I can almost bet that your gear is greatly different than mine, even if we both use a backplate and wing. I also get the feeling that you would disapprove my gear for my typical solo dives, and you have the right to disagree but keep it to yourself because I don't really care. I certainly couldn't care less about what you use for your dives, and that's the way it should be... Unless you know me and ask for my opinion or if I ask for yours.

 

[lowviz]

You follow community-based, evolving practices. Others follow self-based evolving practices.

Amen.

 

[pauldw]

or example, on one week-long dive trip I was buddied in a three-man where one guy constantly went off and did his own thing, more or less ignoring us. And he was not a very competent diver: air hog, bad buoyancy, probably horrible navigation skills, and certainly a general lack of awareness of his surroundings.

Sound like you had four people, and he was buddied up with Darwin. But Darwin failed in his task as a dive buddy.

The people watching at the Midwest quarries is excellent. Maybe only airports are better.

My favorite people watching place was at a rock climbing area near a major university, where there were normal climbers, and then there were guys who would go to a hardware store for some rope (the wrong kind) and then bring a date or their roommates to, usually, go rappelling instead of actual climbing. I'd take a textbook and climbing up onto a ledge wide enough to sit on, and just wait for the entertainment. Guys embarrassing themselves by cratering, people rappelling halfway down a rope and then learning it had wadded up midway down, and on and on. You can't fix stupid. But maybe stupid can sometimes fix itself. Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.