I’m about ½ through Diver Down.

[Spencermm]

It is a sobering read. I have a personal tendency to WANT to stay dumb and happy (though I rarely chose that option, even though I am tempted), but ignorance is not bliss when it comes to diving.
I need more training and experience.

 

[TSandM]

Spencer, that's a great attitude, and with that attitude, you'll make progress steadily, and even better, stay out of trouble.

There are a lot of good lessons in that book.

 

[TheRedHead]

Yet, reading the book you will see that most of the accidents were caused by ignoring training. That is the overriding lesson to be learned. If you stick to the rules, your chances of becomming a victim diminish considerably.

 

[cgvmer]

great book, I read it after my 4th OW dive..

 

[Dark Wolf]

Very good book, and many things to learn. Most of my education has been through books, and I don't necessarily mean diving. Continue to keep an open mind and you will go far, I am sure.

Dark Wolf

 

[AbyssalPlains]

I found this book to be the most useful of all. The story about that poor guy plummeting to death after he assembled his BC valves the wrong way prompted me to take my BC valves apart and study their inner workings. Now I feel so much more confident because I actually understand what each of the parts does and where they sit in relation to each other.

 

[TheRedHead]

I found this book to be the most useful of all. The story about that poor guy plummeting to death after he assembled his BC valves the wrong way prompted me to take my BC valves apart and study their inner workings. Now I feel so much more confident because I actually understand what each of the parts does and where they sit in relation to each other.

I think the "lesson" of that one was supposed to be to have your gear serviced at your LDS by a professional.

 

[KazooDiver]

I agree it is a great book...makes you think about your decisions!

 

[AbyssalPlains]

I think the "lesson" of that one was supposed to be to have your gear serviced at your LDS by a professional.

True. But then again, the mechanical wortkings of scuba equipment are not really high tech, even though the companies do their best to talk you into believing that scuba equipment is as sensitive as the flight controls on a fighter jet. Exploiting people's fears and ignorance of "how stuff works" is how manufacturers operate. Augmenting their advertisements for products that basically haven't changed for decades with a lot of fluff is their only chance of justifying their high prices, which have nothing to do with the actual production and materials they use. If you look inside you will notice that while the manufacturing process got refined over time, the basic mechanic principles of scuba equipment are not much different from what they were 50 years ago. A valve is still a valve and rubber disc is still a rubber disc. As far as LDS go, I've had equipment set up sloppily and even wrongly numerous times. Personally, while I am not saying I would want to service my reg myself, I certainly feel safer servicing something fairly simple such as a BC myself, because I pay attention to detail and take the time to do it right. Who is more likely to forget an o-ring - me quietly sitting at home on the weekend tending to my BC, or some overworked mechanic in a dive shop who is trying to fix seven pieces of equipment at once and has to answer the phone fifteen times while he is trying to concentrate on a repair or service action?

 

[rawls]

Spencer, that's a great attitude, and with that attitude, you'll make progress steadily, and even better, stay out of trouble.

There are a lot of good lessons in that book.

Yep...