Chris K.
Registered
Hello, all.
Im new to this forum, albeit not to diving. Ive been getting wet regularly since the mid-nineties, starting as a working diver for a salmon farm on the Northwest Pacific Coast. Some years later the government made us all become certified professional divers, and with that ticket under my belt I was able to take on work with other companies. I have worked for the DFO, insurance adjusters, salvagers, remote camp operators, and land developers in all sorts of environments from sewer outfalls to mud filled lakes strewn with sunken logs and the visibility of a cup of coffee. I have dived in drinking water reservoirs, under docks, boats, and expansive fish farms, retrieved salvaged wood and various goods from ships propellers to peoples sun glasses. Later I became an OWSI, and ran a dive charter business for some years. Although I spent a short time diving and teaching in the tropics, I prefer the clear, cold waters of the Pacific Northwest. These days, I dive only for fun, and I like to take my old Ikelite housing and SLR camera along.
Over the years Ive seen my share of good and bad divers, and I have stared death in the eyes and seen the fear of death in the eyes of others more than once. For this reason I am a convinced solo diver. When I dive with others, it is under the strict understanding that you dont count on me, and I dont count on you. Sorry, I for one plan to come home after a dive. When I do dive with a buddy (which I have not done in years I dive with like-minded friends), it is like a work assignment, not a fun dive. My full and undivided attention goes to my buddy, because thats the only way a buddy could be of any use to you underwater. Experience has taught me that unless you hold hands, or are tethered to each other it is unlikely for a buddy to be much help to you in a sudden emergency. By the time your buddy notices that something is wrong with you or vice versa youd be most likely dead. Sure, a buddy could assist you with a minor mishap, say entanglement, but if you run out of air and your buddy is even 25 feet away and facing the other way, chances are youd be doing the funky chicken before he has time to come to your aid. Beside (trust me on this one) the last thing you want under water is a panicking buddy scrambling over to you and ripping the reg from your mouth! I had to punch a dive master in the face at sixty feet once to keep him from drowning us both. He lived, although we had to rush him to hospital. I dont mean to be callous, and I appreciate the many excellent and deserving recreational divers out there, but there is also a lot of BS mostly driven by the almighty buck and an effort to sell, sell, sell. Gadgets and hokey training courses dont make up for genuine experience and common sense. I stopped counting my dives near 1000, and that was ten years ago. Im as good at it as I will ever be, but I dont call myself a master. I will always learn, and I will never lose respect for the underwater environment. I am a firm believer in self-sufficiency and that includes fitness of mind and body, unclouded judgment, and the ability to make rational decisions under the most stressful conditions. No dive course is going to teach you that. If you havent lived it, you cant know. Theory wont do. If you smoke, if youre obese, if you drink and dive, if your gear is shabby and held together with duct tape, (or if you have the latest and best, but dont know how to use it), or if your mind is preoccupied with something else, youre just playing Russian roulette. I maintain my gear religiously all going on fifteen years, and in pristine condition and I know each square inch of it intimately, because in the end you count on this stuff to keep you alive down there. Unlike what organizations like PADI tell you, diving is not a casual, fun activity you can just take up on a whim and do once every few years like rollerblading or snowboarding. It takes preparation, commitment and mental and physical ability to do safely. Anything less is a disaster waiting to happen.
Im looking forward to some lively discussions on this forum.
Cheers,
Chris
Im new to this forum, albeit not to diving. Ive been getting wet regularly since the mid-nineties, starting as a working diver for a salmon farm on the Northwest Pacific Coast. Some years later the government made us all become certified professional divers, and with that ticket under my belt I was able to take on work with other companies. I have worked for the DFO, insurance adjusters, salvagers, remote camp operators, and land developers in all sorts of environments from sewer outfalls to mud filled lakes strewn with sunken logs and the visibility of a cup of coffee. I have dived in drinking water reservoirs, under docks, boats, and expansive fish farms, retrieved salvaged wood and various goods from ships propellers to peoples sun glasses. Later I became an OWSI, and ran a dive charter business for some years. Although I spent a short time diving and teaching in the tropics, I prefer the clear, cold waters of the Pacific Northwest. These days, I dive only for fun, and I like to take my old Ikelite housing and SLR camera along.
Over the years Ive seen my share of good and bad divers, and I have stared death in the eyes and seen the fear of death in the eyes of others more than once. For this reason I am a convinced solo diver. When I dive with others, it is under the strict understanding that you dont count on me, and I dont count on you. Sorry, I for one plan to come home after a dive. When I do dive with a buddy (which I have not done in years I dive with like-minded friends), it is like a work assignment, not a fun dive. My full and undivided attention goes to my buddy, because thats the only way a buddy could be of any use to you underwater. Experience has taught me that unless you hold hands, or are tethered to each other it is unlikely for a buddy to be much help to you in a sudden emergency. By the time your buddy notices that something is wrong with you or vice versa youd be most likely dead. Sure, a buddy could assist you with a minor mishap, say entanglement, but if you run out of air and your buddy is even 25 feet away and facing the other way, chances are youd be doing the funky chicken before he has time to come to your aid. Beside (trust me on this one) the last thing you want under water is a panicking buddy scrambling over to you and ripping the reg from your mouth! I had to punch a dive master in the face at sixty feet once to keep him from drowning us both. He lived, although we had to rush him to hospital. I dont mean to be callous, and I appreciate the many excellent and deserving recreational divers out there, but there is also a lot of BS mostly driven by the almighty buck and an effort to sell, sell, sell. Gadgets and hokey training courses dont make up for genuine experience and common sense. I stopped counting my dives near 1000, and that was ten years ago. Im as good at it as I will ever be, but I dont call myself a master. I will always learn, and I will never lose respect for the underwater environment. I am a firm believer in self-sufficiency and that includes fitness of mind and body, unclouded judgment, and the ability to make rational decisions under the most stressful conditions. No dive course is going to teach you that. If you havent lived it, you cant know. Theory wont do. If you smoke, if youre obese, if you drink and dive, if your gear is shabby and held together with duct tape, (or if you have the latest and best, but dont know how to use it), or if your mind is preoccupied with something else, youre just playing Russian roulette. I maintain my gear religiously all going on fifteen years, and in pristine condition and I know each square inch of it intimately, because in the end you count on this stuff to keep you alive down there. Unlike what organizations like PADI tell you, diving is not a casual, fun activity you can just take up on a whim and do once every few years like rollerblading or snowboarding. It takes preparation, commitment and mental and physical ability to do safely. Anything less is a disaster waiting to happen.
Im looking forward to some lively discussions on this forum.
Cheers,
Chris
