More Fit to Dive Posts - Big Guy- Out of Gas

[o2fill]

Firstly - thanks to everyone for the support after my last post about my IPE incident.

I've posted a couple more blog entries that might be of interest - Big Guy - Out of Gas is the story of "Steve"; a tremendously likable fellow who ran out of air at 100' and then got into all kinds of trouble related to his poor fitness level. Sadly, Steve died of a heart attack while diving just over a year later. Out of Gas Too! is about an incident that occurred just two days after Steve's initial incident. Same boat. Same ocean. Different guy - let's call him "Brian".

The full story is at here. The blog also has information on my own brush with death and the reaction of our dive club to the story about "Steve".

If you have the chance, please forward these stories or the blog address to your buddies and clubs so that we can, together, push increased awareness of the need for a fitness dialog between friends, buddies, and club members.

Dive Safely,

Phil

 

[Randy g]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[idocsteve]

Every time there's a thread about fitness and scuba diving all the fat guys post that it doesn't matter if you're overweight as long as you have the skills and experience and training to compensate for it.

I beg to differ.

 

[gsk3]

Every time there's a thread about fitness and scuba diving all the fat guys post that it doesn't matter if you're overweight as long as you have the skills and experience and training to compensate for it.

I beg to differ.

Steve -

Maybe if you didn't insult them in every thread they wouldn't be quite as defensive.

Look, there's pretty good evidence that part of your message (being fit is better for your health in general, and specifically for diving) is true. Being fit is probably more important than not being overweight, for SCUBA, but the evidence there is much more mixed, and the number of fit, obese people is much smaller than many would like to admit.

But there's also good reason to think, both from common sense and from experiments, that stigmatizing obesity in the way that you do causes paralysis, not behavior change. On the one hand, it's ScubaBoard, and you can write more or less whatever you like. On the other, you put so much effort into repeating this message that I have to think that somewhere in your heart of hearts you'd actually like to change behavior. If so, I'd urge you to reconsider your approach.

Edit: OP - I also wanted to say thanks for posting your article. This kind of thing is surprisingly common, and posting about it will hopefully help.

 

[idocsteve]

On the other, you put so much effort into repeating this message that I have to think that somewhere in your heart of hearts you'd actually like to change behavior. If so, I'd urge you to reconsider your approach.

I do want to change their behavior. One of them just might be my next dive buddy!

Truth is no matter what anyone says, it's gotta come from within. Praise, encouragement, or downright insults aren't going to have any significant effect one way or another. They have to WANT to get up off the couch and onto the treadmill, and that comes from within.

 

[Wookie]

I do want to change their behavior. One of them just might be my next dive buddy!

But in the "would you dive with a member of the board" thread, you stated very clearly that you are a solo diver. See here:

I prefer to dive solo, the only exceptions would be a girlfriend or family member or a small handful of guys I've dived with on local dive shop vacations who have proven themselves to be at least as competent as me.

But hypothetically speaking I wouldn't be swayed by anything someone posts on an obscure internet discussion board and I'd be rather surprised if someone said to me 'Hey you're that idocsteve dude from ScubaBoard, I aint even getting on this freaking boat with you'.

Are you saying you dive and date fat chicks?

 

[gsk3]

I do want to change their behavior. One of them just might be my next dive buddy!

Truth is no matter what anyone says, it's gotta come from within. Praise, encouragement, or downright insults aren't going to have any significant effect one way or another. They have to WANT to get up off the couch and onto the treadmill, and that comes from within.

That's good to hear. Although I'm a bit more optimistic than you about the power of words, incentives, and better policies.

 

[idocsteve]

But in the "would you dive with a member of the board" thread, you stated very clearly that you are a solo diver.

Wookie, I have been on dive boats where I am forced to pair up with an instabuddy. I do usually try to get out of it by stating I am a solo diver with the proper gear, training and certification but oftentimes that doesn't fly.

Are you saying you dive and date fat chicks?

I would not date a fat chick let alone dive her.

 

[idocsteve]

Seriously, think about it.

Say you're a diver who prefers to dive solo because you realize that when you take on an unknown buddy, you're exposing yourself to legal liability as well as personal health risks if they should freak out, or panic and go for your regulator or worse your regulator AND knock your mask off your face; or you have to risk your life to go save them from themselves because they sucked down their air and they're at 150 feet because they got too task focused to monitor depth and gas.

You board a dive boat and your request to dive solo is refused, and you're paired off with another diver.

Scenario 1- She's blonde, she's hot, she's fit, and she's smiling at you and the first thing she asks is that you "zip her up". Ok, I'm willing to bend a bit on this one and off we go into the wild blue yonder.

Scenario 2- Your new dive buddy is morbidly obese, bursting out of the seams of his wetsuit, sweating profusely and breathing hard just from the effort it took to stand up and shake your hand. I'd think twice about this one.

 

[herbdb]

Sorry but running out of air has nothing to do with fitness. If you are not aware of your sac rate and keeping up with your available gas, you should not be diving without an instructor who can teach you to be more aware.

A good diver will not end up in that position unless it was the result of an equipment failure. Then he would have to rely on a buddy or a redundant source. Neither have anything to do with fitness.