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- I just don't log dives
Sort of underscores the importance of a check out dive to me. I haven't been asked to do one in a long time, but it seems ~7-8 years ago it was normal. An SMB is an equipment solution to a skills problem (namely, planning and executing a dive such that you end up back at the boat). I'm not suggesting it's a bad idea to carry one, but it's not a silver bullet for the drifting diver problem.
Sure every diver needs the skill to plan and execute their own dives safely. And that happens most of the time to most divers. But even to the best of us, weather and ocean conditions can and do sometimes change drastically for the worse. Isn't it better to be prepared for the "what if" that never happens than to have it happen to you when you are unprepared?