Mr Chattertons Self Reliance Article...

[flots am]

I've made enough errors - and consider myself a 'safe' diver. Those errors were survived (obviously) and taught lessons. Effective training is a far better way to learn lessons though. One lesson I learnt, and absolutely believe in.. is my ability to make errors....especially due to complacency. Where I made errors was on 'simpler' dives...the ones well inside my comfort zone. I don't dive outside of my comfort zone, so errors don't happen there... probably why I am still alive. .

There's a lot to be said for that.

When I started diving I promised my wife "I wouldn't get killed".

I start off every dive trying to figure out "how could I die here?" If I come up with anything significant (aside from unforseen medical problems) that I can't mitigate with training, a good buddy, good equipment and good judgement , I don't do the dive.

So far, it's worked nicely.

In the lake, on a shallow no-deco dive, I'll dive with pretty much anybody. As the dive gets deeper, more stressful and more dangerous, the list of "who I'll dive with" gets smaller. On a deep wreck penetration, the list gets down to maybe four people.

flots.

 

[nimoh]

There's a lot to be said for that.

When I started diving I promised my wife "I wouldn't get killed".

I start off every dive trying to figure out "how could I die here?" If I come up with anything significant (aside from unforseen medical problems) that I can't mitigate with training, a good buddy, good equipment and good judgement , I don't do the dive.

So far, it's worked nicely.

In the lake, on a shallow no-deco dive, I'll dive with pretty much anybody. As the dive gets deeper, more stressful and more dangerous, the list of "who I'll dive with" gets smaller. On a deep wreck penetration, the list gets down to maybe four people.

flots.

I like that system. I think a lot of divers lose sight of the fact that diving is dangerous.

 

[danvolker]

And not to be disrespectful, but the idea that one is immune from human error just because of agency affiliation should never be fostered. That was, hopefully, the lesson learned. I don't assume I dive with safe divers - that is a dependent condition.

Everyone here that wants to wade in to this discussion about what is UNSAFE, ought to be STATING what they think UNSAFE in diving is... It is nonsense to just make fun of others and not offer YOUR OWN position on this....I am as much to blame for not stating this before as any.

To me, from a DIR perspective, an UNSAFE DIVER defines a broad topic that would include:

• No peripherol awareness of anything going on around them underwater
• gear they are using underwater without any knowledge of how to use it...eg...counting on a computer for NDL, but not knowing how to read it....Using a BC for bouyancy control, but not knowing how to get neutral--never attaining neutral.
• Not knowing how to rig your own scuba gear, and having gear rigged in very incorrect manner...octopus wrapped under back and impossible to use, tank hanging 12 to 18 inches lower than it should, destroying trim and control potential for diver
• having a console on a hose so long it drags on the floor as the diver walks to the rear of the boat on the way to the water....
• a diver that does not plan their bottom time with air reserves in addition to nitrogen saturation timings--ie. the classic OOA risk..(there are divers that come up only when they are down to 100 psi or actually out..frequently)
• Divers that make no plans of any kind, before jumping in on a dive that would be near the limit of their skill levels.
• Divers that have no redundancy in their planning for critical issues like gas.
• Divers that try to cajole other divers into doing a dive beyond their ability and planning potentials. The Trust me dives.

This is by no means all inclusive...there are many more behaviors and attitudes that would make one unsafe. If posters here want to wail about what unsafe means, then they really ought to begin adding to this list, or making their own, and posting it. When we collectively define what is "unsafe", then discussions about how to avoid what is unsafe will make sense....

---------- Post added February 21st, 2013 at 02:39 PM ----------

If you go out on enough charter boats, you WILL see groups or individuals that are UNSAFE DIVERS.

 

[flots am]

I like that system. I think a lot of divers lose sight of the fact that diving is dangerous.

If I die from a heart attack, it just sucks to be me.

However I work really hard at not dying from "stupid" or "trust me"

flots.

 

[danvolker]

Another kind of unsafe diver..... Sandra used to dive with some people that would put their gear in a bag after the boat dive, then not rinse anything, and just leave the bag open in the walled off courtyard area of their house, to be rained on --that being the only rinse they would normally get....When an inflator on her BC began "sticking", the diver I am talking about just disconnected it, and went ORAL on inflation for the next 6 dive trips..... While a caricature, there are certainly a class of divers that pay no where near enough attention to maintaining and cleaning their gear, and "sometimes" this is very visible to others on a boat--sometimes it is quite obvious that their gear could be "compromised".

So when this kind of an unsafe diver wants to dive "with you" when you jump in, you have to know a gear based emergency is far more likely than with most divers.....Maybe one thing to deal with this to be social on a 40 foot deep dive tropical reef dive, and another for a deep dive...and absolutely not thinkable in the overhead of a wreck dive.

And then what can be said about the social divers on the boat, like Sandra, that like( are friends with) these people that are being unsafe, don't want to offend them, and essentially support them by diving with them.

---------- Post added February 21st, 2013 at 06:30 PM ----------

Another kind of unsafe diver..... Years ago I was on a tech trip on ReefCat out of Pompano.....it was not just George and bill and I, but plenty of other tech guys we did not know well--Mims did, and said they were dialed in...except one guy that was an unknown to all....this guy did not do the first dive, and told George and me on the surface interval that he would be doing a "Personal Best" Deep Dive.... He was shooting for 500 on air.... George looked back at him and said with a smile, "you know, I'm looking at a Dead Guy"....and that was pretty much all the discussion...the guy did more like a 350 foot drop Mims put him on, and we would never be on the boat with him again after that... I do not know what ever happened to this guy, but I would be shocked to hear he was still alive. Divers going for personal best deep dives on air, crazy narc and ox tox stuff far in access of 300 feet, are patently unsafe, and I would not want to have them on a boat with me.....it would be too much of an endorsement of this behavior, which I see and begging for death. If they want this kind of thrill, they could play Russian Roulette in the privacy of their own home.

Devon Diver, you started this line of thought..how about coming up with a few examples yourself?

 

[nakatomi]

To me, from a DIR perspective, an UNSAFE DIVER defines a broad topic that would include:
[...]

Hi Dan,

The "UNSAFE DIVER" list you compiled I agree with. Just to add a couple more:

• Lying about or grossly misjudging own training or experience level, SAC rate etc.
• Not mentioning relevant medical issues/risks
• Bringing gear completely unsuitable for the dive, or completely unnecessary, or both
• Starting the dive with too little gas ("planning" for best-case scenarios)
• Factoring in the buddies gas into the gas plan (not uncommon at all)
• Knowingly diving a gas that was not analysed or is mislabeled
• Using a gas unsuited for the dive, e.g. being cheap on Trimix or Nitrox
• Breaking the gas plan on purpose (e.g. thirds), e.g. to accomplish a goal
• Pushing for goals at the expense of safety
• Ignoring training standards, limitations and team/buddy agreements
• Forgetting or simply ignoring common sense
• Unable or unwilling to maintain standard in-water communication

There must be even more than that, but those come to mind right now...

Oliver

 

[DevonDiver]

Devon Diver, you started this line of thought..how about coming up with a few examples yourself?

The root of it all, for me, remains this competency versus demand relationship. As an over-arching principle, it explains everything. Pick any level of diving and identify the competencies necessary. Those are the demands. Evaluate whether a diver possesses those competencies. A deficit will be indicated by one or more symptoms. A diver might be "safe" at level A, but become "unsafe" at level B.

Competency Deficiency Symptoms include;

1) Reduced situational awareness, buddy/team cohesion and dive management.
2) Elevated anxiety, stress and tendency for passive/active panic.
3) Degraded motor skills performance, slow responses and frequency of mistakes.
4) Inability to multi-task and perform all required functions when needed.
5) Flawed risk assessments and errors identifying threats to the diver.
6) Failure to diligently apply the protocols, skills and practices as taught in training for that level.
7) Deteriorate of core diving skills when occupied with other/additional tasks.
8) Indiscipline with equipment management before, during and after the dive.
9) Compromising and short-cutting in the name of expediency or convenience.
10) Willingness to abdicate personal responsibility for any aspect of the dive.

I think those 10 symptoms cover just about every example that could be given.

Ego is the ultimate culprit when a diver falls short of the competence versus demand equation.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Hi Dan,

The "UNSAFE DIVER" list you compiled I agree with. Just to add a couple more:

• Lying about or grossly misjudging own training or experience level, SAC rate etc.
• Not mentioning relevant medical issues/risks
• Bringing gear completely unsuitable for the dive, or completely unnecessary, or both
• Starting the dive with too little gas ("planning" for best-case scenarios)
• Factoring in the buddies gas into the gas plan (not uncommon at all)
• Knowingly diving a gas that was not analysed or is mislabeled
• Using a gas unsuited for the dive, e.g. being cheap on Trimix or Nitrox
• Breaking the gas plan on purpose (e.g. thirds), e.g. to accomplish a goal
• Pushing for goals at the expense of safety
• Ignoring training standards, limitations and team/buddy agreements
• Forgetting or simply ignoring common sense
• Unable or unwilling to maintain standard in-water communication

There must be even more than that, but those come to mind right now...

Oliver

uhm.... planning to fight and WIN, should an emergency occur..?

 

[AfterDark]

Seems to me if a diver is any or all of those things than by no means can that diver be "self reliant”. It might be better for other divers if he/she was solo but again solo doesn’t always equate to self reliance which was the theme of the blog if I recall. All this posting about planning on of for a buddy’s gas in relation to a blog about self reliant solo divers is well just gas.

 

[DaleC]

As I tend to operate within the self sufficient model of diving I do not spend a lot of time considering what makes someone else a "dangerous" diver. I do however, contemplate what makes me dangerous, mostly to myself but if I am operating safely then I am also fully able to be of assistance to others. When I think of what has gotten me into trouble in the past:

Number one has to be engaging in "trust me" dives. When I first started out I wanted to do bigger dives than I was prepared to be personally responsible for.

Number two is being in a rush. When I put pressure upon myself to hurry I make mistakes and/or forget something.

Number three is probably becoming too task oriented or fixated. Videography is probably the worst offending habit I have in that regard.

Number four is becoming part of a three man team. This happens either for social reasons or to video a two person team but I often feel this can become a confusing situation.

Number five is either not checking bearings pre-dive or second guessing my compass at depth. Confusion regarding the exit is not fun at depth


For all of these there are solutions and that is what I spend most of my time addressing.