Near misses, some of what I have learned

[Diver0001]

Actually, I expect more attacks for even writing this post.) mk
6.

Sad but possibly true, I'm afraid.

Matt, don't worry about it. Posting on a Bulletin Board is like being the president. Everything you say can be heard by the entire world and 1/2 of the people will think you're an idiot.

I had a guy mail me death threats once for some things that I said.... so it *can* get worse...

Hang in there and just type things exactly how you think them. It may not always be exactly how you meant them but usually it's good enough for most people.

R..

 

[MATTKINZ]

thanks, hope no death threats come.

 

[CoralSeaMan]

6. I will read further posts but probably will not give more ammunition to those who denounce me for sharing. ( Actually, I expect more attacks for even writing this post.) mk
6.

I don't blame you. It is hard to feel wanted when your every word is subject to criticism. I find lots of useful information on this board but I get tired of the constant verbal abuse.

 

[farsidefan1]

I appreciated your post. Virtually all my diving is in warm relatively clear tropical waters (hey, if I can't see why dive - I know, provintial and subject to attack lol) so your post gave me food for thought. The responses were very informative as well. I come here to learn vicariously from those with more experience and or smarts than I have aquired. I'm sometimes surprised at how judgemental and non informative some responses have been but we all have "those days". Most of the time folks are helpfull and concerned. Don't let "the few" mess with your learning opportunities.

 

[MATTKINZ]

Another lesson learned with a dpv deals with stinging jellyfish. I have a small scooter with a propeller in front (tyger ray). On a beach dive in warm water I hit a jellyfish with the scooter and had stinging cells and pieces of jellyfish coat most of my entire body in a fraction of a second. Needless to say, it wasn't a pleasant experience. Luckily, it was just a ball jelly in NW FL and not a man-o-war . mk

 

[Unibrook]

This is a good reminder to wear some weight on a weight belt, and have some weight in your bc if possible. Ever been in that situation where your buddy just needs a few lbs of lead and you can hand her some of your spare weight? Another reason I always carry a few extra lbs of lead. Can save a dive and some exasperation.

 

[InTheDrink]

FWIW, re: weighting - even without wearing neopreme, I'm buoyant (and I'm not overweight [ok, maybe a *tiny* bit]) so protectoin suit or not, I think it's best to have some weight on your person and not all in BC. Well done OP for solving that particular problem on an actual dive. I really struggled in a pool to don BC as one hand was being used to hold myself down and I was inverted. Not a 'first experience' I'd've liked to deal with on a real dive.

J

 

[crispix]

This "near misses" forum is probably my least favorite on Scubaboard, because of the flames every time someone posts about an incident. It's too bad, because this could easily be one of the most helpful forums.

I'm going to start a new thread -- went diving in Cabo last week and watched some interesting things go wrong. Let's see how long before I'm attacked?

In any case, good job to the OP for handling an OOO situation without drowning. Sure, there are things to learn from it, but any landing you walk away from is a good one. I seem to recall a youtube video of a woman losing her mouthpiece, similar to what was described here, and you can see the whole range of confusion to panic in mere seconds.

 

[openmindOW]

This "near misses" forum is probably my least favorite on Scubaboard, because of the flames every time someone posts about an incident. It's too bad, because this could easily be one of the most helpful forums.

Unfortunately, there are a couple schmucks who write into ScubaBoard and who flame Original Posters to the Near Misses section. I have sent in posts telling the Flamers to back-off.

The sad thing is that the flamers actually attack new divers who have simply made mistakes but who have had the decency and honesty to write-in and to tell us about what happened.

SCUBABOARD MODERATORS: Why don't you cut-off the people who do this? It's the same people. (Hint: Iceberg.)

 

[MATTKINZ]

Unfortunately, there are a couple schmucks who write into ScubaBoard and who flame Original Posters to the Near Misses section. I have sent in posts telling the Flamers to back-off.

The sad thing is that the flamers actually attack new divers who have simply made mistakes but who have had the decency and honesty to write-in and to tell us about what happened.

SCUBABOARD MODERATORS: Why don't you cut-off the people who do this? It's the same people. (Hint: Iceberg.)

Thanks for the supportive commentary. I have learned a lot over time and sometimes manure hits whirling blades (as well as jellyfish doing so too.)


Speaking of extra lead, to hand off, I have used PVC pipes with end caps with boat clip attached that can be clipped to BC as drop weights. I cut them to length and buried the pipes with one end cap in place in wet sand with open end up then poured melted lead into the pipe sections and glued other cap on bottom after lead cooled. The sand keeps the pipe cool so it doesn't melt and expand with the heat of melted lead. Each one is 2.5 lbs and comfortable size for hand. Also , they don't damage boat as much or get lead all over the environment as badly as it is encased. MK



Handy if underweighted on boat and get in water, someone can hand them to you and you clip them on. also, can be put on for surface and clipped to anchor line so you don't have to push so much air through water on the bottom, (less inflation needed on bottom once suit compresses) I'll probably get flamed for this but who cares.