caveseeker7
Contributor
You're missing the point, dude.SparticleBrane:
One could reasonably argue that only few sorts of diving actually need to happen.
Certainly none that are hobby dives for fun would be among them, may they be recreational or technical. Oddly enough, even people who actually believe that would consider research and exploration, or search and recovery, among reasons why diving needs to happen. It's why many scientists dive, why explorers map caves, why police divers, fire/rescue divers or volunteers head below the surface every day somewhere on our blue planet.
Tell me, is there a need for you to actually dive?
I do it for sh!ts and giggles, I just absolutely love it. Dreamed of it when I was a kid, been doing it ever since I'm an adult. Don't think I've ever done any service to mankind doing it, other maybe than returning with a big, happy smile on my face.
The risk of diving this far beyond the limits is in itself an exploration, of the human body, of the dive gear, the training and the skills. Without people willing to face those risks and explore the limits man would not have reached space, walked on the moon, you wouldn't be flying to your favorite destination. And once your horse or sailboat would get you there, you'd be above the surface, looking in. Dave Shaw and Don Shirley were, I rather sure, in a better position to evaluate and accept those risks than most divers here on this board. And even with the 20/20 hindsight of an accomplished armchair diver there is no way you can predict with certainty that Deon Dwyer's corpse would have found its way to the surface on its own.
I for one rather doubt it, it didn't for 10 years ... .
All that aside, you sadly missed the point. Those two didn't.
stepup:
elmo6s:
The tale that was told, in the video and articles, is that of a good man perishing on a dive. A husband, a father and a fellow diver that was lost. If you take a look around this forum, and like forums on other websites, you'll come to the sad realization that this occurs all to often, on much "lesser" dives, which much more common equipment.
If you think just for a second "This can't happen to me" because you're diving recreational profiles in less hostile environment with less complicated equipment, you're off the scale wrong. While all these factored into this tragic loss of life, some of the major mistakes took place at what should have been the easiest aprt of the dive, the assembly and preperation of the equipment. And while the equipment was more complicated than a single tank, recreational dive set-up, I still believe that one of major lessons to be learned can be right there:
Be diligent assembling and testing your gear, do not become complacent about that.
Complacency kills, and complacency doesn't care what gear you're using.
Add-ited: Another important lesson to be learned from this accident also goes back to the basics of scuba diving: Breathe! While the assembly errors and extreme gas density made it harder to breathe the CO2 scrubber was basically in working condition. But Dave retained CO2 where it does the damage, in his body. You'll have the same effect when skip breathing or holding your breath.
Scary, isn't it, such an advanced dive with such advanced equipment, skills and training, yet the most basic of failures were the major contributors to the accident.
For those still shrugging it off due to the nature of the dive or equipment, try to imagine those you'll leave behind who happen to love you. Unless you've experienced it yourself, that's hard to do. I recommend another tale, told by a woman who lost her husband to diving. One of the most gut wrenching stories I've ever read, and I mean gut wrenching!
Christine wrote down the aftermath of her husband's fatal dive.
Please be warned, this is not an easy read, but it will open your eyes and make you think.
Link to the post with the pdf file
Never mind the reason for the dive, the profile, the equipment.
None of that matters anymore once you're dead, not to you, not to the ones who love you.
If either the story of Dave or of Christine prevents even one from diving without having done their very best to ensure their safe return, those stories were worth telling, and worth listening to.
Paul your av is killing me!
:focus:
