Regulator record - anyone beat this?

[hvulin]

Unfortunately, these people did get certified and obviously should not have. Unfortunately, I have seen instructors that I didn't think should have their OW card. These situations are becoming more the rule than the exception. It is sad for SCUBA and if it doesn't stop, some legislator that loses a son or daughter is going to introduce a bill that regulates the industry. No one wants that to happen. I don't know what the solution is, but weekend and resort courses are not the answer.

uhhhh, don't go there...

it happened here (in croatia) and now it's very hard to just go and dive (and dive centers usually don't work during winter) - you need a lot of paperwork (or money) and it all happened under false impression of improving safety

 

[Divin' Dave]

As an educator I have a few thoughts. One is amazement that someone would continue to dive with the anxiety she must have to outfit herself with so much stuff. Another is why didn't the couple seek additional training to discuss what happened and the reasonable solutions to first stage failures. Lastly is where was her dive buddy that she had to bail out at 100ft.
I'm learning with each dive to be better and safer diver and to have more fun. I don't think my PADI OW training was adequate. While all the things I have done wrong were mentioned in the course, they were not really essential before getting my certificate. One lesson that has taken me a long time to learn is that my dive buddy is never more than two arm lengths away. My pony bottle is my dive partner's tank. If I have a first stage failure my dive buddy is a lot closer than the surface. I also still seek mentoring in learning dive skills and am greatful for the kindness that other more skilled divers have offered me.
Obviously this couple would benefit from a lot more training.

 

[tridacna]

so what was the point of specifically stating they were overweight?

were your 2 buddies in trim & terrific shape or should you give us a critique on them also? if the other couple was a swimwear model material would you have made a comment about it?

but to your story... these people sound scary and i wonder how they get onto a dive on the spegiel to begin with

cheers

Sorry. I was being IPC. Let me rephrase. They were two fat divers.

My point is not that they had eaten too much and exercised too little. Or maybe even they had a genetic predisposition to be overweight. Who cares? You're right. I'm right. It was a simple observation. That's all. I have nothing against overweight divers. In fact, some of my best friends are overweight divers...

My real point was how did they get certifications? Him to AOW and her to OW. And supposedly, the dive operators only allow AOW divers to the Spiegel or the Duane. My theory is that is is not how fat you are but how fat your wallet is.

Now if you think that I'm bad, my buddy logged the sighting of a turtle and a whale on the second dive.

 

[Blackwood]

You laugh now, but if three other divers in the water with her go OOA at the same time she'll be prepared .

lol. Rock bottom for ascending 4 divers, three of whom are probably double stressed since they're all hooked to at least one crappy diver by short hoses... Figure she needs an entire Aluminum 80 from 60 feet.

 

[Blackwood]

I'm wondering, since she had 2+ spare 2nd stages, why didn't she use another 2nd stage in the other hand and pull herself along with both hands? seems like it would have been much easier for her!

I assumed that the other hand was holding her primary firmly in her mouth. Sure, she has three others at hand, but why risk it?

 

[J.R.]

An instructor may be acting as agent for the agency, but plays the closer and by far, the more important role in the certifying new divers. My point is that an agency's standards are the same to all the instuctors who teach for that agency, however not all instructors for that particular agency will have necessarily the same interpretation of its standards and aherence to those standards, which then can result in what we see as divers with substandard training.

Yea... can't disagree with that in any way... I understand the concept of a "diving diploma mill". Unfortunately, other than word of mouth, how the heck can anybody really stop the problem from getting worse? I guess I just expect the parent agency to uphold and enforce some sort of standard... I also guess I'm expecting too much...

 

[tridacna]

I am glad they made it back OK. Was the 4 regs on a H valve? Or did they came off the same first stage? I wonder if she knew how long her air would last if she had a freeflow like the last time?

All came off the same first stage. Heck, I didn't realize that there were so many LP ports on a first stage. And all the regs were different. Insurance you see. Maybe the Zeagle will work if the Oceanic doesn't and so on...

Best part is that none of them were clipped on. She kinda looked like a squid on the bottom.

 

[Belmont]

Ok, we have mentioned the certification agencies,what about the diveshop where these octos were mounted on her first stage??
In aviation, a mechanic has to sign in the plane's record every procedure he
performs on the machine, there is accountability there.
What about the captain and DM, just by looking at her get up they could have seen something was wrong, where is their professionalism??

 

[mike_s]

All came off the same first stage. Heck, I didn't realize that there were so many LP ports on a first stage. And all the regs were different. Insurance you see. Maybe the Zeagle will work if the Oceanic doesn't and so on...

Best part is that none of them were clipped on. She kinda looked like a squid on the bottom.

hmmm... I can see her in a panic now....

Emergency/Panic: Which regulator (2nd stage) do I choose!!! (holding them in her hands....)

Oh Decisions, Decisons!!! (while she almost drowns deciding).


Or 2nd scenario, in the event of a panic, she rapidly changes between the various 2nd stages seeing which one gives her more air while she hyper-ventelates.

 

[DeepBound]

All came off the same first stage. Heck, I didn't realize that there were so many LP ports on a first stage. And all the regs were different. Insurance you see. Maybe the Zeagle will work if the Oceanic doesn't and so on...

Best part is that none of them were clipped on. She kinda looked like a squid on the bottom.

I can understand her apprehension about wanting to make SURE she has a backup reg to go to... but why not just have 1 octo, and make sure she can find it and deploy it? She could keep one hand on it the whole dive ready to deploy it if she's that worried about it. But what's the rationale to have 3 octos floating around? Did she explain her reasoning?