ScubaBoard Divers Compared to Non-ScubaBoard Divers: Preliminary Analysis

[Dr. Lecter]

"I don't mind taking a little risk every once in a while."

Which is going to be something you wholeheartedly endorse much more readily if you think "a little risk" means 100' in tropical waters (or even breathing underwater at all), versus thinking it means getting a little aggressive with your bail-out deco plan for a 100m solo CCR dive so that you can haul fewer or smaller bottles.

 

[RJP]

"I don't mind taking a little risk every once in a while."

Which is going to be something you wholeheartedly endorse much more readily if you think "a little risk" means 100' in tropical waters (or even breathing underwater at all), versus thinking it means getting a little aggressive with your bail-out deco plan for a 100m solo CCR dive so that you can haul fewer or smaller bottles.

Yup, but I think you're WAY over reading the question to find a meaningful difference between the two groups.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

"could be interpreted as...tad bit more reserved about..." =/= "meaningful difference"

Now, go write up a poll about BP&W for SB and non-SB

 

[Ayisha]

How about the types or number of dives per year a SB diver makes compared to a non-SB diver? The types of equipment used? Whether they will dive in a mud puddle just to dive? How often they practice in a pool just to practice skills? How much research and planning they do prior to choosing a dive location?
Those are the types of things that strike me as perceived differences between SB-divers and non-SB divers...

 

[RJP]

How about the types or number of dives per year a SB diver makes compared to a non-SB diver? The types of equipment used? Whether they will dive in a mud puddle just to dive? How often they practice in a pool just to practice skills? How much research and planning they do prior to choosing a dive location?
Those are the types of things that strike me as perceived differences between SB-divers and non-SB divers...

Right - the "super consumer" behavior is at the extreme... but the mindset behind that behavior is essentially the same.

 

[boulderjohn]

"I don't mind taking a little risk every once in a while."

Which is going to be something you wholeheartedly endorse much more readily if you think "a little risk" means 100' in tropical waters (or even breathing underwater at all), versus thinking it means getting a little aggressive with your bail-out deco plan for a 100m solo CCR dive so that you can haul fewer or smaller bottles.

I have been thinking about this, and I am not sure there is all that much difference in what you describe.

Maybe "taking a little risk" means nothing more than evaluating the situation, your training, and your known ability to handle adverse conditions without panic, and then deciding to go a little farther out on the edge. What that means can shift with your training and experience, but it is essentially the same thing. For a new diver, taking a little risk may mean going to 80 feet, but in a few years that same diver might see going to 100 feet as no risk at all, feeling confident of being able to get safely to the surface easily in almost any situation. Same diver. Same attitude. Different amount of experience and training.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

I have been thinking about this, and I am not sure there is all that much difference in what you describe.

Maybe "taking a little risk" means nothing more than evaluating the situation, your training, and your known ability to handle adverse conditions without panic, and then deciding to go a little farther out on the edge. What that means can shift with your training and experience, but it is essentially the same thing. For a new diver, taking a little risk may mean going to 80 feet, but in a few years that same diver might see going to 100 feet as no risk at all, feeling confident of being able to get safely to the surface easily in almost any situation. Same diver. Same attitude. Different amount of experience and training.

True enough, but generally speaking I think the average SB diver is likely more apprehensive about taking risks in diving, while the average non-SB diver likely equates risk with adventure and therefore is more likely to embrace it. What they each view as "risky" may be quite different - but I could see each audience having a different view of the necessity of taking risks to have fun/adventure.

The numbers above could be interpreted as showing some slight evidence in that direction, with SB divers being marginally more risk-adverse (obviously I'm not really helping move the needle towards risk-adverse myself, but that's neither here nor there).

 

[Colliam7]

I am not sure if I am 'surprised' by the results, because I had no prior basis for assessing the respective pscyhcographic profiles of the two groups (SB, non-SB). I did have a subjective impression that SB divers were somehow 'different', or represented a skewed subset of the diver population. The results don't seem to support that notion. Or, maybe, that is still true, but with regard to other characteristics not yet evaluated.

But, one result that does intrigue me is slide 11.


This one doesn't surprise me, in fact it reinforces a perception, that SB divers are a bit more likely to have adopted a certain degree of standardization in their diving routines. Perhaps, they have thought about their procedures more, perhaps they have been exposed to discussions about procedures to a somewhat greater extent, perhaps they have been more active in inquiring on SB about procedures. (Of course, the results could also just be isolated, random variation from what were otherwise group-consistent results. )

Nonetheless, I will use the result as reinforcement of my practice of encouraging my OW students (and my other certified diver students for that matter) to sign up for SB and follow discussions on various topics of interest.

 

[KevinNM]

It might be hard to separate them. Of all the really serious divers I have dived with in Colorado, I would guess that nearly all are skiers and most are climbers (some extremely serious).

I used to be a skier, before I shattered my shoulder in Colorado skiing...

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Fascinating stuff.. thanks:worship: staying tuned