Three mistakes?

[northernone]

What did you learn the hard way that's make you a better diver?

For me:
1. Gear fails in cascades. Compound issues need back up plans for back up plans.
2. Dive experts are faliable. Half my childhood dive heros ended up dead while diving before I could learn directly from them.
3. Ego can almost kill. A humble attitude to feedback and critique (even when not constructive) can be used to add valuable tools towards staying alive.

Regards,
Cameron

 

[Landau]

1) Make sure you hear your weight pouches click into your BCD and triple check they are secure

2) I don`t need as much weight as I thought. I learned this by ignoring 1)

 

[TMHeimer]

I like "No. 1". I've lost 2 or three and was sure they clicked in. If I get that feeling of "can't descend and I'm really tilting to one side", etc. I know what happened and hope I can find it. So, No.2 is irrelevant for me, as I need the weight I have on me.

 

[Christian FUchs]

Always check your own gear setup even when a DM says "I'll take care of it". I had my tank almost slide out because the expert didn't secure my tank strap properly. My LP hose wasn't routed properly either. Too many different BCD's out there for someone to know how to do every different type/configuration.
Get know your own set up and check it after someone from the dive company has done you the favour of transferring your kit to the second tank for the second dive.

You learn something new everyday.

 

[The Chairman]

Dive experts are faliable.

It's ironic that you misspelled fallible! Everyone, including me, makes mistakes. No one is immune and you are in peril if you think you are.

Complacency, which includes inattention, ignorance and neglect, kills and injures more divers than all other factors combined.

However, the hardest lesson to learn is to call a dive way before it calls you. There's no need to McGuyver a dive to "make it work". That goes hand in hand with complacency I guess.

 

[Neilwood]

Check and double check your gear. On my OW check out dives in the North Sea, I had a surface swim to the buoy where we were going to drop down, perform a few skills and then do the dive along the wall. Swam out on my back and then went vertical on the surface while chatting to the instructor prior to dropping. Signalled to go down, dropped about a foot and immediately shot back to the surface - the back zip of my suit was wide open. The instructor never missed a trick though "That is prefect, we will do the gear removal and replace now then!"

Another thing is that bravado has no place in diving - if something scares you or you feel something is off, call the dive, signal a team mate and definitely don't force yourself into doing something that has bells ringing in the back of your mind. A friend of mine on a liveaboard last year (who has issues with claustrophobia) was almost in a full argument with a (i think) well meaning DM guide who wanted her to do a penetration on the Carnatic (which is basically only the wooden ribs left). She was not at all comfortable doing it and had raised that issue during the briefing. He tried to insist though but my buddy and I intervened and we simply swam round the outside. Better to acknowledge your limit than push on and bug out in a difficult spot.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

1. Don't become a diver.
2. Don't become an instructor.
3. Don't talk to other divers - especially in social media.

 

[Saniflush]

1. Don't become a diver.
2. Don't become an instructor.
3. Don't talk to other divers - especially in social media.

Monitor.....you owe me one.

 

[Kharon]

Always check your own gear setup even when a DM says "I'll take care of it".

Check and double check your gear.

+1 absolutely. I have a OCD routine for setting up my gear. If someone "helps" me, I take everything apart and start over. No one knows my kit but me. I don't want anyone touching it.

1. Thinking I am not diving solo and don't need to be totally self reliant.

2. Thinking I don't need to take a bearing before splashing.

3. Forgetting to check for current.

 

[MelasLithos]

1. Don't skip the pre-dive check. Do it thoroughly, and not automatically. Really check for things. Take your time.
2. Check what's above your head when you surface.
3. While in sidemount, valves of both tanks are symetric, and therefore don't turn the same way

(bonus: don't back roll in the water while you're still talking to your buddy and with your reg out of your mouth...)