What do Safe Divers do that Unsafe Divers don't?

[Kingpatzer]

Every diver I ever met who I felt was unsafe really shared one specific criteria:

They were completely oblivious to what they didn't know.

The safest divers I've ever met, by counterexample, were extremely humble about their own skill set and knowledge base. They prepared for and executed their dives in a thoughtful, careful manner, fully respectful of their limits and cautious about the possibility that they might be wrong about any particular assumption.

 

[BrotherBear]

Someone who has no respect at all for the advice given by highly experienced divers. Who, with very few dives under their belt, argues every point and refuses to exercise patience with the learning process.


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[tomfcrist]

In my experiance, the unsafe diver is the one with the most badges, the most stories, and who cant stop telling EVERYONE how awesome of a diver they are.

 

[JamesK]

Just havin fun but I found your list alarming... I'm an unsafe diver

I guess I should have been slightly more specific.

Here is your responses to my post and my follow up.

Someone who dives beyond their training, ability, and/or experience.
If no one ever dove outside their experience level how would they gain experience? Guilty.
Diving outside of your experience, to a point, is acceptable. I am talking about the OW guy who has never been anywhere other then a tropical reef at 40 feet deciding to go out in to a cold lake with horrible vis to 120 on air type deal. Their is a difference between building experience responsibly and being an idiot.

Someone who displays blatant disregard for any accepted safe practices.
I have a disregard for some "accepted" safe practices. Don't know about blatant. I just feel the "safety" or "acceptance" can be debated. Guilty.
Well, it depends on what safe practices you are breaking as to whether or not I would dive with you. Deep air. Have fun with that. Solo on an easy reef dive at 20' that you have done 100 times is a little different.


Someone who chooses the wrong tool for the job.
I don't know what kind of tools we are talking here but I bet some of my kit would be considered "wrong" by some sectors of the mainstream community. Personally I feel the skill of a diver is not measured by the uniqueness of the tools they have but by their ability to adapt to the tools on hand. Sometimes Guilty.
When I say wrong tool, I mean things like gas mixes, or lack of. I mean things like not taking safety equipment that might be needed for that dive. Things of that nature.

Someone who thinks they know better then everyone else.
Agreed in principle but tricky. Conventional wisdom can be wrong. Thinking Salem witches and Galileo. Just to be open minded I'm gonna reserve the right to say... maybe sorta potentially guilty.
Open minded is a good thing IMO. What I am talking about is the guy who can not accept what they are doing to be unsafe if in fact it is unsafe. If you are doing something unsafe, admit it. If you want those risks, fine. I just will not dive with you.

Someone who has the "it can never happen to me" attitude.
Like all those people that dive with sharks. Not guilty.
Exactly.

Someone who does not respect that we are practicing a sport/hobby that can kill you.
Agreed.


Someone who thinks they have nothing to learn.
Agreed.


Someone who thinks because they read about it on the internet, that they can do it.
I do this all the time! No one IRL ever taught me how to do frog/back/helicopter kick or how to dive a doublehose. I read how to build a Hawaiian pack out of a book and how to use independent doubles right here etc... Guilty Guilty Guilty - off with my head!
I am not talking about a simple skill, or the use of a different gear setup. I am talking about the guy who goes out and reads on a forum about how to cave dive, or deep dive, or wreck dive, and just goes out and does it without any formal training or mentoring from a skilled individual. However, if you wish to take your own head off, be my guest.

Someone who does not plan a dive and then dive that plan.
Agreed, as long as the plan can be: swim down, look around, swim back up. I'm gonna plead Not guilty on a technicality.
That is a dive plan to me for a simple reef dive. I have no problem with that, as long as both partners are in sync with doing just that.

Someone who wants to take a less experienced diver out of their comfort zone.
Like an instructor? Not guilty.
Yes, just like an instructor. That being the instructor who takes his OW class in to the overhead environment like is seen all the time at Vortex Springs. I was however refering to the guy who says "c'mon man, I have done this dive plenty of times. I promise you will be ok", knowing the person is not comfortable with it.

Someone who gets so wrapped up underwater that they get tunnel vision and forget about everything.
Agreed.. but I have done it videoing a wreck. Guilty damn it.
Photographers and videographers are a different breed. I have seen many get wrapped up in what they are doing. I can understand that. Trying to stop that from happen by having a buddy who is watching out for you, and keeping your head in the game helps. Spear fishers are also bad about this. Task loading can be problem for a lot of people. I despise seeing the guy fresh out of OW grab a Hawaiian sling or gun and go out like it is their mission to rid the world of lion fish.

Someone who thinks with less dives then I have fingers thinks they can teach someone else to dive safely.
Agreed.

 

[herbdb]

Badges? We don't need no stinking badges!

Seriously, there is absolutely nothing wrong in getting additional training in areas of interest. Doing it for bragging rights would make me want to avoid that diver, unsafe or not.

 

[Wookie]

Safe diver:

Someone with the equipment, skills to use it, knowledge to plan it, and the desire to conduct whatever dive they want, whether they have ever done it or not, and the knowledge, skills and practice to effect a self rescue if things go wrong.

Unsafe diver:

Anyone who RELIES on someone else for anything necessary to complete said dive. Students, by this definition, are unsafe divers. Instructors with students, by this definition, must be hypersafe divers, because they need to keep both parties alive. Anyone participating in a "trust me dive", whether the truster or the trustee, are unsafe divers.

 

[gtmurff]

Someone who dives beyond their training, ability, and/or experience.

As a novice diver with less than 25 dives, I worry about breaking this rule every time I dive. I always explain to the DM our limited experience to make sure we're on the same page. But I know sometimes I'm trusting the DM not to take us somewhere we're not comfortable.

 

[vladimir]

Safe divers dive regularly. I am a (relatively) unsafe diver when it's been six months since my last dive.

Safe divers exercise regularly. You can do everything else right, but if you're not reasonably fit, that heart attack you've been courting might happen on the next dive. Or you might over-breathe your regulator upon exertion, or you might not be able to board the dinghy, etc.

 

[tomfcrist]

As a novice diver with less than 25 dives, I worry about breaking this rule every time I dive. I always explain to the DM our limited experience to make sure we're on the same page. But I know sometimes I'm trusting the DM not to take us somewhere we're not comfortable.

The question you have to ask yourself is : "if this DM/Guide attempts to lead me into a situation that im uncomfortable with, am i willing to refuse to follow him?

If you know it isnt right and do it anyway, Id say thats unsafe.....If you are willing to stop yourself from being put in a bad situation, then you are a safe diver.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Great thread. I am glad we finally added that safe divers are active divers. If you haven't dove in a while, don't start where you left off. Have a pool session, or dive conservatively until you are back in diving trim. Safe divers plan safe dives and follow the profile. They communicate with their buddy or group so everyone is on the same page before and during the dive. The safe diver stays in close proximity to his buddy. They dive well maintained and properly working equipment. They are familiar with their gear and their buddy's gear. They pass on a dive when conditions warrant. They end a dive if conditions require it. Safe divers communicate with each other during a dive, monitor their gauges often, and are aware of environmental changes during a dive. Safe divers have good navigation skills. They rely on themselves to see to their safety, to know where they are, and to find their way home. Divers can grow by stretching their limits a little at a time, preferably with an experienced diver who has a competence and experience in the "new area" being explored, whether that is greater depth, drift diving, a first night dive, or some other new experience. If we didn't do that we would all be diving in groups of ten with a divemaster to 40 feet to look at the same stuff over and over. If a diver is a casual, sporadically diving recreational diver, they can still be safe by preparing for a trip by having a refresher course or a simple pool session, refamiliarizing themselves with equipment, listening carefully to the divemaster briefing on their guided dive, following the profile set, staying close to their buddy and their group. Finally all safe divers, regardless of experience, tell the truth about their level of experience, level of training, recency of diving, physical limitations, anxieties about a dive, and in all things.
DivemasterDennis

They do not tease, use irony or sarcasm, or lose focus. stay in close proxi