What is safer overall, recreational diving or snowmobiling??

[CoopAir]

Being that both of these are in my top 3 most addictive hobbies (flying is #1) how would you compare the safety overall of snowmobiling to rec diving---lets say no deeper than 80-100 feet and always in open water where you can ascend directly to the surface.

I guess the best measurement of comparison is the number of fatalities per hour of participation in each activity. My dive instructor thinks hands down that snowmobiling is much more dangerous that even technical diving, let alone rec diving (which I find very surprising) so I wanted to get your thoughts too.

 

[Farback]

I've done all three over the years, and only my snowmobile has run over me.

(actually, I think snowmobiling is very safe once you're past the testosterone-poisoned, alcohol fuelled stage. Long time ago.)

 

[TMHeimer]

I would assume that which is more dangerous would be almost completely up to the person doing it. I'm sure there will be posts about what % of people die doing this as compared to doing that. Meaningless statistics IMHO. Snowmobiling in the middle of a thawing lake in Northern Manitoba in mid May is a death wish, and I have heard of it happening more than you'd think. In comparing "SAFE" rec. diving and "SAFE" snowmobiling by responsible people, I would vote for the scuba being more dangerous. The snowmobiler has plenty of air all the time. But, perhaps if you don't include dying, you may be more prone to injury on a snowmobile--ie, you hit a stump. I suppose there are all sorts of injuries that result from falls/crashes. Scuba's big two are DCS and lung overexpansion.

 

[pjhansman]

I do both.....and in my opinion, neither is dangerous if done properly

 

[Bopper]

I predict this thread gets moved to the Canada forum. :cold:

 

[261311]

I'm going to say diving just based on the careless feature: snowmobiling has more potentia to be bumped and knocked off your ride, even run you over but as far as life-changing injuries and death, you'll probably experience more diving. There's more room for error out of water than 80 feet under it. No time for drinking, heavy meds or whatnot. Even when on a snowmobile and having fun, getting injured or being crushed means a trip to the hospital. That's a luxury you don't have underwater, everything is finite, time especially.

 

[nimoh]

If you are going to set a limit on diving of 100' for your analysis, then you should probably also set limits on snowmobiling such as no faster than 60mph/100kmh.

Also, I am guessing that you are also considering that the diver is not drunk, so should probably assume that the snowmobile rider is also not drunk.

I think then that they are equally dangerous (roughly).

However, if you lift the depth/speed limits, then I think snowmobiling is more dangerous assuming that the diver has the necessary technical training to go beyond 130' since there isn't really any training available for a snowmobile rider to go beyond 100mph. The difference IMO is that the technical training gives you the tools to handle most problems, whereas humans just don't have the reflexes necessary to handle many problems that may occur on a snowmobile at 100mph.

If you lift the drinking restriction, I think snowmobiling is more dangerous, due to the delayed response times for issues. (and no, I am not suggesting drunk diving is safe, just safer than snowmobiling).

 

[Wookie]

I've done all three over the years, and only my snowmobile has run over me.

(actually, I think snowmobiling is very safe once you're past the testosterone-poisoned, alcohol fuelled stage. Long time ago.)

You get over that? Not by 50 you don't. No better place to ride than over some cornice in the Rockies catching air time lasting in the tens of seconds......

 

[lmorin]

200/yr die while snowmobiling in North America Snowmobile injuries in North America. [Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2003] - PubMed - NCBI. 150/yr diving in the USA The 7 Deadly Hobbies: Pastimes Your Insurer Hates - DailyFinance Note that one is all North America and the other is just the USA.

 

[Farback]

You get over that? Not by 50 you don't. No better place to ride than over some cornice in the Rockies catching air time lasting in the tens of seconds......

Actually, I think you're right. I still do a lot of 'A' personality stuff, just not with alcohol. I'm going to look at a VT750 Phantom after work. SHEWHOMUSTBEOBEYED is not happy with this.