What is safer overall, recreational diving or snowmobiling??

[eponym]

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[Wookie]

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.

Nova Scotia. I did a bit of riding on the Gaspe when I was younger, indeed, in many places in Quebec. Never rode in NS. Dad moved to Montana 20 years ago and the riding there makes east coast riding look somewhat tame. He still rides a Polaris 500 141" at 74, but he doesn't dig out like he used to. I rent anymore, liking those 700 Arctic Cat long tracks myself.

 

[Farback]

Nova Scotia. I did a bit of riding on the Gaspe when I was younger, indeed, in many places in Quebec. Never rode in NS. Dad moved to Montana 20 years ago and the riding there makes east coast riding look somewhat tame. He still rides a Polaris 500 141" at 74, but he doesn't dig out like he used to. I rent anymore, liking those 700 Arctic Cat long tracks myself.

Good for your Dad. Only way to live long and well is to ignore the numbers. We don't get snow here like we used to, so it's been years since I've done anything but ski, and my pilot days ended when I built too many kids and needed to put a roof over them.

I'm turning 57 in a couple weeks, and I'll have this new toy under my skinny old arse by then.

 

[highdesert]

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 was raised in Minnesota. Sober snowmobilers????

 

[KeithG]

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.

If we assume that the life insurance companies are the experts in risks of this type (hazardous sports), the answer would be scuba.

Some common hazardous activities are:
- scuba diving (top of the list...)
- Racing (motorized)
- parachuting / sky diving
- heli skiing / Cat skiing / back country skiing
- ballooning
- hang gliding / paragliding
- climbing

 

[nimoh]

If we assume that the life insurance companies are the experts in risks of this type (hazardous sports), the answer would be scuba.

Some common hazardous activities are:
- scuba diving (top of the list...)
- Racing (motorized)
- parachuting / sky diving
- heli skiing / Cat skiing / back country skiing
- ballooning
- hang gliding / paragliding
- climbing

where did you get your data?

Forbes.com puts base jumping at the top of the list, and also lists diving as more dangerous than cave diving (not sure how that is possible since all cave diving is diving).

 

[Doc]

I guess the best measurement of comparison is the number of fatalities per hour of participation in each activity.

Nope, not me.

Im going with the number of yards travelled.

No, by meters makes more sense, not a lot, but 3.370" is three inches.

Using a "snow machine" is obviously safer.

 

[Nemrod]

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.

I have known three pilots, two were professional, one was ATP rated, all are dead, they went up, and they came down, HARD. I am not sure I personally know any scuba divers who died while diving. I did see a 50 something have a coronary and pass away, maybe that counts. Oh, I did see a body pulled from a well known cave, but I did not know him. As a sunbelter, I have no idea what a snowmobile is or what you do with it. Sport motorcycles are probably the most dangerous activity people regularly engage in especially when no helmet is used.

Of course, more people die in bed than anywhere else.

N

 

[Token]

There's a lot of recreational snowmobiling in my area, and every year people get hurt or killed in avalanches and the like.

In my view, scuba is safer because the individual has more control over circumstances, and the environment is less unpredictable. It's very hit-or-miss whether you drive over a thinly concealed crevasse or over an unexpected dip or maybe some thin river ice...or crash into a fence or tree branch that you don't see until too late. Sure, things can go wrong unexpectedly under water, but it seems to me that divers have a more safety- and emergency-conscious mindset. They are less likely to engage in their sport while drinking as well...

 

[150psi]

5 snowboarders were killed in an avalanche yesterday in Colorado.