What is the fundamental reason that prevents scuba diving from becoming popular?

[Wibble]

Yes what my BSAC instructor taught me was never to rely on another diver and I am happy he taught me this procedure. I never assume my dive buddy is watching me as in fact I know for sure most often they do not. It's not like we are in love or need to hold hands.
I assume all my buddy dives especially with insta buddies I am really diving solo. They are divers who may or may not be close by.

Ok as for dives deeper than 30m I rarely see any recreational diver bring redundant gas supply, only those using side mount.
It is not a standard practice. For you yes and for many technical divers yes who bring stage tanks. I don't on NDL dives to 40m.

Yes luckily I had an instructor who bothered to teach this to me.

Too bad for the others that don't and drown with having an air supply at hand. Sad for them. I think you would have it at mind though.
Others who read this thread may now have it at mind as well. What happens if you had a 1st stage failure on your primary and then also a failure on your redundant gas supply with no buddy around?

BTW I’m not having a go at you for this, it’s more a go at the overblown buddy system which is far from perfect and frequently obscures fundamental failures of planning and skills.

I sometimes dive with a friend. We’re both 'solo' divers even if diving together. Out typical dives are in poor visibility, less than 3m/10ft on wrecks. It’s nigh on impossible to dive "as a team" in conditions like that unless you place the team as the primary task. Some people like that kind of thing. I/we and most of the people I dive with don’t — we dive to see things underwater which aren’t other divers and value our time rummaging on the wreck occasionally gawping at flora and fauna. Personally I quite enjoy the solitude of time spent decompressing alone in my own sensory deprivation sphere — thank Odin for heated vests!

Self sufficiency is the key, not reliance on others.

 

[Blackcrusader]

BTW I’m not having a go at you for this, it’s more a go at the overblown buddy system which is far from perfect and frequently obscures fundamental failures of planning and skills.

Self sufficiency is the key, not reliance on others.

Yup I understand you are not having a go. It's nice discourse to discuss options of self reliance. I was very fortunate to have an instructor who was also a commercial diving instructor. He really emphasized being first able to sort your own issues if you could. That continual BSAC club environment for 2 years with constant training and re-practicing on skills was great for my diving.
I have a few divers I take vacations with. 2 instructors who are also tech divers and another instructor and her DM husband. We have had other divers comment on how relaxed we all seem and also how we give each other more distance than other divers. Guides are happy to know they really don't need to focus on us. I think it is a pity that at some stage ( maybe from AOW or rescue course ) that divers are not taught about a last resort use of the BCD if you have no one to assist you. It could give you enough time even for a buddy to get to you even if you don't try to get to the surface. Like the Queen song goes, keep yourself alive.


Back to topic, I have my own business so can take time off for my overseas dive vacations so I only dive on vacation. normally 2 - 3 weeks at a time several times a year.

 

[El Diablo]

I agree that it's quite clear. We just disagree on what it means.

I went back to re-read what was posted. The PADI Blog post that went poof indicated the 130' as a maximum limit. No dispute here. In your post, the 60' "Maximum Depth Allowed" is under the With Your Instructor heading. To me, that is quite clearly indicating that this is referring to the standards for the training dives.

If you find something that says OW divers are certified only to a depth of 60' I'd like to read it. Recommended, yes. But a recommendation is different from a certification.

Sorry man but I really don't understand what the disagreement is... on PADI's Blog that you refer it is clearly written:

PADI Scuba Diver Vs. PADI Open Water Diver: Maximum Depth​

– Open Water Divers can plan and execute dives with a certified buddy or dive professional to a maximum depth of 18 meters/60 feet.

– Scuba Divers may only dive under the direct supervision of a PADI Professional to a maximum depth of 12 metres/40 feet.

That's the maximum depth an OWD is Certified to dive. It has been this way since I started diving in 2002 (became a DM in 2012).

From my understanding, depths are still regulated by the WRSTC.

 

[El Diablo]

That is a quite an assumption. I have been with divers who had a valve failure and they did not panic.

Just because one has an issue does not mean they suddenly go into panic mode. The chap in the video did he panic? No.

The chap in the video that I posted is doing an exercise is a controlled environment.

Obviously experienced divers will react to an emergency in a different way, that was indeed a generalist position from my side within the context of our conversation.

 

[El Diablo]

If you are re-breathing air into your BCD how are you becoming less buoyant? And no, one is not "gasping for air" when rebreathing air from a BCD. As no gas is lost this way and as the gas expands as you ascend you find you are gaining positive buoyancy. Seems you have not been trained in this procedure so do not understand it.

First of all, you seem to assume that other divers in this forum are less trained than you, do not understand things as well as you and / or have less experience than you. That won't get you very far.

Secondly, I haven't been trained on re-breathing air from my BCD as no agency advocates that method.

Third, we are talking about an out-of-air situation, not your casual simulation / training with your buddy kneeling down in a pool. Also, the OP mentioned 40m.
I am used to breathe using my inflator hose BUT because I use an SS1 and an Air 2 on both my BCDs. However, I get Air from my bottle and STILL controlling ascent while doing that in a real OOA situation isn't easy (personal experience with other OOA divers).

Fourth and perhaps more importantly, Air that you exhale has 16% oxygen on it. Your body uses only 5% under normal conditions. That gives you approx. 10-12 breaths before it becomes really dangerous. Together with the exhaled O² there's also CO². With every exhalation CO² builds up leading to Hypercapnia. This can produce elevated heart rate, confusion among other symptoms. Not exactly helping to controlled panic in an OOA situation...

At 40m depth as the OP mentioned, GOOD LUCK re-breathing air from your BCD, controlling your buoyancy and getting safely to the surface.

 

[Wibble]

In times of great stress part of one's brain goes into shouting mode. The logical part of the brain can't work with that infernal racket going on and tries to do its best under the circumstances. Of course, if you practice certain techniques then your logical brain has a chance of remembering that technique rather than giving in to the 'panic' brain.

Needless to say one needs to have one's kit configured correctly; enough weight to overcome gas usage and any DSMB reel/SMB that might be removed. People who are grossly overweighted are at a great disadvantage should their BCD break.

 

[Wibble]

At 40m depth as the OP mentioned, GOOD LUCK re-breathing air from your BCD, controlling your buoyancy and getting safely to the surface.

Where's the redundant gas supply? Why did your gas catastrophically fail?

Diving to the limits of "recreational" diving depth (33m+/110ft+) is foolhardy without redundant gas.

 

[El Diablo]

Where's the redundant gas supply? Why did your gas catastrophically fail?

Diving to the limits of "recreational" diving depth (33m+/110ft+) is foolhardy without redundant gas.

I agree as long as people invest on a proper bailout bottle and not a stupid 300 Spare Air. IMO, the later can easily give a false sense of security while at depth don't last long (for me its 3L min).
I still believe that your dive buddy is the safest solution

ps. Obviously, monitoring your air supply continuously and avoiding being in that situation in the 1st place should be paramount. For not so experienced divers, investing on an air integrated dive computer with audible / visible or even vibrating alarms can really help.

 

[Wibble]

ps. Obviously, monitoring your air supply continuously and avoiding being in that situation in the 1st place should be paramount. For not so experienced divers, investing on an air integrated dive computer with audible / visible or even vibrating alarms can really help.

Not sure. They need to learn to be responsible for actively monitoring their gas supplies. If it takes a close call to ram the lesson home then so be it. Harsh lessons and close calls make for good memory recall!

 

[El Diablo]

Not sure. They need to learn to be responsible for actively monitoring their gas supplies. If it takes a close call to ram the lesson home then so be it. Harsh lessons and close calls make for good memory recall!

I believe we are saying the same thing

...and yes, if one has a close call, probably he and his buddies will NEVER run out of air (happened to me, REALLY BAD situation and VERY lucky to be here).