when is a diver "experienced"?

[Guba]

Just like with cars...It ain't the age of the model, but the mileage that counts.

An experienced diver is the one who recognizes not how much he knows, but how much he DOES NOT know. By that, I mean he/she realizes their limitations and then stays within those limitations until they have been trained or shown how to expand those horizons.
They say that "experience is the best teacher". That might work for most situations, but the sea can be awfully unforgiving to the inexperienced. Learning a hard lesson might very well mean not surviving long enough to use the acquired education. When one considers themselves "supremely experienced", they border on an arrogance that sets them up and enrolls them in one of the toughest schools in the world...the school of hard knocks at the Undersea University.

 

[Cave Diver]

This is sort of open ended and I imaging there will be different responses, but what is it that makes a diver experienced? Is it purely the number of dives? Can you say you're experienced if you haven't anything go wrong (free flow or other mechanical problem)? Is it based on how many different places you've been? A combination of the above; none?

I think experience can be sorted under two classifications; Depth and Breadth of experience.

Depth indicates a lot of experience in one specific area. i.e deep dives.

Breadth indicates experience across a broad range of areas, i.e. night dives, reef dives, cave dives, deep dives, wreck dives.

I think for someone to be considered well rounded in their experience, they need to have a lot of both types.

 

[Kim]

A lot of places I dive have a "check out" dive so they can see you perform in the water. Log books don't mean much to me, it is seeing people in the water that gives you a good indication.

You know you are experienced when..........after your check-out dive they'll take you wherever you want to go with no problem!

(OK...there's more to it than that...but it's a good starting point! )

 

[mudchick]

ex·pe·ri·enced

I try to expand my horizons. I often have new experiences while diving. With over 1700 dives, I am an experienced diver - in some situations. In other situations, I'm a newbie. Rather than label myself "experienced," I look at the planned dive and access my experience with regard to that dive.

This seems like a reasonable way to approach the concept. I knew there would be more than one answer and that it has a lot do to with perception and perspective, which is why I wanted to ask "experienced" divers. After finishing my AOW I felt great at having accomplished another level of education but it still somehow felt a little hollow. When I told the DM that there was still so much I felt I didn't know, he complemented me saying that this attitude made me experienced, though I will not call myself that for a long time yet to come. An that's half the fun.

 

[mudchick]

A better example of my question is related to what is being discussed on another thread in which a group of divers is being forced to descend at a certain rate in order to get all they can from their air while diving the Blue Hole in Belize. One responder noted that this and other dives like it where descents must be made quickly in order to avoid currents, should be held for advanced, experienced divers only. How do you get trained for situations like this until you actually do it?

 

[MoonWrasse]

A better example of my question is related to what is being discussed on another thread in which a group of divers is being forced to descend at a certain rate in order to get all they can from their air while diving the Blue Hole in Belize. One responder noted that this and other dives like it where descents must be made quickly in order to avoid currents, should be held for advanced, experienced divers only. How do you get trained for situations like this until you actually do it?

Easy - you build upon similar experiences, such as doing a drift dive in strong currents. Those who have little experience outside of pool dives should probably avod such a dive.

For example, I just tore out and replaced the plumbing under my kitchen sink as it had rotted out. Had I not had any prior experience dealing with plumbing, it would not have been the cakewalk it was.

 

[ZzzKing]

lol thats funny ahhhh! those insurance companies sure can be a pain in the rear-endy!

As can a 17 year old driver with 9 months "experience".

 

[spectrum]

Experienced seems to be a very situation dependent thing.

If you have done something enough that it is second nature, you have some breadth of conditions and situations then you can consider yourself experienced. That is not to say you can't at some point be highly experienced or vastly experienced it just means you have made it past the steep part of the learning curve.

I like night diving and I'm very comfortable making night dives but with 5 night dives I would not consider myself "experienced".

These subjective terms are always up for grabs.

Pete

 

[clgsamson]

when is a diver an experienced diver?

when he/she stops trolling in SB.

 

[roger roger]

Its a damn shame that alot of folk judge a diver by his age,I am a diver of 23 yrs of age and have been in the commercial industry since the age of 18. Having worked for 4 diffrent companies i have found that the older divers tend to be so stuck in their ways that they are unable to allow the fresh blood to flow. I am very capable of undertaking a wide variety of complex tasks and have proven this in circumstances when the older diver could not accomplish the task in hand and i have been sent down for what feels like a last resort. It feels real good to manage completion and come up and see the stubborn old divers put on their fake smile and force themselves to say well done.
I dont deny that older is wiser but its not always the only way forwards.
As for the number of dives in your log, they only count if each page has a diffrent activity, depth and time. also if your only a fairweather diver then you suck anyway, try getting on your boat in 6m swell