why hate safety devices?

[DaleC]

... but you can only learn so much from a book... at some point you've got to get in the water and learn what the words actually mean.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

This is a great point Bob.

There are a lot of things theoretically that we read that should or should not make sense and sometimes the only thing to do is get out there and try it. Then we have to ask questions and learn some of the little tricks that make them work (which was one of the sub themes of this thread).

The first time I tried a drysuit (in a pool) I was so exhausted and frustrated (from trying to right myself) that I was almost ready to chuck it and dive wet. Some investigation led to removing the far too big boots and replacing them with something smaller and I've been diving dry since.

The first time I dove a horsecollar I thought it was a death trap because it floated up around my head like a bandana and just kept my chin above water. Some proper adjustments of the straps though and I now find it to be the stablest and safest of all my BC's.

The first time I dove my doublehose I thought the WOB was going to make it impractical for any kind of "real" diving. Some questioning led me to position the cans correctly and allow my respiratory muscles to become conditioned. Now I find my DH a pleasure to dive.

For me, one of the enjoyments of diving is exploring different ideas, rigs and techniques to see how they feel. It's as interesting (to me) as diving a different locale.

 

[Ben_ca]

... or you learned by surviving being damnably stupid.

Unfortunately there are quite a few who equate survival to success.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Unfortunately there are quite a few who equate survival to success.

Aint that the truth

 

[DevonDiver]

Unfortunately there are quite a few who equate survival to success.

Surviving an incident is a success.... somewhere, somehow, the right measures must have been taken to break the incident chain.

Preventing the incident in the first place should be the goal though, but regrettably we often fail to identify those successes because they aren't obviously brought to our attention.

Confusing a lack of incidents with 'success in avoiding incidents' is a common error - especially amongst confident, but relatively inexperienced divers.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

What is even worse IMHO is when you see situations where people don't even realize they just managed to escape Darwin's grasp! There is a thread where with a video posted showing a fellow and his son too deep and distracted taking pics they failed to realize the dangerous situation they were in. Fortunately an alert diver recognized the problem and got them to the surface...nearly out of air and one was reading 0 PSI on his gauge.

They didn't speak the language and the diver who basically saved them didn't think they had a clue they came very close to becoming statistics!

 

[knowone]

Father mid forties re certified after 25yrs and his fresh mid teens son very low on bar 30m just managed to surface no stop, reasonable ascent "speed.."

I was on the dive but not diving with them, but made diving with them my job for a few months hence, starting that trip.

Son is a great diver.

Father with more gear and courses than money can buy will always be hopeless.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

not sure if it was the same event.. this one was in the Bahamas the divers had difficulty with English and were believe to be of Asian ancestry

these threads relate to it and there is a youtube video

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/accidents-incidents/355645-close-accident-video-footage.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/near-misses-lessons-learned/289924-bahamas-close-call-video.html

 

[knowone]

Nah. The EX HMAS Hobart in Adelaide with a bunch of knuckleheads up from Melbourne.

Very fortunate they plonked us in before slack so there was very minimal current for the ascent which was away from the ship.

These Caucasians really didn't speak much of anything for a while.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Father with more gear and courses than money can buy will always be hopeless.

No amount of courses and gear can turn a person into a decent diver Unfortunately sometimes the willingness to spend the dollars on courses and gear can sometimes motivate Dive Ops to issue cards. My original instructor in OW refused to certify one of the students, a second instructor also refused but eventually the person was certified after "private lessons" oh and the purchase of a full set of gear including carbon fiber tanks and shark POD!

Nah. The EX HMAS Hobart in Adelaide with a bunch of knuckleheads up from Melbourne.

Very fortunate they plonked us in before slack so there was very minimal current for the ascent which was away from the ship.

These Caucasians really didn't speak much of anything for a while.

Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a shortage of people trying to make their way into the Darwin Awards:shocked2:

 

[knowone]

Well he performed reasonably well during courses and put in a lot of effort, perhaps the requirement of effort may have been the key indicator.
I observed a couple of them and he completed 55m with a pretty tough instructor with a get more time in proviso which really isn't a proviso but despite lots soon of which some are capable, and a bulk amount of diving, great physique and fitness and an OK technique, and here's one that I have not heard here,

The guy had some form of seriously undiagnosed zero concentration, attention span and was very impulsive

A very funny unfunny situation was when he had to surface in current from probably 5m depth, 50m aft of, and hold up the Sorrento to Queenscliff Ferry.
Fortunately only just having begun moving astern and spotting him.

Every dive had some essence of this.
Just not really designed for it.