9 replies to this topic

[canuckdiver]

ok folks, a couple of threads have prompted me to pull up a soap box and say what's on my mind.

Now, to start with, please, this is not directed at ANYBODY! My purpose is to inform and help, not to criticize anybody! I am no dive god myself, but I do have quite a bit of training, and a little bit of knowledge, and if that knowledge can help prevent somebody from getting hurt, I feel I have to try!

In this day and age of the information highway, there are quite a few forums, such as this one for getting information about diving up to and including info about some very advanced subjucts such as trimix, wreck penetration, rebreathers, etc.

Please folks, do not fall into the trap of believeing that because you have the "book knowledge" imparted upon forums such as this, you can go out and push the limits and do these things! I want to make clear that...


THERE IS *NO* SUBSTITUTE FOR PROPER TRAINING!!!!!!

When I started diving, I fell into that trap myself, thinking that once I had the basic open water skills, and the knowledge posted for all to see on various internet forums, I could do pretty much what anybody could do. I promply went out, started exceeding my depth limits, and doing wreck penetrations with absolutely crap equipment, and NO training!

IT DAMN NEAR KILLED ME!!!!

I will not relate the whole story, but suffice to say that finding yourself trapped inside a wreck, with an entaglement behind your head that you cannot reach, no buddy in site, and no redundant air source is an experience that I will never forget and NEVER want to live through again!

Seeking advanced training has been the most rewarding thing that I have ever done for myself. There are skills they teach you in these classes that simply CANNOT be learned any other way.

Skills such as gas sharing, gas management, rigging and unrigging equipment underwater, valve drills, etc. Can be talked about until you are blue in the face, but simply cannot be mastered without PRACTICE. And practice comes best by doing it in the water with a qualified instructor.

Guys, internet forums are wonderful, and I consider all of you very close friends. I respect and care for every last one of you, and hope to dive with you all for a long, long time! Please, take the time to find a good instructor, and take the courses. Even if you don't think you will be doing things like decompression diving, the skills you learn will make you a better diver, and improve your odds when Murphy shows his ugly face.

Note I said "when", not "if"

Respectfully yours..
Adam

[Funewgy]

As the funewgy here, I appreciate the advice. Thanks for the words of wisdom, eh.

[chinacat46]

I second that. Good words of advice Adam.

[triggerfish]

on my honor
i solemnly swear
to abide by the rules
set forth this day
by adam sweet:
to not exceed my limits,
to receive proper training,
to practice my skills,
to properly maintain my equipment,
and to order $100 of girl scout cookies each year,

so help me god.

(my sarcastic way of saying

MOST EXCELLENT ADVICE, HOSER!!

[Diverbrian]

I can't say it any better.

Thanks Adam

[DandyDon]

Good suggestions, in a good way, from a good man! Thanks!!

I would not want to discount the valuable knowledge one can carefully acquire here on SD.com, but nonetheless - I'd also suggest confirming anything, especially from me, as indicated.

And truly, while research and discussion can aid with proper training and practice, I'll fully agree that there's no subsitute for good training and frequent practice.

BTW, the wreck penetrating you and I did in the St.L was about as much as I've done, aside from a swim thru wreck off Cozumel, and I was a little leery about some of that. You guys who penetrate wrecks scare me.

[Narwhal]

Adam,
I agree completely!!! I am an instructor for five certifying organizations and have more than forty years of diving experience and I still have a lot to learn--and a lot to unlearn that I learned wrong the first time . The internet has a lot of great information and unfortunately a lot of misinformation. I have seen many, many "facts" presented in forums that could lead to disaster if absorbed on their own without a frame of reference.

I have been using lift bags and teaching search and recovery for a number of years. But I recently sat in on a class with Calvin over at Athens Scuba Park and had the chance to listen to him and Marc Thompson on using lift bags from 50 lbs to 2000 lbs of lift and techniques on moving boats and automobiles underwater---and I suddenly realized how much I didn't know about the subject. I also learned some very real tips about working with a recovery team and techniques on coordinating efforts. Calvin also teaches sidescan sonar and underwater magnetometers--serious stuff and not for the newbie diver to jump into without some serious underwater time with an experienced professional. Also no place for a person with "head" knowledge and no practical experience.

I watched a couple of divers on a recent Caribbean dive trip who had read about slinging an auxillary bottle, thought it was a cool idea, and bought themselves 40 cu ft cylinders and jumped in the water. One had seen a bottle rigged upside down and thought it was cool so he rigged his that way. He turned it on before he got in the water and couldn't see the second stage free flow and dump all the air in the bottle. Fortunately, he didn't require it for a second source. I talked to them on the boat and asked if they were using their auxillary bottles for spare air or for staged decompression or for degassing on the hang line. They had no idea that there could be different purposes for secondary tanks. It just looked cool.

I was talking to a fellow instructor who had loaned his spare Nikonos to an inexperienced underwater photographer who proceeded to change film underwater when she ran out of exposures. She said,"Hey, it's an underwater camera, isn't it?"

I am also a hyperbaric chamber technician and run two chambers which we use to treat patients for a variety of medical conditions ranging from CP to stroke, to infections to Lyme disease. We use PPO2's of between 1.5 to 2.8 for most scripts. "But I thought the maximum allowed PPO2 was 1.4--that's what I read on the internet when Nitrox was being discussed."--from a new (Non-nitrox certified) diver. A trained Nitrox instructor could have cleared this confusion up in the class and not muddied the water about oxygen exposure.

These are just four examples (of many) that come to mind--I'll wager any other instructor in this group has his own set of similar situations. It seems I spend a good part of classes "unlearning" or correcting misconceptions from students who are eager to learn (commendable) but have listened to the wrong sources (potential disaster). I wouldn't read a manual about flying and go jump in airplane and take off without an instructor to translate my "head knowledge" into practical knowledge. I just can't see why some scuba divers think that reading about an area of diving on the internet makes them qualified to perform in that area without qualified training. Thanks for letting me sound off.

Jim

[mostlysingle]

Here here! Thanks for reiterating these knowledgeable words. You rock!

[Laura]

Adam,

Very good advise, and well-said. Thanks for sharing

Laura

[SquattingRadishDM]

Some interesting points Jim . As new divers tend to be very receptive to every new bit of info that gets thrown out there (thats not bad), it becomes very tempting for unqualified/inexperienced people to throw out statements that sound good but are inherritantly inaccurate. Equally a usefull but incomplete bit of of information can lead to the recipient feeling they have all the knowledge and can then go out and apply it (Jims slung tank duo and the PPO2 know-it-all). Its wise to take everything with a pinch of salt (preferrably sea water) and to double check information from reputable sources such as DAN, a comprehensive book or an instructor.

These forums can be usefull for incident reports however, warning other divers about mishaps you may have seen or happened to you and how they could be prevented. But equally I have seen people get torn to shreads for minor mistakes or judgement calls by people on the other side of the world who know nothing about the divers, area, conditions involved. Equally, appropriate rescue procedures for a given scenario can be discussed and evaluated, however this could lead to an untrained person trying an difficult/dangerous rescue and placing themselves in jeopody. It is a double edged sword I suppose.

I guess we are all saying dont try anything new without prior training and dont believe everything you read online, go out and check with many sources and see if it makes sense yourself.