Tell Isler I thought he was doing this for lack of help, not lack of sanity. This does not sound like fun to me. I would not do it at all if I had to do it that way. Cave diving is bullshit when it needs to be done like that. I do it for fun, and it is fun with my pals and my team. Cave diving gear is bullshit - we leave it in the cave and don't care if we ever see it again - it works years later. We don't use crap, we use our best stuff as safeties - Scuba Pro MK20's with G250's, without the slightest remorse. The stuff works indefinetely in the cave. We are talking life support equipment, not nickelrocket bong money. I have stuff all over the WKP right now. Isler told me Stone was an "idiot", and Jean Pierre Impbert confiremd the translation to me to be sure I got the French correctly. What part of "idiot" does he think I do not understand? Too bad he did not particiapate in the Wakulla 2 project - he could have gone home with one new English word in his vocabulary , "clusterfuck", and had his ass kicked too, like the rest of them did. Tell Isler I have news for him - the future of cave diving is not to do it at all, and if anyone ever finds me dressed up like these guys do for a dive, I hope they do the right thing - pull out a gun and put me out of my misery. Just think what a guy this tough could do if he did not look like something out of "Honey I Shrunk The Brains" in every picture I have ever seen. Now I know why the we always see rednecks towing another car with a rope - redundency. John Simenon wrote: > > I was asked by Olivier Isler to post the following message: > > My French friend and fellow diver Frédéric Badier has passed on an > email to me (from G. Irvine, Feb. 20/99) containing erroneous > information that I wish to correct. > > An article detailing my last dive at the Doux de Coly as well as my > thoughts on cave diving was published in DeepTech number 14 (4th > quarter 98). > > For those who have not have read it, I wish to make the following > point. > > The WKPP uses a progression technique which I respect entirely even > though, as the following analysis will show, it is in fact the exact > opposite of mine in almost every respect. > > The WKPP operates in 3-diver teams supported by a considerable number > of safety tanks. This is very understandable: the rebreather used by > the teams is the Halcyon, which offers little in terms of redundancy, > and it is imperative to always be in a position to return on open > circuit in case of a rebreather malfunction. > > This technique, though very safe, is very constraining. It requires: > > - a great number of divers as support team (the WKPP is the largest > cave diving operation ever, with more than 80 active members if my > information is correct); > - a permanent and easy access to the system being explored; > - caves sufficiently wide to allow for 3 decompressions taking place > simultaneously; > - the possibility to leave equipment in the system without worrying > about it being damaged or misplaced (e.g. by surges in the current). > > As, during my whole diving career, I never enjoyed the benefit of > conditions such as the above, I had to seek a technique giving me > complete autonomy and freeing me of those constraints. > > My technique relies entirely on the exclusive use of the Semi-Closed > Circuit rebreather. It involves three completely autonomous and > interchangeable systems, as, in case of failure, returning with only > one functioning systems is mentally unbearable. Carrying with me all > my needed gas supply eliminates the need for safety tanks and allows > me to dive solo in total safety. > > The only few tanks staged in the caves for the dive are deco mixes and > nothing else. > > This is my technique and and my philosophy. I believe it is the > direction of the future in diving, and, even though it may not conform > with others' ideologies, I wish that it be respected and not deformed. > > As to my non participation in the Wakulla 2 project, even though I > don't share many of Bill Stone's ideas, my reasons for not > participating were entirely private and not the result of any > personality clash. > > Olivier Isler
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