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Todd, I agree with you 100% - at least we now know to avoid Gibson as a
dive buddy. Nice of him to admit to being a stroke.

Too bad the archives are incomplete, the Farm Animal himself ( Rennaker)
even had a post about "knowing when to leave your buddy", and even went
into a discussion of how a husband and wife team should know when to
leave each other in a jam. 

Have I been dead right about the cave diving community or what?


toddl@in*.co* wrote:
> 
> >  I think some of you are missing the point of the "most important person"
> >  concept.  Mr. Rennaker is just being honest about basic human nature.
> >  When things are the worst we all revert to our survival instincts
> >  despite the best intentions.
> 
> If everybody's "basic human nature" was to fuck and run at the
> first sign of trouble, cave diving would be a sorry undertaking
> indeed.  Believe it or not, there *are* divers with the character
> and constitution necessary to follow through on the commitments
> they make to eachother when they decide to dive together.  I'll
> admit it isn't always immediately obvious who will make a good
> buddy.  You have to constantly evaluate yourself and those around
> you, and sometimes make tough decisions.
> 
> Nevertheless, this whole "most important diver" thing is completely
> illogical.  It's based on the premise that one team member's interests
> differ from that of another.  That assumption is a self-fulfilling
> prophesy -- such a "buddy" is an anathema, worthless at best.
> 
> Sure, steps can be taken to reduce some risks in solo diving
> (like carrying a buddy bottle), but there is no substitute for the
> redundant brain a good buddy provides.  It's conceivable that solo
> diving could be "less unsafe" than diving with a lousy buddy, but
> that's not setting a very high bar.  The best route is clearly to
> dive (and continuously train) as part of a team.
> 
> I could understand someone making an argument that there were
> situations justifying the additional risk of solo diving, but
> to actually claim it's safer is crazy.
> 
> Another fallacy -- Rennaker's article alludes to the idea that
> a diver needs more skill/preparation/whatever to dive solo.
> Nonsense.  Being in a team is not an excuse to let yourself be
> the weak link.  Rather, you accept additional responsibility
> of looking after your team.  This does lead to something a bit
> strange... sometimes solo diving can be "relaxing", but that
> should NOT be misinterpreted as a reduction in risk.
> 
> So, solo diving should be categorized as a risky behavior when
> performing an accident analysis.  Just like failure to carry
> the proper number and type of lights in a cave, it doesn't kill
> directly, but it clearly can be a significant contributing factor
> in a diver's death.
> 
> - Todd

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