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Ken Sallot hit the nail squarely on its head when he said, "I think anyone, who has any sort of clue, recognizes that the main reason for this fatality was that the diver was diving (well) beyond his diving training/abilities." First I will say I am not a cave diving instructor (don't want to be either), although I have assisted in hundreds of classes and with students of all makeups and nationalities. To me, one thing that stands out from this and other experiences is almost all cave divers, or wanna be cave divers, are very egocentric and in being so they are driven by their perceptions of their abilities v.s. the real world. If someone describes an accomplishment, the ego centered person will attempt to justify their perceived "inadequacies" or go out and outdo the person or persons they feel challenged by. Simply stated, many people are in cave diving because they think it makes them appear cool and superior to their "lessor" trained counterparts. They really don't give a crap about the cave, the ecology, the land owner relationships, or the just the sheer beauty of a cave and its inhabitants. All they care about is how cool they "look". These are very dangerous people. Unfortunately the same is double-fold for some cave instructors. There are many fine NACD and NSS cave instructors and there are bad ones. As an example I recall one day overhearing a NACD/NSS cave instructor teaching his cave students about the benefits of visual gaps. Specifically one of the students remarked during their plan that they should put in a jump reel between the main line in Ginnie and the Rollercoaster passage. The instructor, to my amazement, said it wasn't necessary because it was only a few feet and the water was clear. Egads! Many of us who have done this route know the conditions around the Rollercoaster jump are generally excellent; however to teach visual gapping in a cave class is asking for trouble when the student, and then inexperienced diver, begins to make judgements based on no experience that may ultimately cost him or her their life. As an instructor, you teach to the standards that says gaps will be tied in. If the student decides later in their diving career they are not necessary, that is their decision. This diver in Little River killed himself. He was Intro certified, on a scooter, inexperienced in cave diving, and several thousand feet into a cave. Did he derive his lack of judgement and stupidity from his instructor? Perhaps, but probably not. His ego put him in the position that killed him. I'm not sure about IANTD standards, but the NSS standards for Intro did not include double tanks (one exception if continuing thru full cave with same instructor - although not allowed to dive with doubles without instructor), scooters, and several thousand feet of penetration. Personally I think there should only be one level of certification - Cave Diver. It should take several weeks, over many dives, and in varying conditions to complete. I always got a chuckle when my ex-partner/instructor would tell a student that they would be lucky to go home with a Cavern cert. after a week or two of training. Some people cannot earn the certification - when instructors give them their ticket, they are a hazard to themselves and others around them. Not everyone can be a safe cave diver - its that simple. Similarly I have seen situations where "cave divers" come into dive shops and demand they fill their O2 bottles because they are "cave divers." They would get angry when I would respond, "so what, I'm a cave diver too and I don't recall anywhere in the standards where it teachs about safe O2 usage (like not breathing it at 40ft). Please tell me more about your training." The term "so what" is hell on someone's ego, but frankly I don't give a crap. I also goes that often the people most critical about diving are the people you never see while out diving. I don't consider myself to be a world-class cave diver like many I listen to. I don't scooter dive, although physiologically its certainly safer. My maximum swimming penetration to date probably isn't much greater than 6k ft oneway. I wear stages on both sides (as a swimmer), although after watching JJ a few years ago at Manatee on a scooter, it makes a lot of sense to be asymmetric regarding tanks when on a scooter. I do like to go deep on occasion. My UK 4-cell lights still work after 500ft+ dives, but one day I will replace them with B.Miller's lights because they are better. My Diverite Classic wings still work fine along with my Lamar English light, but some day they will need replacement. Who knows what equipment will look like then but I hope it will be as simple as the stuff I have now. The point I'm making is there is equipment and then there is the ability to use it. Certainly crappy equipment can lead to disaster while diving. However I think people sometimes tend to become too dependent on their equipment. One exercise I learned while teaching SCUBA with an ex-UDT diver was breathing off of a bare tank. We made every adv. scuba student sit on the bottom of the pool and breathe off a bare tank for 30 minutes to prove that everything else was there just to make breathing more convenient. The same goes for cave and tec. gear, however we can reach a point where too much is too much (e.g. today's gauntlet of gadgetry). Simplicity is the route to follow (re:Occum's razor to cut out complexity and allow the person to function in his or her environment rather than as a result of his or her environment). Simplicity also allows us to evaluate our performance and ability. Simplicity gives us freedom. I think it is unfortunate this person died in Little River, and I am empathetic for the loss his family is suffering. However, I also recognize, that like myself, this diver is responsible for his own actions. He made the decision to blatently ignore his ability in a effort to stroke his ego and he paid the ultimate price. We can point fingers here and there, but when all is said and done, this person killed himself. Hopefully instructors will use this as an example and other prospective students will take note. Just IMHO. Take care, Doug Chapman
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