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Mr. J. Scott Landon,
First of all if you are going to direct personal mail to me then please
do so. You have my address. Concerning the statement "if george dooley
<g> told you to get rid of your mother to be a better cave diver, would
you do it?", she's dead.
You have made a lot of assumptions in your internationally published
post without even knowing me. First I have never bent or broken a valve
knob (stem); and I have never rolled a valve shut (you have). Do I
gather from your statement "you have got to be scootering to hit the
ceiling that hard" that you don't swim in caves with lots of flow and
understand the physics of a mass and stream velocity? It does happen.
And your statement "get off the scooter and swim until you don't hit
the ceiling". I haven't rode a scooter since my last Farallon in 1982.
Where did you see me on a scooter? I respect the proper use of a
scooter as a tool, nothing more or less.
You have assummed I have ruined cave ceilings ("...improve your
technique before you ruin any more ceilings."). My technique and
awareness for the need of cave conservation does not permit me to
damage the cave. Does yours? You'll never see my hand or footprint in
the clay. I sure see a lot of experts (are you one?) grinding through
the caves on their way no where fast.
Considering your recommendation on stainless for large diameter valve
stems: Can you recommend the grade of stainless steel to use to avoid
crevice corrosion. Should it be desensitized, passivated, etc. Some of
us cave divers also like dive in saltwater (we don't limit our
experience). Do you know anything about some of the problems that were
experienced by some manufacturers when they used the wrong materials
(including the ScubaPro Mk15 regulator piston)? Do you have any
projections on the rate of crack propagation or pitting in stainless
and the associated failure rates. If you don't have expertise in
materials for underwater use then you may wish to refrain from
considering yourself an expert. Some of us do.
I have been diving a long time compared to some, and not so long
compared to others. I still pride myself in my willingness to always
learn from others when the opportunity arises. While I may disagree at
times, I can still value the opinions and suggestions of others. 'But
the bottom line is simple, nobody tells me what to do or how to do it,
not even you wiseguy. I probably don't do that many cave dives a year
compared to you (>150), because you are apparently a big shot (gleaned
from your wisom of the ages). You are a list vulture; you sit around
and make these posts and then respond "i'm not on techdiver, so don't
respond to me on the list." What sort of nonsense is that? If you have
something to say to me, then grow some balls and say it to me.
Doug Chapman
P.S. I originally intended to not post this on the list, but since you
don't use E-mail I decided to waste more space in case you were lurking
around. My apologies in advance to techdiver list members.
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