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Let me restate my position. I face the risk of experiencing hearing loss as a result of my scuba diving activities. All of us that dive face that risk. We also face the chance of death, and an assundry of other horrific dangers while diving, driving, or sitting in a chair typing at a computer. The important question is whether the risk justify the activity. Is deafness a great risk of diving. I admit I don't have the exact statistic for this, perhaps some doctor or life/health insurance company does. I am willing to bet it is very, very, small. The risk of deafness a diver faces is nearly the same whether he has one or two functional ears. The point I was trying to make in the first post was that it is very easy to detect and avoid ear injuries while diving by using simple common sense behavior. And that the rewards of diving, in my opinion, justify the risk I face doing it. The simple rules of thumb are, stop descending if you feel ear squeeze, pressure, or pain, and your ears/sinuses are not equalizing. Don't dive with congestion. And don't take decongestant drugs (they can/will wear off). If ear (canal) infection is a danger, use commercial antiseptic eardrops. Inner ear infections are serious, require professional medical attention, and are the ones that most endanger hearing. If you have permenant scarring or perforations in your eardrums, then your danger is greatly increased, and diving wouldn't be worth the risk. I don't know how someone can equate diving with one ear to diving alone. I would never dive alone, nor would I advocate it, nor would I EVER listen to someone who tells you to. I personally try and avoid SOB's (same ocean buddies), and only dive with those persons I trust and know are competant. I have been fortunate enough to experience shallow water blackout while abalone (free) diving, and without a competent, trained buddy, would be dead now rather than wiser for it. Again, the risks entailed with diving alone (or serious cave diving/penetration) generally wouldn't justify the activity FOR ME (unless there's verified gold & untold riches at the end!). People are adults, however, and are perfectly able to decide what risks THEY are willing to take, and I have no problem with that. I was simply suggesting that because someone has one functioning ear, or eye for that matter, (and no other signifigant medical conditions) they shouldn't forgo diving........if they want to, and feel they could/would do it otherwise. No pressure, just an opinionated suggestion. Says --tab >I was encouraged to go dive alone in Ginnie Cavern rather than waiting for >>someone to dive with -- even after I made it quite clear that I was very >>uncomfortable with the idea... and this was an experienced cave diver. But not a very intelligent one. What do you define as "experienced". I doubt he is very old. You know the saying..there are the BOLD ones, and the OLD ones, but there are NO old bold ones. All of the preceeding was OPINION, not ADVICE. Don't sue me, damnit! Mark L....scuba@uc*.be*.ed* "Whether you think you can or can't, your right" - Henry Ford
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