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I hope that Richard and others who have been sharing their knowledge
and experience here will continue to do so.  If it weren't for people
like that, I would still be running around thinking that nitrox was a
creation of the devil himself, and that only "those wacko divers" wear
pony bottles.  Instead, I found some people who weren't afraid to
tell me they dive alone/deep/deco/whatever, and in that, I have found
an area of the sport I am very interested in exploring further.

However, Dennis (Epic Dive Shop <epic@so*.ha*.ed*>) raises an
important point:
> you guys got to remember that most of the divers out there are
> wanting to "be like you"... but THEY ARE NOT LIKE YOU !!!
> [...]
> *most* of the people out there just don't have
> the drive to do the same... and when someone cuts a corner on
> training or education in this field they don't come back.....

I guess I got lucky in that my introduction to technical diving has been
through people who made it quite clear that this sort of diving requires
committment, training, equipment, etc. far beyond what's necessary for
"recreational" diving.  I have an instructor who puts a great deal of
effort into making sure that people don't cut corners at this level of
training.  I spend quite a bit of time around people who make comments
about the Andrea Doria like (actual quotes here, folks) "it's just another
wreck dive" or "that's not a 'mega' dive, by any standards", yet I have
no trouble understanding that I have a long way to go before I'll even see
that wreck (barring _exceptional_ visibility :-), much less go inside.

I can see that it might be easy for an inexperienced diver, like myself,
to misinterpret remarks like Richard's comments on solo diving and perhaps
think that they're capable of the same things.  But I don't think that's
a valid reason for withholding the information completely -- especially
in a forum created specifically to discuss technical diving.  I do think
it highlights the need for good instructors and good training programs,
so that aspiring techdivers are given the complete picture, including a
thorough understanding of just how much training, education, and practice
is required to safely conduct these extreme dives.

So maybe it's time for a "don't try this at home, kids" bit in the
mailing list introduction, or perhaps a periodic message which could
emphasize that point and direct people to appropriate training.  Beyond
that, I think we're dealing with natural selection -- the people who
would ignore that sort of warning will get themselves killed doing
_something_ stupid anyway.  Please don't deprive me of a chance to learn
just because others might use the information in a dangerous way.

--tab

-- 
Tracey Baker                                    tab@pa*.co*
    "I don't think safety is the main issue here...
                      You'd be stupid not to be safe."  - J. Comly

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