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Read this and see if you want to even be in the saem water as this guy -
Rennaker is wht is wrong with cave diving instruction, and I intend to smoke
out the rest of these worhtless asholes, and get them out of the sport , either
by our influnenc over the agencies, or our influence over opinion.
Read this shit( Rennaker talking to Todd):
Todd: Why does your mail come back to me undeliverable? I will try again
and also send to cavers forum. Let me answer your questions and then bring
more opinions to the fore front. In the first paragraph you are absolutely
right you have plenty of air to breathe. My saying through my courses is "
Time is air, air is time." My watch doesn't mean anything to me underwater
(except deco and log book info), only the amount of air on my back to make
it to the surface is the only time you should be concerned with.
On the second paragraph you are again right in your atatement as
that this is not about gear configuration in the most direct sense. It is
about the buddy and your ability to respond and help as fast as possible in
an emergency.
on the third paragraph I agree with you again as your loved ones are
very important to you. Then you talk about all of the energy going to the
team and not being selfish with it. You are absolutely right, but in the
real world things happen and decisions have to be made which may determine
whether you live or die. Three occasions or maybe more people have faced
the ultimate decisions and one person or more die. So again I say you must
be prepared to take care of yourself through proper training, experience,
and awareness of your surroundings. I have been left in caves several times
and I have left one person myself this summer. In these instances my
buddies and I am aware of the caves and what can happen. In my class I
discuss real life instances of near accidents in the caves so my students
will start thinking in the "WHAT IF " MODE. I feel the what if mode is very
important in the ability of people to handle emergency's. Again the most
important attribute of a cave diver is the ability to THINK and REASON. I am
working on a list of "WHAT IFS" for a pass out to my students so they will
start thinking of the real hazards of cave diving.
The next paragraph is a fairy tale because this is what we want to
happen.
On the quest for self-sufficiency is the foundation for being a good
team member, I never said anything about not helping ar anything of that
nature. All I stated was you must remember to take care of yourself first,
remember also the critical air supply lecture and the reasons for, and then
you must start to exit the cave. This is most important with husband and
wife teams and they may stay to long and not start their exit soon enough.
Also do we not wear redundant gear, regulators, bc's, spare mask, at least 2
spare back-up lights, slate and tables, etc. for our buddy. This equipment
is for YOU, we can cave dive just fine in open water gear with the 7 foot
hose as long as your buddy is with you. The equipment is for self survival.
As for your last paragraphs, I feel I and an excellant buddy and
have assisted and possibly saved lives myself. Maybe as you say it is good
to talk about this as I can't believe people think that a buddy is the
ultimate life support system. One of my pass outs for classes comes from
the ALERT DIVER magazine in the March/April 1995 issue on page 19 is an
excellant article tilted "Don't Worry- I'll Take Care of You". I think it
explains, maybe better, what I've tried to communicate to you.
Again keep talking as this is how people learn. You do not have to
agree with me in any way, all I want is for you to be SAFE.
Bill Rennaker
--
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