Mailing List Archive Mailing List Archive
And you said . . . >We certainly do not need your pity. I was glad to know Tony, he helped >me out more than once while kitting up on the boat, pointing out things >that were not right and helping me sort it out. It is a real loss he is >gone and I will miss him. I am very comfortable with the fact that he >was an intelligent, very capable diver who didn't need me jamming "my >way or the highway" down his throat. Let me ask you this (especially >with regard to his weight which you seem to focus on): How do you speak, >in person, to capable diver and great guy about his "health" (and how >"forcefully") without sounding like an even bigger asshole than you do >when I read what you wrote? Once you have him looking good and >configured right do you then move on to his belief in Jesus or Buddha? >Get real. His "health" had zip to do with this. Except for the weight >belt, his rig was ok too, and nothing to do with this. > >Yes its a real shame that he died of simple mistakes and no one, not >even himself, caught them. We all do need to learn from this. Lets look >at the real issues. As Irvine likes to quote Parker: basics keep you >alive. This is the lesson here. Test your bouyancy when you make changes >to your config (like dropping the drysuit for a skin) before you are in >open water. And do a predive check of your equipment and prebreathe >right before every dive. I can't comment of what kind of person Tony was, in fact, I make no mention of his personality or who loved him because I have no info about it and that is simply not relevant to this discussion. If he was a great and well-loved guy then the loss is even more absurd and pointless. If he was an asshole would it somehow be more OK to criticize his technique? I agree that we all make mistakes, but there appears to be a laundry-list of mistakes here, some of which I have also made and that most of us have made at one time or another. You say "let's look at the real issues," but then you cite platitudes. Well, let's look at them. I can only go by the account that was posted and which no one seems to dispute: He was already negative by just the double steel cylinders. I have tried to imagine a scenario by which I decide I need a weight belt with double steel cylinders and just cannot. If you have an answer to that one I'd be interested in hearing it. Add to that problem the weight belt being made unditchable by being clipped inside his crotch strap. Add to that his power inflator not being connected. Add to that his air being turned off when he entered the water. Add to that he failed to do any sort of buddy check. We don't need to discuss body fat to shake our heads at this pointless death. Taken alone, each of these are probably not fatal, but any one _could_ be. Taken together it is evidence of a careless diver, maybe not most of the time, maybe it was just this one time, but once was enough. Your friend is dead and I suggested that his actions were stupid, so you call me an asshole and refuse my pity. Well, pity was a poor choice of words. What I meant to convey was that I feel bad for his friends and his family and for him. I have had some deaths in my life recently and there is nothing to match the pain of loss, so I am truly sorry for your loss. But because I understand the loss does not mean I have to ignore the cause. Sheck Exley wrote a small book in 1979 that contained example after example of divers who died or nearly died and in it he analyzed those mistakes in detail. He looked at every one closely and dispassionately, making judgments about each. One diver used "poor planning," another "hardly did anything right," and he remarks about, "the ignorance of these two novices." We have to do these analysis dispassionately and forcefully. Maybe someone will read about Tony and take an extra minute to check his air or pre-check his gear or consider his rig more closely or be a little less anxious to get wet and a lot more anxious to stay alive. Tony may still do someone a great favor, but it won't have anything to do with how great a guy he was. As for Tony's weight, I don't think that everyone can safely be a technical diver. How would I speak to Tony about his weight? Just say it. Maybe he listens maybe not. If you love and respect the guy, you will say it. If you think it's OK to do serious tech dives in an out of shape and overweight condition, fine, or if you could just give a shit, then be polite. But that's me, not everyone feels that way. Isn't is just possible that his weight and condition became an issue as he struggled to turn his valves on or doff his rig or shed an entangled weight belt? I can't see being polite when a senseless death occurs. Find the cause and talk about it. Not, "Let's all work on the basics." But this diver died because.... When I started cave diving in 1990 there hadn't been any deaths of a certified cave diver in nearly 8 years. I read Exley's book and thought, man! I can see every one of these mistakes and if I never make these same mistakes, chances are, I'll stay alive. But in the interceding years there have been several stupid deaths. In some cases there have also been efforts made to cover up or gloss over the real causes of death. This is the worst stupidity of all. I don't see the same passion for Accident Analysis that once existed. I hear lots of excuses and a hedging of bets and a concern over business interests, and in some quarters I even see a degraded passion for safety and for the welfare of divers. Tech diving is still an advanced, dangerous activity that requires good physical and mental conditioning and a lot of training and experience. If I die while diving, making these or other obvious mistakes, I'm SURE that my dive buddies are gonna stand over the site and look down sadly and say, "You dumb sonofabitch!"... and I, on the "other side," with a stupid look on my face will shake my head and say, "No shit!" Experience is the great teacher, but not everyone is ready for the lesson. I'm sorry about your friend, I hope we can learn something from it. Later, JoeL -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
Navigate by Author:
[Previous]
[Next]
[Author Search Index]
Navigate by Subject:
[Previous]
[Next]
[Subject Search Index]
[Send Reply] [Send Message with New Topic]
[Search Selection] [Mailing List Home] [Home]