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Stubbornness, the desire to make (or save) a buck, lack of common sense, etc. are what is killing divers. The boats don't /can't turn away divers because they need to make ends meet. It's unfortunate that more boats weren't stricter with their policy. Many of the boats that charter "tech" trips know nothing about "tech diving". I know quite a few great Capts. that don't tech dive...they look at TRIMIX as if it was voodoo gas or some other magical mixture, but they are still great Capts. The boats like the Grateful Diver, that are well known for tech, make their policy known and fill up anyway. BUT there will always be a group of divers who adhere to personal preference, diving stroked out rigs because a) they are too cheap to buy new/correct gear b) they don't know better c) their friends all dive that way d) they know better then everyone (stubborn) e) they don't give a shit They will go to the boats that run regardless of what you wear...and there are quite a few. It never ceases to amaze me what I see on some of the tech trips we go on. I once saw guys Duck Tape pony bottles to their singles on a trip to the Hydro. It's testimony to SCUBA equipment's safety level that we don't have more deaths. People can do stupid shit, and still get away with it. DIR is a fairly new concept...most of us were diving the stroke gear that we now slam just a few short years ago. Hell, I have a closet full of stuff I used to use for my deep air dives, that I shudder to look at! It will take awhile...and a few divers will die as a result, but a change will come. OR tech diving will come under some bullshit state or federal regulation (OHSA?) and become prohibitive by cost or penalty. As companies like Halcyon and Scubapro come out with DIR stuff, and more and more folks will dive DIR and there will be more pressure on those diving tech with weaker gear to switch. The other thing we need to do is line up and shoot all the lawyers...slowly, so they hurt, really, really bad. Just kidding (a bit at least) :-) Sean -----Original Message----- From: Dan Volker <dlv@ga*.ne*> To: Techdiver <techdiver@aquanaut.com> Cc: Bill Mee <wwm@sa*.ne*>; Kirvine <kirvine@sa*.ne*> Date: Thursday, July 08, 1999 3:10 PM Subject: Ultimate Stupidity in tech diving--Personal Preference and Kevorkian Dive Boats >In Skiing you have a Ski or Safety Patrol. If they see a skier with bear >trap bindings on, his "ski pass" is removed, he is NOT allowed to ski. If a >skier attempts to ski down avalanche slopes or other dangerous areas, they >get ejected from the slope. And skiing has no where near the danger >potential of tech diving. >In tech diving, when a diver gears up and places his weight belt under his >harness, stuffs his hose, mixes steel doubles with a wet suit, essentially >tries to ski with "bear traps", the dive master and captain tend to allow >this personal preference. If the boat was sitting in 600 feet of water and a >moron decided to bounce the bottom on deep air, many tech boats would allow >it. Brains and tech diving are often unrelated. For tech diving to have a >future, this has to change. > >In adventure sports attempting to cater to large chunks of the general >population ( rock climbing & mountain climbing, skiing, whitewater kayaking, >skydiving, acrobatic flying, etc.) absence of a person to prevent terminal >stupidity in each outing is equivalent to assisted suicide. The dive boat >that thinks they can be no more than a taxi service for a tech diving crowd, >is destined to kill. The captains and crew that think these deaths are OK, >need to viewed in this light ( as Kevorkians ) >I'm not talking about handholding on tech dives, I'm talking VERY BASIC >common sense issues like the examples above. Examples we hear about all to >often. > >Dan Volker > > > > >-- >Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. >Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'. -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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