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At 07:25 PM 20/9/99 +0100, innes@di*.pi*.co* wrote: >You miss the point.. > >I am frustated by the rudeness and arrogance of some (not all) in Florida. > >The best way to make a point is through constructive dialogue. > >Sadly the DIR group appear to be more like wild-eyed fanatics to me. They >rant, swear, intimidate, bully and insult on a regular basis. These people >(your fellow countrymen) shame our sport. > >As for your comments. The Christmas tree diving thing is a common trait in >UK diving. However, our diving conditions are VERY different from yours. Innes - there you go again. The usual bankrupt argument. Your diving conditions are not that different to ours. You've got cold water? We've got cold water. You've got poor visibility, we've got poor visibility. You have big tides. We have big tides. You've got currents. We've got currents. You have nasty short steep seas on a long swell. We have short steep seas on a long swell. You dive from small boats offshore, we dive from small boats affshore. And I've seen our weather turn and blow-up nastier and faster than any weather I saw in all my years in Britain. And even if your conditions were somehow different to ours, tell me why that wouldn't INCREASE your need for a simpler, safer, more effective, more streamlined rig? >Systems have evolved in different places for different reasons. What looks >silly in one setting, does not in another. Innes. The Lusitania 99 divers' configurations look silly ANYWHERE. There are divers from Scandinavia to the Pacific Islands, Africa, the Americas, Asia and Australasia who dive in a bigger range of more extreme conditions than British divers. Guess what? A single well thought out, intelligently integrated, low profile system has major advantages in all those different conditions, leaving the diver more flexible, more mobile, more capable, less pre-occupied with the equipment when diving, and more able to respond to emergencies and actively help buddies and him/herself. The British 'Christmas-Tree' diver is way behind on the evolutionary path. You guys look like amateur tinkerers. And just because the developments in configuration came from the US, some of you poor old Brits have got your knickers in a twist and can't stand it. That good old British pride makes you guys dive looking like junkyard refugees. I've just finished reading a book called the Psychology of Military Incompetence. It's full of examples of the same stubborn British pride; the same astonishing ability to ignore reality. >As a case in point, the UK DIR mob are doing 20 minute bottom times on >wrecks - in open water , using torches and scooters that can run for hours? They get more dives between charges. I dive with a light cannister that lasts from two hours to 20 minutes, depending which bulbs I use in it. So? Far from being a burden, the belt-mounted cannister light is compact, streamlined, adds no discernible resistance to swimming, and serves double duty as ballast. And is your only problem with the Gavins the long running times? Or the fact that they were "Not Invented Here" Tell you what - they wouldn't run for so long if they had to tow the typical over- rigged Pommy wreck diver. >Where is the logic in that? THEY are over burdoned with equipment, which >wasnt even designed for the environment it is being used in. YET they still >think they are doing it right........ "THEY are overburdened...." Ha! Wot a larf! Now tell us what you think about the Lusitania 99 equipment - five tanks on a backplate? How about double bungeed wings? How about the sling cylinders with reels clipped off to them. The long-bodied ride-on Aquazep. Haa!! And the whole bizzare mess topped off with valve cages! >Arrogance may well kill them in the >end....But at least they go to their graves believing they were doing it >right.. Let me see if I've got this straight. They are arrogant because they dive efficient, compact, streamlined gear configurations? They will die because their equipment is safer than that of the overburdened mobile scrapyard style of diver? > >I dived the Lusitania on one of Polly expeds..It was a great honour. I have >dived the Doria (twice) and was on Britannic98..Great times.. Good on ya! Hope you enjoy many more great times. I'm envious. Those are superb wrecks. All the best. rgrds billyw -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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