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I'm new to this group, but I'd like to respond to the statement made (in this
group, and by other divers) that "real" tech divers are those who have had
the sh*t scared out of them at least twice in their diving careers - 

While on a shoot in the Galapagos, my friend (who shall remain nameless,
since he knows who he is, and also knows that he's a pillow biter...) and I
were having a discussion regarding my upcoming purchase of a CCR-155
rebreather.  He told me that before I made that move into the highly
technical world of rebreather diving, I needed to have handled a "couple" of
emergency situations during dives.  The next day, my wife, who is a
relatively good diver, though not as experienced as me, had an out of air
emergency in about 80 feet of water (we were diving in a current, and she was
scared, she sucked herself down to 200 psi while I still had 1200).  Sensing
her plight, and nearly sh*tting my suit when I took a look at her gauge, I
immediately gave her my octo, which she placed totally upside down in her
mouth.  As soon as I saw sea water flowing into her mouth, a little voice in
my head said "time to bail", and I immediately locked our forearms, inflated
the old b.c. and took her to the top (better a bent diver, than a dead diver,
I always say...).  As soon as I got her to the surface (coughing and hacking
from inhaling water), I summoned the boat, which picked her up in record
time.  It being my 3rd dive (and only her first) I got her on the boat, and
immediately descended to burn up my residual air in deco at 40, 25, and 15
feet respectively.  She turned out to be fine, no bends, and I was fine too
(more pissed off at her than anything else).  The point I'm making is that
that experience TO THIS DAY has done NOTHING to make me feel more like a guy
who is properly prepared for "tech" diving.  Frankly, I could really be happy
if I never have to go through that again.  No matter how "experienced" you
are, and emergency situation will be handled by you based solely upon your
intelligence and ability to remain calm.  And if someone says "well, I'm more
experienced, 'cause I've been in 100 diving emergencies" I'm gonna stay away
from that bozo like nuclear waste.

Anyway, my CCR-155 arrives next month.  I hope it dives as smooth as all the
other dives I've had since I was 17...

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