Posted by seahunt on August 10, 2000 at 15:06:42:
In Reply to: Re: ARRRGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now it's off limits... posted by SigXBill on August 10, 2000 at 13:12:07:
You've got to understand that this discussion is
not about dive practices and never has been. It's
about attitudes and personalities.
Look at your phraseology -
'diving inside the Yukon'
'use of a nitrox cert is ideal'
That sounds quite reasonable, but that is not what
has been said up to this point. It has been more
along the line of -
'diving the Yukon at all'
'must use NITROX'
I can go with what you have said with no
problem, but that is not what is being pushed
here by Michael.
.
Ya know, this issue here isn't what we are talking about.
First off, this is like the gun issue. If you ban
guns, you won't stop criminals from having them. If
you make regulations about the wreck diving, you wont
substantially reduce deaths on them, because the truely
stupid people that will get themselves killed,
will ignore the regulations anyway.
I have very minimal interest in wrecks (though the
Ruby E is remarkably beautiful). I've visited a few
of them and had little interest in going inside
them.
A while ago, a poster stated that a diver should
never go any place new without a guide that was
already familiar with the location. I replied that
the greatest fun of diving for me was exploration
of new places.
We are just different people with different
personalities and desires. The other difference is
that I don't want to regulate other people. That
other personality is the type that wants to and
that believes it is the right thing to do.
I won't guess who is more neurotic and neither will I
allow them to tell me I am wrong without telling them
that they are wrong.
.
Some people might not like it, but for 25 years,
my only formal scuba training was a 20 hour class
that got me a Begining SCUBA Diver cert. But I
don't think that that tells the whole story. I
learn better from books and experience than I do
from classes. Most instructors do far less diving
than I did. In the first two years after certification,
I spent about 1000 hours free diving and did about
6 tanks a week. Not only that, but the diving I
like is more challenging than most diving that other
divers ever do. Many divers visiting the San Mateo
coast would simply not be able to dive it, but it
was my playground for years. Then I spent many more
years at Nic. And almost all these dives were made
solo. Through this time I have developed a great
knowledge of scuba (and weather) through experience,
reading and discussion.
I can honestly claim to be a far more highly skilled
and experienced diver than most, but that does not
make me feel like I should tell anyone else how to
dive. I may warn them of things like a vertical surge,
but it's up to them to listen.
If I ever do get an interest in overhead environments,
I am more likely to want to learn about it by
reading and conversation with other divers than by
taking a class. I took a NITROX class, but by the time
I did, it was just a formality. I learned far more
than the class covered, before I ever took
it. People are different.
Everything in these discussions has been in such
generalities that it is meaningless, because it is
not about diving practices, it is about
personalities.
I am quite aware of the gates in Florida and how they
came to be there. I read a great deal. You are talking
about another world of diving and another time. Also
sometimes, some really stupid people.
Caves have got to be the most indirectly dangerous
kind of diving there is, only surpassed by excessive
depth. The development of advanced procedures for that
type of diving was just something that came with
time and are quite appropriate, but complaining about
old diving techniques is like complaining about
shooting the buffalo.
It is not about certification levels, it is about
a person knowing their limitations. In 30 years of
diving I have never needed a rescue or even an
assist. I know my limitations well and resent
anyone that thinks they know them better than
me.
Enjoy the diving, seahunt