Posted by seahunt on September 08, 2000 at 13:08:25:
With all the discussion, a couple of things become clear and
I feel comfortable that I understand what people are saying
here. As such, I can extrapolate a little bit and make an
observation or two. I admit up front that I am really mostly
illustrating some problems that I forsee, though some like
the requirement for more complete diver training, I might not
mind seeing.
There seems to be only a few issues here that are being promoted.
They are Gear Configuration, Mixed Gas for "deep diving", Dive
with a Buddy and more comprehensive training.
Individually, these are all good as suggestions, but think about
the cost and problems if they were enforced (and enforcable) or
even voluntarily practiced.
Diving would become more expensive at many levels especially for
divers or business entering the sport. Cost would prevent many people
from ever becoming divers, including me when I took up the sport.
(at 15, I spent $20 on a wetsuit, tank and 2 hose regulator). If
you plan on doing any NITROX or mixed gas, the price keeps going up,
especially for businesses. The more extensive training would have the
same effect of discouraging divers from starting.
Really, the DIR gear configuration is probably the easiest issue
here. It too would up costs some, but less so than the other
issues.
As for buddy diving, what is being suggested is that you dive only
when it is with a fairly competent diver that you have good
communication ability with. Aside from how the diver got competent
and good at communication in the first place, this really suggests a
regular buddy that you have practiced communication with and know each
others diving style. The problem of getting a regular long term buddy
is one of the reasons I don't buddy dive. I read the posts by MHK,
tleemey and am struck by how much confidence they have in their buddys. Then Mike Meagher's post clarifies this. Apparently these people represent a very small tight knit group of very dedicated long time divers... I'd love to hear more of their experiences..., but that kind of a group is extrememly rare and actually illustrates how difficult it is to solve the problem of a competent regular buddy that you can get together to dive with and rely on. If only people that devoted were divers, there would be very few divers indeed.
.
Another thought: In the entire San Diego area, there is (to the best
of my knowledge) only one shop with NITROX. The Lois Ann with NITROX
aboard is almost an anomalie. Using exclusively NITROX on the Yukon
would really present a problem. It's not really easy to
get.
.
Like I say, really the cost issue would be a problem, but the buddy
issue (regardless of my opinion of it) and training beginning divers,
would be the hardests problem to resolve. I suspect that if these
policies were enforced, the diver population would be tiny compared
to what it presently is. I really can't say if that would be so
terrible. Still, diving in California was mostly pioneered by hunters
and these methods, if enforced would have heavily excluded the real
pioneers.
Enjoy the diving, seahunt
PS. I always like to know where my opinions come from and it is obvious that I hold strong opinions about diving and buddies, so I do like to know where those opinions come from. Why do I feel so comfortable in the water that I claim it is like a walk in the park for me? I recognize that it has to do with shore diving. While shore diving, especially up north, I have gotten in such difficult and deadly situations of a kind that a buddy cannot help me with (they are busy trying to save themselves) that my mind does not worry as much about problems that a buddy could perhaps help me with. I guess, survival in certain hostile conditions like that can give you a good deal of confidence in yourself as a diver. You do know for a fact that you will never panic. You have been tested and passed... whatever