Posted by MHK on September 08, 2000 at 16:15:11:
In Reply to: Just some thoughts on the same old topic posted by seahunt on September 08, 2000 at 13:08:25:
Seahunt ( and all others),
Part of my frustration with this group has been we waste entirely too much time on bullshit semantics. We put into play GENERIC discussions and then we waste valuable time debating what the meaning of solo is ( metaphorically speaking ).
We have a wide range of experience on this group and one of the sources of frustration that I have recently felt is that some of the less experienced divers are spending too much time parsing language than listening to the salient issues.
Most recently I have been concerned with respect to the 7 deaths that we have had in less than one year. To me that is very important and represents a trend that I would prefer to see end. Rather than discussing this issue I'm forced to waste time discussing the price of some bullshit piece of gear because my credibilty seems to be at issue. I am a very active diver and a very active poster to various scuba forums, I pride myself on my attention to SALIENT details. But rather than look at the totality of my experiences and the titality of my posts I have some divers uggesting that because I didn't know the price of a piece of gear that somehow I'm not credible. My point is that no matter how much a piece of junk costs it's IRRELEVANT to the discussion becuase it shouldn't be there in the first place.
That aside, I have also been accused of making up these 7 fatalities. Then when I describe ALL of these deaths, rather than hear a retraction or an apology I hear verbal gymnastics about the definition of solo.
Whether these deaths were poor buddy skills or planned solo isn't directly relevent to the issue. My point is that when the shit hits the fan a buddy is more than likely to save you, as opposed to being without one.
I have been VERY clear in that I don't believe a buddy will save your ass everytime, but the chances of surviving with a buddy versus without a buddy increase dramtically.
Nobody wants to address that specific issue, they want to conjugate verbs, they want to parse language, they want to accuse John Walker of being rude, they want to do ANYTHING other than discuss the salient facts.
If you look at everyone of these fatalities, and for the record I only sited 7 since January, I was unaware of the 8th incident off the side of the boat on the Encore a few weeks ago. But that aside, I would be helpful if ANY of the antagonsists wish to share there experiences??
Have they ever pulled a body from the ocean??
Have tey ever preformed CPR for hours waiting for the chopper??
Have they evey gotten sued simply because they were the DM and had insurance???
Have they ever had to console the wife, kids or the buddy that abondonded the victim??
All to often we placate divers in good times and then out of respect for the dead we don't discuss the facts at the time of death. Well after 8 deaths this year I'm feed up and I want to discuss the facts. I'm willing to deiscuss in a friendly fashion ( and my posting history supports this fact ), but when I'm challenged over some bullshit, irrelevant issues that challenge my integrity I'll respond accordingly.
So I ask for the umpteeth time, in light of the 8 deaths tha we have had does anyone want to defend the solo diving practice, and if so provide support for your position..
Later