Posted by MHK on September 21, 2000 at 10:12:39:
In Reply to: Defining Buddy/Solo posted by Ken Kurtis on September 20, 2000 at 20:54:16:
Posted by Ken Kurtis on September 20, 2000 at 20:54:16:
I don't agree with Michael that if you lose your buddy, you are now a solo diver. I think you're a buddyless diver
Has Bill Clinton joined this list??? Who cares if you call yourself a solo diver or a buddyless diver??? The facts are that if you need help whether you call yourself solo or buddyless, there isn't anyone around to help....
All you guys continue to torture the definition of solo all you want, but what it boils down to is that during a given period of a dive, while underwater, if something happens that may require the assistance of another individual is that person there or not????
These threads have gotten so ridiculously stupid and people are making some of the dumbest arguements I have ever heard of. There is discussion about buddies being more dangerous than solo, there is variant definitions of what solo is, and there have been some of the most stubborn ideas all designed to reduce the number of deaths attributable to solo efforts in the name of safety..
You now have EINS jumping for joy because Ken came up with a definition that reduces the number of deaths from 8 to 3. Let me give you guys a clue, the family memebers could care less if you said he was solo or buddyless, the person is still dead....
Ken, I appreciate that you thought it might be helpful to provide a definition but I'd like to offer up my own definition of solo, intent notwithstanding..
If you are underwater without anyone else available to help should an emergency arise, you are solo... How or why you are solo is irrelevant because if you need help and can't get it you aren't likely to survive to worry about how or why you arrived buddyless...
Speaking of intent, if you get shot in the head by a person who didn't think the gun was loaded he would likely get charged with manslaughter because he didn't *intend* to kill you, but would you care if he didn't have the requisite intent??? You would be dead just the same as if he intentionally held the gun to your head...
This pattern of parsing language and soft soaping salient issues is disturbing and has no place in scuba diving. You either accept the premise of being alone underwater or you don't...
Later