Posted by JR Gordon on September 21, 2000 at 19:55:00:
In Reply to: Re: Defining Buddy/Solo posted by kelphead on September 21, 2000 at 18:35:40:
Kelphead posted:
"in one particular case, i don't believe it's valid to take the highly experienced and very well known diver who past away recently (sorry, i can't remember his name right now) while using a home-made rebreather and lump all other experienced divers w/him."
You're right Kelphead, he was probably more stupid, self-centered, and ignorant than most. The selfish bastard had a loving wife and several young children, yet he choose to exercise his personal freedoms and play russian roulette with all of their collective lives. Hell, I was told that his death-trap rebreather "always" broke when he dove it, and that he almost always dove solo. A prominent boat captain in SD wouldn't let him dive off his charter anymore with that pile of crap. He told me the guy was a tech-diving Rambo, and that it was only a matter of time. He wouldn't allow that accident to occur on his watch.
So while I agree that it was his faulty equipment that ultimitely was the cause of his death, he might as well have written his own obituary when he "chose" to dive solo with that contraption. It's the attitude that ultimately will get you killed. It was attitude that killed that highly decorated rescue diver/paramedic last Sunday in an abandoned well in La Cresenta. As highly trained as he was, he lacked basic cave diving skills that are taught in intro-cave classes. Attitude took him down that road. Mike's simply been trying to educate us all, newbies and old timers(sorry Frank) to the hazzards that accompany attitude.
And please don't tell me about the successes of the old-timers. Many are dead, and all have had near-death experiences including me. Hopefully, we learn and live to pass on the benefit of those experiences. The old timers of diving were a very small, select group of tough and dedicated adventures. They were not what we see in scuba classes today. Frank, an experienced wrecker like yourself knows this and should set a better example online. Instead of championing your exploits as a solo diver, I suggest you consider the impact your cavalier posts may have on an inexperienced newbie reading this forum. How you dive is most likely not going to change from discussions on this forum, but consider the possible consequences to those reading your posts.
JR Gordon