Posted by JRM on April 17, 2001 at 10:36:57:
In Reply to: Re: More discouraging news about helium. posted by John Walker on April 17, 2001 at 09:35:24:
John, a sort of comment/ question for you...
You said that "freaked out or fear is not something you get when you have your head together". I agree with the first part. However, it's the fear part I'm interested in.
While I don't "tech", or aggressively dive yet, I do quite a bit of aggressive climbing and mountaineering. I'm going to draw some parallels between the two, because I feel there are some similarities...
I feel fear when climbing, especially the more aggressive or big stone stuff. I've been doing it since I was 15, and I still feel it. I like the fact I feel fear. If I was strung out 2500 ft up, and not scared, I think I'd be real concerned. I think that managable fear keeps an attitude of respect. I think the ocean is a lot like the mountain, when you stop respecting her she can reach up and kill you.
Do you think that any fear is detrimental to "technical" diving? Or are you referring to more of a "hysteria" than fear. I don't want to be seen as playing semantic games, but I'm curious about what it means for my diving future.
Thanks,
JRM