Posted by MHK on October 09, 2001 at 09:45:14:
In Reply to: Which is better... (food for thought) posted by Bill Johnson on October 08, 2001 at 21:23:53:
Bill,
In my view the mindset is clearly much more important than the standardized gear configuration.. It seems to me that once you understand, appreciate and recognize the value of the mindset and the approach the gear configuration will fall in line. Moreover, a diver having the proper appreciation for the reduction of risk [ whether it be the solo, deep air and/or steel tank westuit issue] that we constantly debate, the general idea of the mindset is that you go in with a unified team approach, a common goal, a like mindset and the notion that we do all we can to reduce the odds of failure, we avoid reckless situations and we plan at the surface to avoid unncesesary risks..
By using the right gas for the job, by choosing a solid team member, by avoiding deep air and solo diving we stack the odds in our favor and the standardized gear configuration compliments the entirety of the mindset...
As for middle ground, I keep asking, why??? The holistic approach works and I've yet to see anyone advance anything else that makes diving safer and more efficient. Usually what I hear when I ask is that * I'm comfortable with the added risk* or some other such language. We choose to reduce risk, not add it and then worry about the probabilties of the added risk..
Later