Posted by Ken Kurtis on January 21, 2003 at 14:23:13:
In Reply to: I wanted to watch the fishies.... posted by seahunt on January 20, 2003 at 19:29:41:
Seahunt asked: "The point of this is to ask what your reaction would be if I emptied my tank intentionally for a somewhat valid reason, in an obviously pretty safe situation."
Well, let me reiterate that I think emptying your tank and putting yourself in an out-of-air situation is one of the most danegrous things you can do as a diver. To then add to that doing it deliberately and knowingly, I think makes it a very dumb choice as well.
I think my problem is that I consider the phrases "intentionally emptied my tank" and "valid reason" to be incompatible. I'm also troubled by "obviously pretty safe situation."
You can embolize in as little as four feet of water. You can drown in even less than that.
I don't care how skilled you think you (and I don't mean you personally, Seahunt, I mean "you" in a general sense) are or how "safe" you think your situation may be, the problem is that you're laboring under what could be the fatal assumption that absolutely nothing can go wrong and, if it does, you'll be able to get to the surface to get out of it.
Accident files and fatality reports are replete with comments from people who essentially say, "We thought this would be okay."
Not to beat this to death, but what's the argument that running out of air (which then either requires you to have a buddy nearby or to make a free ascent) is a better way to manage your dive than surfacing with even as little as 100psi?
Ken Kurtis
NAUI Instr. #5936
Co-owner, Reef Seekers Dive Co.
Beverly Hills, CA