Dive Op Self Defense

[SteveFass]

quickley sized us up by asking how much weight we wore

What does this tell you about a person?

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

What does this tell you about a person?

Yeah.... I'm kind of curious about this, myself.

 

[DandyDon]

Yeah, that's a good one too... weighting. This was at Coco-view?

That one I'm missing? Weighting seems to vary a lot between divers, or you guys know something here?

I've never been asked for a logbook, never take it on trips, never had a single dive signed, haven't made an entry in a long time.

Kevins points above are really good ones. The c-card is a good indicator, but how many quarry experienced DMs you dived with that made you wonder...?

 

[diver 85]

I believe they have what is called a 'log book' which should be stamped and initialed by the dive shops and DM where and when one dives. Other than that I would think that you would have to belive what the diver tells you. I suppose that there are some leading questions which you could ask to get an idea if the guy is telling you the truth. A good reason to have them sign a waiver before they dive. In any case, I would imagine that I would be carrying a heavy insurance policy if I were in this business.

What if one dives on their 'own' without going thru a dive shop & your buddy is not a DM??...

 

[Fish_Whisperer]

I guess an experienced diver would have no hesitation in stating how much weight they needed, whereas, someone new, might be unsure, or hesitant in their reply....

 

[Scubakevdm]

What does this tell you about a person?

Weighting is the absolute #1 problem I see with newer divers. Generally, (and I blame the instructors for this) they are significantly overweighted untill they fully understand the relationship between their breathing and their bouyancy. As a diver becomes more experienced and more practiced with their bouyancy, they tend to shed a few pounds off of their belt. After you've weighted a thousand divers or so, you start to develop an eye for the kind of weight they need for their particular body type, and if they're diving with alot more than I think they need, I take a closer look at what's going on with them.

 

[zahner]

if you dive often and are familiar with the gear/conditions you ought to know how much weight you'll need without hesitation. i suppose this is used as a simple test of how recently someone has been diving.

 

[Meng_Tze]

I guess an experienced diver would have no hesitation in stating how much weight they needed, whereas, someone new, might be unsure, or hesitant in their reply....

I don't think it is experience that is the differentiator here............more like confidence. Over confidence can also give you a nice weight number.....

To me the weight question is relatively silly.

 

[Tom Winters]

I watched everybody like a hawk and never trusted any paper quals or verbal assurances as to dive skills. Until shown differently, I expected each and every one of them to screw up. So when the vast majority of them proved to be competent, I was always pleasantly surprised.
Statisically dealing with tens of thousands of clients, you're going to see every kind of idiot stunt you could every conjure up. Stupid stuff did not happen all that often, and when it did, you just had to be ready.
I never, ever wanted to have someone die, get bent, embolized on my watch - I saw it happen with pretty much every other op on Oahu. And, I never had anything serious happen in 11 years of charters.
I was very happy the day I sold off the dive business. It was still years after that before I could really dive for fun again. I still watch everybody like a hawk on my own boat, and I still gear everyone up. Old habits die hard.

 

[Diver Dennis]

If you are in the tropics wearing a shorty and ask for 20lbs. there may be a problem...