Do you ever break the rules?

[TSandM]

My 10th dive was to 130 feet, following an instructor. I had done AOW, so technically, 100 feet was "okay". Why did I break the rules? Because I was following an instructor. Up to that time, ALL my diving had been following an instructor, and I did what I was told. I also had none of the knowledge needed to realize what I was doing was really unwise (no redundancy, 130 feet on an Al80).

This is one of the things I often say: We all have to make risk assessment in this sport, and everybody's going to determine the level of risk they're willing to assume differently. What's important to me is that people make those determinations with enough information to make them reasonably. Too many people take risks when they don't even really know what they are.

In general, I don't break many rules. I have been known to bend a few until they squealed, though . . . That's why Peter has a Cave 1 reel

 

[adurso]

When I started diving there were just a couple of rules:

Do not hold your breath
Do not ascend faster than your bubbles
When it gets hard to breathe pull the wire and come up

I have not violated any of these rules recently

 

[mkutyna]

Ah yes ... that one. Ironic that I have issued many drysuit diver c-cards, but I have never owned one. I learned drysuit diving by going out with experienced dive buddies. Never took the class, never got the card ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

When I took my instructor class, my trainer asked me to look in the S&P's and find a class that I was surprised that I'd be allowed to teach immediately after becoming an instructor. I chose the dry suit specialty because I had never touched one let alone dove with one. I'm certainly not going to offer to teach a drysuit specialty even though I'm allowed to teach it according to NAUI.

I guess it's things like that that make me look at agency standards more as guidelines than rules. Sure, certain standards such as instructor-student ratios I will not come close to breaking but some of the standards are written in a catch-all manner that can't apply in certain situations. Maybe it is overconfidence but I feel that if I limit myself to no more than one new aspect of diving (going deeper than before, new location, new gear configuration, etc) per dive, then I should have the capability to handle that new element without too much undue stress.

Sometimes it is impossible to limit myself to one new aspect like when I dove Catalina Island for the first time. My first time in a 2 piece 7 mil suit, first time in water colder than 70 degrees, first time in that location, etc. In cases like that, I severely limit the things I am comfortable with such as depth and dive time. It's all a balancing act I guess.

 

[Splash-X]

Well, yes ... to a degree. However, when I'm representing the agency (as in when I'm teaching a class), it's incumbant upon me to represent the agency by following their rules ... however I may disagree with them. Some NAUI instructors here ... one in particular ... take great exception to me diving solo even when I'm not teaching, because they believe that it sends a message to less experienced divers that the rules don't matter. I disagree with them ... but I also see their point, at a certain level.

Bob,

I see your position, between a rock and a hard place. The other instructor is partialy right, teaching and leading by example are important, anything a student sees you doing they want to do. That doesn't make them completly right either.

I also agree that you, as a diver, have the right to dive how you want. There has to be some balance, which you seem to have, between doing what an agency expects and diving for yourself.

On a dive boat with no one you know? Dive solo if you want. Diving on a boat with one of your past students on board? I would hope that the balance would shift back to diving with a buddy to keep the "teaching/leading by example" in scope but it doesn't have to. That is where your personal judgment comes in to play.




The rule I volate the most would have to be not touching the marine life. Often I swim up to a small crab or shrimp and hold out my finger and let them climb on. I don't swim away with them but I let them have their (and my) fun for a minute or two and set them back down.

 

[deco_martini]

The Coz thread was highly derailed. It was about a diver (who happened to be an instructor) flagrantly ignoring a divemaster trying to enforce local marine park rules.

I've been to coz a few times, and I always carry gloves in a BC pocket. Sometimes I put them on after I am in the water (especially on the night dives). However, if a DM saw me with the gloves on the boat and asked me to remove them, I would.

The coz thread wasn't about bending the rules. It was really about disrespecting the poor DM who can't turn the boat around and upset all the other paying customers. That just got lost with all the macho "take my knife out of my cold dead hand Jack!" talk.

 

[RonFrank]

About the only rule I break is that I don't dive with dive flags in SOME areas where they are mandated. I do so because the area I do this in is marked as a dive zone/no boats, and IMO a dive flag is rather pointless in such a place, and also a bit of a chore to tow around. Other area's like LBTS, we routinely use the flags as that is open water, and I understand the need for a flag.

Another rule I have broken is the no deco rule. Not often, in fact only a couple of times, but I have incurred a deco obligation during a rec dive on a couple of occasions. I am not trained for deco diving. OTOH, I understand deco procedures, and if I do go into deco, I complete the necessary stops and go on with life.

I also have done a bit of solo diving. I generally carry a pony (19CF), so I am equipped to dive solo, and honestly diving solo IMO is preferable vs. diving with an inexperienced buddy. I also do photography, so that is another reason I have done some solo diving.

Overall I follow safe dive practices, and that is the bottom line. When I break rules it's more about what works best for me in a given situation, but that does not mean I routinely put myself in danger, or ignore safe dive practices.

 

[dkktsunami]

I solo dive also but am comfortable and safety minded, and taught myself slowly. I do follow boat rules as I am instructed and don't disturb the wildlife. I suppose on occasion I have had a beer with lunch but, hey, you've got to have priorities, and this would have been before a warm water recreational dive.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I made close to 300 dives before going below 60 feet or diving solo. I followed the rules my OW instructor drilled into me. I later began meeting other mentors who showed me the ropes. I still enjoy a solo dive every now and then, and some of my best video was made below 200 feet without any technical training from an agency. Not having a boat has cut down on my deep diving, but I always enjoyed seeing animals and plants that most others will never see.

 

[fisheater]

My confessions (so far):

- diving solo. First time I did it, I'd hoped to buddy up, but I was the only tank diver. Everyone else was freediving for abs. It was dive solo or go home. I limited myself to 30' (no pony then and I figered I could reliably CESA from 30' if I had a sudden loss of air and I decided to stay out of the kelp so I couldn't possible get entangled. Vis was only two inches beyond my outstreched hands, but I knew where I was the entire dive and had a great time. A buddy would been a problem to keep track of and I couldn't have had such long staring contest with that lingcod. (I lost.). Since then, I've set up a pony (19cf) for when I dive solo.

- I once dove nitrox, though I'm not yet certified for voodoo gas. Dive did me favor and filled my tank, but with 32%. I know that I "should have" called the dive, but I knew the MOD and we weren't going anywhere near deep that dive (max 35' doing reef surveys).

- I routinely hold my breath near the bottom while taking photos. I make sure that I'm in no danger of inadvertently ascending, though.
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[Peter Guy]

The dive flag is a rule I break all the time -- and it is even an honest to god Law!

Most other rules? Bend perhaps but "break" -- not so much -- except of course when I do (solo dives being one of them -- but my solo diving relates primarily to diving classes -- go figure).