"Guided" 200' dive with a single AL80?

[LIVES4SHARKS]

This was posted on The Deco Stop. It seems it is from one of the divers.
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It's all BS

He's at 70', This guy is as nontech as you can get. He's also a real idiot face to face. He claims that he's a GUE instructor. WTF???

Gary

PS: Had to join this board after I heard that he posted our dives here.
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Regardless, this "COWBOY DIVING" mentality is what gets people hurt. What's worse, is that divers paid for this risk. The question is, was this dive completely discussed in the predive brief? Having an OOA situation on deco proved that there was no gas management or dive plan.

The whole story seems flawed in so many ways, and thanks for posting so that we all know who NOT dive with! BTW...No shark is worth getting bent or killed over.

Happy diving Safely,
Carolyn:sharks:
PS I read this in his blog on his site, what a hoot!
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Back in the boat, I told my fellow “shark hunters” that you can pay to dive where they bait the sharks in and it’s dangerous to the guest divers. But to see one out here in the wild just swim up outta the blue…well that’s priceless!
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WHATEVER MAN! At least I won't die from getting bent or OOA like on your dives. BTW there are alot of dives I have done within my limits where these beauties have come up out of the blue. I would like to live to tell about it. Thanks!

 

[PlayaCountryBoy]

This was posted on The Deco Stop. It seems it is from one of the divers.
___________________________________________________
It's all BS

He's at 70', This guy is as nontech as you can get. He's also a real idiot face to face. He claims that he's a GUE instructor. WTF???

Gary

PS: Had to join this board after I heard that he posted our dives here.
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There was no Gary on the boat. There's no Gary in the video. Who is Gary? What is GUE? This guy has never met me or dove with me I assure you.

 

[STOGEY]

There is nothing brave about taking single tank AL80 divers down on deep air dives.

"It's guys like he that push the limits"

I'm sorry but those limits have already been pushed - to death - no pun intended, I for one will take the knowledge gained by the deaths - and near misses - of those before me and try to make my dives as safe as possible.

Maybe I'm a wimp

In my opinion to totally ignore the lessons of the "true" explorers of this sport is like allowing the ones that didnt' make it to die without gain to the community and a slap to the face of thsoe who made it and tried to educate others.

I'll be the first to stand up and say I'm too much of a wimp to dive air to 200 feet on a single aluminum 80, or even 160 for that matter. I'll stick with my safer 3,000 foot cave penetrations thank you.

It's just like what they say about dec and playing by the rules. Even if everyone pays strict attention to their limits, They still could have a dcs problem. So why not on the other end of the spectrum a person that doesn't play exactly by the rules may not have dcs?

 

[Jimmer]

It's just like what they say about dec and playing by the rules. Even if everyone pays strict attention to their limits, They still could have a dcs problem. So why not on the other end of the spectrum a person that doesn't play exactly by the rules may not have dcs?

But that's EXACTLY a reason to play by the rules. If you can get bent doing everything right, and following all protocol, why in the world would you ever want to ignore those rules, and place yourself square on the tracks of an approaching train full of DCS?

To me that's the equivalent of a race car diver saying "well I might still die if I have a bad crash, so why waste my time with seatbelts and helmets?"

 

[Rainer]

It's just like what they say about dec and playing by the rules. Even if everyone pays strict attention to their limits, They still could have a dcs problem. So why not on the other end of the spectrum a person that doesn't play exactly by the rules may not have dcs?

Sorry, but your credibility for what constitutes "smart" diving is really rather suspect:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/new-england-lobsta-divahs/200669-finally-i-did-poling.html

 

[Netsloth]

But..if it makes you all feel better...I won't do that dive ever again.

What would make me feel better is to know that you weren't in a position to "guide" anyone to their death.

 

[deepblueme]

To me the stupid part (not just the dive) was when she swam to the other air source...
Why did you not escort her???? just in case....

And another Dive proffesional heard from.

 

[Cave Diver]

This excerpt from your own website makes it seem as if they were right there next to you:



Only used one tank? Were ya'll isolating your doubles? If so, for what purpose?

I personally don't care if you do dives that are at the very least, questionable. I do however, object to you glorifying this type if irresponsible diving to someone else that might not know any better by posting it here and other places like this: The Deco Stop

The first video lists three "guest divers." Was one of these divers also the instructor with doubles?

What is your screening process?

If it IS dangerous, why don't your "guest divers" have "redundant everything" as well?

It is TOTALLY different than deep cave penetration. I don't know of any cave instructor that takes untrained divers on deep cave dives, especially without everyone wearing the proper equipment. In fact, the "Golden Rules of Accident Analysis" include:

Training (appropriate for the dive)
Air (Gas supply with sufficient reserve for the dive carried by each diver)
Depth (not exceeding the depth they are trained/experienced for)

I personally find it a bit reckless to post things that encourage this type of diving behavior and make it seem as if it's "ok" as long as you're with a guide.

To each their own I guess.

I would still like to see an answer to the questions I asked (in bold) above in the two threads that are currently ongoing regarding this dive.

 

[BarryNL]

I think some of the problem here lies not with the chap that did this dive, but with those who are reading about it. It's guys like he that push the limits that really set the boundaries of what the rest of us do. So maybe some people here are just a little jealous that this guy had the nutts to do this.

Dumbest dive possible is not a boundary I want to go pushing. He's welcome to it.

My opinion is that since certified instructors were on this dive they should have understood how a dive can be completed without having to share air or any other breathing gas.

Instructor training is no substitute for tech dive training. It seems to be an all too common mistake for some instructors to think it is.

 

[Cave Diver]

Instructor training is no substitute for tech dive training. It seems to be an all too common mistake for some instructors to think it is.

I've seen many instances of the "it's okay, I'm an instructor" mentality. I'm just a lowly DM, because I'm selfish and would rather dive than teach others to. But I've had extensive training, exposure and experience in tech oriented dives and I'm constantly amazed at some of the stuff I hear dive professionals spout off at dive sites.

I did one dive recently (recreational) in my doubles and it was pointed out to me that I had just enough gas to get myself seriously bent and that I'd be better off doing it in a single AL80 so I wouldn't have time to build up a deco obligation.