Have you ever done anything on a dive that you KNEW you weren't supposed to?

[nimoh]

There's probably quite a few things I did that I wasnt supposed to do. Some I regret, some not so much haha.

The ones that come to mind right now are not really following through with buddy checks, specific dive plans with buddy, etc on early dives because my buddy was the DM/instructor. Somehow I've never had an instabuddy. I knew I should have checked everything, etc, but they didn't do the check, didn't ask and I guess I was embarrassed to say anything. Now looking back on it that's so stupid since either of our lives are at stake with equipment malfunctions and I should have pushed for safety no matter what.


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I have been on dives where an instabuddy would not do a proper buddy check, and so I tend to take a non-confrontational stance, and go through the motions checking myself, a visual check of my buddy while waiting to dive, and then ask them if their air is on just before getting in the water.

I agree it isn't as good as a proper check, but better than nothing.

 

[ssidiv3r]

I've done a number of things I knew I wasn't supposed to or shouldn't have done. First, as soon as I got a dive computer I pretty much ignored my dive tables and regularly exceeded the time limits in order to use up as much air from my tank as possible. The rationale; I had paid for the air fill and entrance fee so I might as well get as much time underwater as possible.

The second thing I did that I knew was wrong was during my first 130ft dive. It is the most significant mistake I have made when diving. I had my deep cert. and was diving with a group of 5 other people in a super dark quarry. Everyone basically ended up diving solo since everyone lost sight of each other below 30ft, and I did not have a pony bottle or doubles. At about 100ft my reg started free-flowing. Instead of ascending until it stopped I pushed on until I hit the bottom, then paddled around gradually going up. At about 50ft I finally got around to realizing that my air situation was up the creek. I managed to do a safety stop at 15 feet before surfacing with 100psi. The next person to surface came up a good 20 minute later. It was only after this dive that I found out my reg wasn't designed for cold water diving (which is why I sold it and upgraded to my current reg), but regardless I shouldn't have kept going when it was free-flowing. Why did I keep going? Probably because I wanted to finally be able to hit 130ft, and because it was a private quarry that the others had access to so I didn't know when I would get another chance to dive there.

Another "mistake" if you want to call it one was when I first got my dry suit. I really wanted to try it out so I went out for a dive before the dry suit class. The guy I dove with was a cave/tech diver with a lot of experience using dry suits so he kept an eye on me. We were diving in a rather shallow quarry and didn't go below about 45ft. My reasoning for using the suit before the class was that I would probably learn more by actually using the suit in a real environment rather than in a pool. As it was, the only thing I learned in the class was how to deal with a free-flowing inflator, which is kind of important to know especially during deeper dives when you don't want to shoot straight to the surface because you suit filled up like the Michelin Man.

The last thing I did that I knew I shouldn't involves techniques and gear. Specifically, while Dive Conning for classes I would use the frog kick even though my boss told me not too. I just hate using the flutter kick, and was able to get away with it because he was always at the front of the group of students while I was either beside or behind them. Additionally, I would wear my Dad's wrist computer during such dives, even though the shop didn't carry the brand and my boss only wanted me to wear gear that we actually sold. My reasoning for wearing it was that it provided the students and me with an added level of safety in case my other computer died, and it could serve as a learning tool to show students how different brands of computers will show different information based on the algorithm they use (i.e. more conservative vs. less conservative). Whenever possible I would also dive without a snorkel, even though I was required to wear one when diving with students, because it always seemed to get in the way and because I could do 2.5 dives with my tank compared to their 1, so I always had more than enough air in case anyone had problems.

Those are my diving sins. I still use two computers and leave the snorkel, but I won't do any dives deeper than 60ft until I get a pony (at least 30cf) or get doubles and some experience with valve drills.

 

[NE_SSI_Diver]

I have done some things that I shouldn't have on a couple of dives, but the one that sticks out in my mind was in Bonaire.

After 5 days of diving and about 18 hours in the water (some at night), I began to feel confident in my abilities as a Diver and was excitied to dive the Hilma Hooker. I have only been diving for one year, but I have cought on quickly and am up there (in terms of breathing rate and comfortability) with divers who have 500+ logged dives. So, On the last day of our trip we set out to dive the Hooker, My father and I circled the boat and reached a max depth of 95 feet. With only a year in the water this probably wasn't the smartest idea, but we surfaced with pleanty of air and were fine.

Little did I know that Junior divers (like myself) are not supposed to go below 60ft (I believe). So thats my story, nothing went wrong, but I was just deeper than I was certified to go.

 

[DevonDiver]

My list is endless... and not something for public dissemination... needless to say, I've kicked myself afterwards and ensured that I learnt lessons from the events, even where nothing went wrong (which was most instances... I'm still here, after all).

The most important lesson I learned was that I am, by nature, a bad decision maker when it comes to risk exposure and doing what I want, at the expense of caution. I try harder to guard against that now.

 

[acsomos]

TSandM, you ask how people convince themselves to do stuff they know they're not supposed to, what's their mindset.
My experience has always been with guided dives and divers, so I can only opine in this scenario.
What I see that either we don't really know we're not supposed to, or -more commonly- we trust the higher authority, ie DM or Instructor.
Example of the first: in some countries diving without a computer, just following the DM's profile, is the norm. Divers learn that way, and they don't realize it's dangerous (why? I'm not breaking any rules, I AM using a computer, it's just not on my wrist).
Example of the second: if the instructors takes me to 100 feet in a current on my first dive after certification, it must be ok. Maybe not in general, not by the book, but yes for me because I'm such a good diver. After all, the book is written for any and everyone, by some guy many years ago who hasn't seen me diving and hasn't assessed my particular situation, as my instructor has.
If someone is confronted by what the book (impersonal, generic) says vs. what the instructor says (personal, direct), most likely they'll follow the person, not the book.

 

[Dive the World]

Going inside a wreck - alone.

It was a small tug - there was no way I would get lost BUT anything could have happened.