Hey Hoover ~ Did you ruin someone's dive?

[jbd]

"Hoovers" tend to be fresh out of OW, and you can't expect them to dive like experts....you can talk and teach until you're blue in the face - but it's no replacement for practicing by actually diving...

While we can't expect them to be experts, we can give them a better foundation of training and practice so they can dive better than what is typical. It also make s diving much more fun and enjoyable for the new diver while they are in the process of overcoming their tendency towards hooverism.

 

[FatCat]

I disagree here. People who are trained and practiced to a reasonable point of comfort, in my experience, don't have an enormous difference from a more experienced diver. Granted there is some difference but, not enough that the lesser experienced but well trained diver would be considered a "hoover".

Depends on your definition of a hoover, doesn't it. I agree that the difference is not as marked, but there still is a real difference.

 

[mempilot]

Well, you lot do use very small tanks, don't you?

I use 98 steels most of the time, either as singles or doubled up. 80cf aren't really useful except on shallow dives.

Re-read my post. I didn't say YOU should. I said you should be glad there are people who do so. Without them, you'd probably have drowned as a newbie.

No, I made sure I had the proper training before I took off the training wheels. I paid the extra dough for the extra time and small class.

BTW, the fundamental problem lies with the consumer. People want it fast and cheap. And afterwards they gripe.

The training agencies push it. The consumer has no idea what to expect until he reads the liturature. Once he reads weekend course for $400, then the agency has set the precedent.

 

[OE2X]

Jeesh OE2X, will you pay for their dive too?

Like you said though, the first time, OK. The second time. Well the second time they were with someone else.

Guys, I'm not saying everyone should have a SAC of .2

What I'm saying is, if you have a high SAC, then you should dive the appropriate supply for the intended bottom time. - and oh ya, get off the french fries fatty!

For local dives around here, I'm happy to dive with a newbie/hoover. On boat dives (not my own boat) then yes I prefer to dive with someone who has more experience and has a sac closer to mine. Diving with a newbie/hoover locally vs. an experienced diver is a very different sort of dive. It can be equally enjoyable though. You get to relive the experience of diving being fresh and wonderful with the new diver.

Last week I took out my best friend. He had never dove before. I got him all outfitted with an E8 130. We did about a half hour dive with a max of 30' and he burned through his air and finished the dive with about 700 psi. I didn't drop below 2400. We had a terrific dive. He still hasn't stopped talking about how much fun it was.

Sometimes it's worth diving with a hoover.

 

[mempilot]

That was meant to be a joke. Two back up tanks to keep him down instead of one.

Yeah, now your'e in a team of three and the hoover is part of that trio Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[TCDiver1]

I'm not an instructor, so I'm not going go into teaching mode if the boat tries to pair me up with a 240lb'r wearing an 80 on a 105' dive. I just decline the pairing and go solo.

I know several "240-240+ pounders" who would likely be watching you call your solo dive before they call a dive of the same profile. In my experience SAC is more about comfort & technique than it is appearance & physique.

You can't always judge a book by its cover.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

You are a hoover. You suck down half your al80 before even getting to the bottom. You discover your needle is in the red 15 minutes later and only then bother to inform the poor person assigned as your *buddy* what your air status is. You thumb the dive and expect them to accompany you to the surface. They do but still have 2/3 of their gas left. They paid $$$ for the dive trip but you've ruined it for them.

Do you feel any responsibility to recompense them?

Something like this happened to me on Saturday ... only he was wearing an LP95, and 13 minutes into the dive he was at 600 psi. Biggest problem was we were on a wall at 97 fsw at the time.

I handed him my primary and we shared air while we began our ascent ... the top of the wall was at about 70 fsw, so it was a free ascent.

By the time we hit about 40 fsw, I realized this fellow wasn't going to help me control our shared ascent, so I signaled for him to go back on his own gas supply. We did the exchange while I was holding onto his BCD strap and finning down hard, trying to slow our ascent.

At 20 fsw I let him go ... he breached pretty hard. From about 20 fsw I watched as the boat came over and got him. When I saw him start up the ladder I descended back down to the wall, hooked up with another buddy team, and completed my dive.

I found out later he waited till the last minute to tell me how fast he was going through his air because he was too embarrassed to bring it up. Big mistake. In a case like this, embarrassment can have fatal consequences ... possibly for both divers.

If you go through your air fast, talk about it before the dive. And when you hit turn pressure, let your buddy know about it ... even if it's just minutes into the dive. Forget the money ... a charter is way less expensive than a chamber ride. And waiting till the last minute may make the latter your next-best option.

Fortunately, my buddy on Saturday was OK. We even did the second dive together ... but we kept it shallow and very, very conservative.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[FatCat]

The training agencies push it. The consumer has no idea what to expect until he reads the liturature. Once he reads weekend course for $400, then the agency has set the precedent.

You obviously don't live in an area where there are agencies that offer "cheap" club-based courses. Commercial agencies have to contend with that as well.

Still, most beginners look upon diving as just another action sport. It should be easy to learn and it musn't take up too much of their time.

The ones that get hooked on diving WILL take follow-up courses. The rest of them will probably take the "been there, done that, got the T-shirt" approach.

So why not cut the ones who get hooked some slack?

'm Off to bed. G'night.

 

[wedivebc]

So now you know how I feel when I am diving with all you bubble blowing open circuit divers who want to get out after only an hour or so

Ok so really, we all started out as hoovers I think. Most get better with experience some don't. I know a guy who at 260lbs looks like a chugging steam locamotive underwater with his double 80s. We were at 130ft for a couple of minutes when he swam up to his buddy and showed him a spg reading of 500psi. Uh oh....
I guess you gotta know your buddy. Sometimes I will intentionally team up with a "hoover" just to see if I can help resolve the problems, but there are times when my dive is my own and I just can't be bothered.
Sorry UP, I think you guys call it rule#1, I call it a good excuse for a solo dive. :11ztongue

 

[fins wake]

So why not cut the ones who get hooked some slack?

Amen! If I were a complete newbie reading this thread, I'd be rather put off. I mean, poor "Hoover" in the sea with all these Dive Gods! Probably born with gills. Nothing like the old self-admiration society in action ...