Living and Dying and Diving

[oldschoolto]

Would not slide on ice if they are working? What kind of ice? Not pure sheet ice, I presume?

Well I did a real world test today... I just love testing things... So we are having a ice storm up here in northern Maine and my 1300 foot long driveway is GLARE ICE.. I mean pure sheet ice.... Before I go out and sand it down with the truck, It's test time....

Test one is my wife's 2012 chevy impala with dunlap graspic DS-3 ice and snow tires new last year... At 35 mph I hit the brake and the car stayed straight and the tires never locked up... It did take a good 300ft to come to a complete stop... Also a ice/slid warning light lite on the dash... Computers are great when they work

Test two was my 2008 grand-prix with the same graspic DS-3 tires about four months older but really the same as far as wear... 35 mph hit the brakes and not but a second later the car started sliding and tires were locking up, had to release the brake and recover the car with very light throttle/brake inputs well steering into the slid.... The ABS on that car was not to good.... But there is no ABS warning lite on.... The computer thinks it's working A'OK...

New ABS brakes will stop a car on glare ice if you have good ice tires.... And now back to diving....

Jim...

 

[DandyDon]

I lower my tire pressure for ice, as well as speed.

 

[oldschoolto]

I lower my tire pressure for ice, as well as speed.

I didn't change anything.... I was VERY impressed with the wife's car.... Not to much with mine...LOL That's why I get her old cars and she gets the new one..

Jim...

 

[Kevrumbo]

Not really true... Their are a group of people that can look death in the face and smile.... They keep working the problem to the very end, Or try to leave a clue to what went wrong and how to learn from it... I think they call it the " Right Stuff " ....
Jim...

Not at all the same thing. People who routinely push the limits NEVER acknowledge that death is the most likely outcome. They are confident in surviving regardless of the odds.

"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly"

"Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live. . ."

--Robert F. Kennedy

 

[AfterDark]

Having read all the posts in the split on this subject, I note that Bob posted about diving deaths being pleasant. I didn't see that expressed by anyone. Who would think such a thing? I’ve made the statement I’d rather die diving than wasting away in a home somewhere. Not because my death would be pleasant but because the hours preceding my death would be pleasant as opposed to laying in bed looking at the ceiling and hoping to die soon. I'd rather die relatively healthy instead of weak, frail and suffering.

 

[mathauck0814]

hypoxia - YouTube

... on a rebreather, if you wanted to go ... just sayin

 

[tech_diver]

I can certainly relate to the sentiment of dying doing something you love. It makes a statement about the way a person lived their life. However, I decided long ago that there are three ways I don’t want to die and diving is at the top.


#1. I don’t want to die scuba diving – I don’t know that dying underwater is more or less horrible than other ways to die but dying on a dive could invalidate me as a diver and a dive professional. People would rage against the agency that certified me decades ago, they’d condemn my gear configurations and some will decide that I died of stupidity. Please don’t let me die while diving.


#2. I don’t want to die sitting at my desk at work – I have a vision of people walking by tossing paperwork onto my desk in front of my slumped body. I might be there a while before someone noticed the growing stack of paperwork.


#3. I don’t want to die sitting on the toilet – I can hear my friends bemoaning the tragedy of my passing then adding in a whispered tone, “...you know he died on the toilet.” How ignomonius!



I think I’ll stick to the traditional vision of slipping peacefully away in a comfortable bed surrounded by my close friends, loving family and topless dancers.

 

[TMHeimer]

Having read all the posts in the split on this subject, I note that Bob posted about diving deaths being pleasant. I didn't see that expressed by anyone. Who would think such a thing? I’ve made the statement I’d rather die diving than wasting away in a home somewhere. Not because my death would be pleasant but because the hours preceding my death would be pleasant as opposed to laying in bed looking at the ceiling and hoping to die soon. I'd rather die relatively healthy instead of weak, frail and suffering.

I would assume most people would prefer to die both quick and easy--ei- in your sleep. I would also imagine that most scuba deaths are quick but not at all easy. When my mom was in a nursing home one of the aids said to me the usual: "I don't want to ever be in a place like this, I want to go quick and easy". I of course, agreed. Have you ever met someone who said, "Gee, I want to die in a Home after years of pain"?

 

[rlynch]

Dying on scuba is pretty much just drowning in almost every situation.
F- That....

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Having read all the posts in the split on this subject, I note that Bob posted about diving deaths being pleasant. I didn't see that expressed by anyone. Who would think such a thing? I’ve made the statement I’d rather die diving than wasting away in a home somewhere. Not because my death would be pleasant but because the hours preceding my death would be pleasant as opposed to laying in bed looking at the ceiling and hoping to die soon. I'd rather die relatively healthy instead of weak, frail and suffering.

No ... I did not post that. Please read again what I posted ...

... most people who die while diving are not committing suicide ... at least, not intentionally. And although drowning is the ultimate cause of death, the circumstances leading to that drowning are varied. Some folks go unconscious first ... rebreather divers whose O2 level falls too low, for example. That's a pretty peaceful way to go. Others know for a rather long time that they're going to die ... people lost in caves or other overheads who know they're going to run out of air before they get out. Depending on the personality of the diver, that can be a terrifyingly slow way to die. For the recreational diver, perhaps the most common event leading up to drowning is panic ... a loss of ability to rationally address the problem that ultimately leads to death. I can't imagine that's a very pleasant way to go.

In almost all of these cases, the death was easily preventable ... if the diver had maintained an awareness of what was going on that ultimately led to the problem that caused it, or had made better decisions either before or during the dive.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)