My scuba diving days may be over. :(
- Thread starter DiverG
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I started both riding bikes, and diving in 69-70. It would be hard to give up either one, although various injuries including a head on with a car on one of my Harleys have certainly threatened to do both.
I read the DAN article you posted, and it certainly does not sound like the door has to close for diving, if you let the injury heal correctly.
I read the DAN article you posted, and it certainly does not sound like the door has to close for diving, if you let the injury heal correctly.
dfx
Contributor
No, they're both the same. Except that on a bike, you don't have a chassis and neither an airbag protecting you.
The "2x impact energy force" on head-on collisions is a myth.
dfx
Contributor
It depends on the momentum of both objects involved. and momentum is the product of speed and mass (weight).
If you have two cars hitting each other head-on, with both cars being roughly the same weight and going at roughly the same speed, then what you get is double the total energy being put into the collision, but this total energy is equally divided among both cars involved, so each car receives the same amount of energy as going into a stationary wall.
If either mass or speed (or both) of either object is different from the other one, then the distribution of the total energy will be uneven between the objects.
In other words, if you're in a car and you head-on against a much larger and heavier truck, then you're off worse than going against a stationary wall, while the truck is off better.
Same applies if you're on a bike and go head-on against a car. You'll receive the energy of your own momentum and most of the other car's momentum. But for two equally sized cars going at the same speed, the difference cancels out.
[video=youtube;r8E5dUnLmh4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8E5dUnLmh4[/video]
And now, please back to the topic of the thread.
Glad you are alive, and where there is life there is hope. On May 1 was was diagnosed with stage 4 adno-carcinoma- nasty cancer in lots of places, but for the moment I am on maintenance chemo and released to dive. Leaving Tuesday for Akumal!. Of course, I will be conservative in dive planning and diving, but I am getting in a real dive outing. Keep faith that you will too!
DivemasterDennis
DivemasterDennis
I was not in a car, and on motorcycles our masses are seldom anywhere near equal. That is a risk one should accept if you are going to share the road with two ton cages, while riding an 800 pound bike.
The subject was the injury that resulted from the accident, and it's impact on diving in the future, until someone focused on the motorcycle riding itself.
dfx
Contributor
Oh, I understand the difference all too well. Mostly what I sustained is called "soft tissue damage", with a few broken bones, at least in part because I seem to have very well honed survival instincts.
Had the same accident happened in my car there is a pretty good chance that I might not have survived, because I could not have pulled off the move that I did. Still, a cage with a couple of airbags might have helped if I was in a cage.
A lot of this stuff seems come down to luck of the draw, which often seems to make the final difference in both motorcycle and diving. Training helps, a lot. Good instincts also make a lot of difference, too.
In the end though, there is always going to be that element of chance to every moment of our lives, be it diving, riding a motorcycle on the same roads as 18 wheelers, or just walking down the sidewalk. Example: @20 years ago a new friend that I had just come to know had a pretty minor accident, that caused him to lay his bike down and slide. The luck part came in that the strap on his helmet snagged on the edge of the car bumper as he slid past, avoiding the collision completely. Unfortunately, the snagged helmet broke his neck and killed him. Dumb luck, huh?
One thing for certain none of us will get out alive. The trick is to minimize risks while maximizing life while we have it.
DiverG following your doctor's orders to the n'th degree and giving yourself the best chance to heal totally is your best bet. Then see a dive doctor for the final word on continuing to dive. I do suggest that you are careful on selecting the Dive Doctor. Make sure it is someone who also loves to dive. My experience is that there are some "Dive doctors" out there who basically do the paperwork so they have another income stream from doing "Dive Medicals". If that is their motivation they seem to be more inclined to "Just say NO" to reduce perceived risks of litigation since nobody can guarantee that any given diver will never have ab incident while diving
Best of luck to be able to continue this wonderful sport.. :doh: not so big a fan of motorbikes but
your life.. LIVE IT YOUR WAY!
DiverG following your doctor's orders to the n'th degree and giving yourself the best chance to heal totally is your best bet. Then see a dive doctor for the final word on continuing to dive. I do suggest that you are careful on selecting the Dive Doctor. Make sure it is someone who also loves to dive. My experience is that there are some "Dive doctors" out there who basically do the paperwork so they have another income stream from doing "Dive Medicals". If that is their motivation they seem to be more inclined to "Just say NO" to reduce perceived risks of litigation since nobody can guarantee that any given diver will never have ab incident while diving
Best of luck to be able to continue this wonderful sport.. :doh: not so big a fan of motorbikes but
your life.. LIVE IT YOUR WAY!
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