I am not the "typical" recreational diver. I am very careful. I read about how meticulous technical divers are, and about the accidents that kill them. I try to be as careful as a tech diver, while always diving a profile that allows me to make a direct ascent at any time. This is my understanding of recreational diving.
Daniel, first of all, good for you for taking a safe approach to your dives!
Second, if this is true, it does leave me a bit confused by the statement to which I replied:
It's not cost that prevents me from tech diving. It's that I'm not a daredevil or an extreme sports man.
I'm not trying to be nitpicky, I just don't get how you're reconciling the two ideas.
Most new divers tend to be *very* careful because we haven't achieved an appreciable level of familiarity with the equipment, procedures and environment yet. Generally, between the 50-150 dive mark is when we acquire a level of comfort that lets some of us "slack off" a bit, and often that's when an incident pops up and bites us. After that, we start to see how little we actually know, and go back to being as careful as we were in our first 100 dives!