Sidemount and helmets in open water

[Bennno]

A cave cert does not get you one step closer to entering Blautopf or something like it.
Several other places are so secret nobody even knows their names.

Dude, just stop already, you know absolutely nothing about this. There are lots of caves you don't know about. Only because YOU don't know about something doesn't make it a secret.

 

[Razorista]

And btw @Bennno, you read the topic, didn't you?

This is about helmets and open water.

We already established that is not 'common'.
As I explained I have my own experience there.
I am saying there are a few reasons I will probably will be using it more anyway.

 

[The Chairman]

Doesn't matter where it's at... harassment is wrong.

 

[DevonDiver]

... you are in the wreck and you see your buddy get that wild look in their eye. You see this because you're paying attention. You see the look and you stop him, you look him in the eye, you control the situation, you stop, think, breath, and then act. You probably exit the wreck. You never let it go to panic.

Amen.

 

[Razorista]

@Razorista I don't dive around idiots often. I set up my gear for real world diving.

I also often dive with groups NetDoc.
Not as a guide or an instructor.
For someone not knowing a group that can be very unpredictable, but I my experience you can count on there being at least on idiot in the group (occasionally even oneself).

I also dive sidemount in an area where instructors did not like it much (starting to get better, but only recently).

Many wanted to proof to me that sidemount is 'dangerous' and cannot cope with real emergencies or is insufficient for the oh so very challenging cold water diving we do around here.
I was the target of small practical jokes sometimes and those often got out of control.

But as I mentioned above there have been a few occasions I handled my helmet incorrectly (because I am insufficiently trained with it) and got into trouble because of that.

 

[Bennno]

Doesn't matter where it's at... harassment is wrong.

What harassment, Pete? I've already stopped commeting on Razor talking BS about diving, now he is talking BS about Germany and I cannot comment on it either?
Don't you get that he is making stuff up?

@razor, I will stop commenting as soon as you stop lying.

 

[rongoodman]

I gave up on helmets all together, even when cave diving. It got to where the constant noise was more than I wanted to deal with.

 

[Razorista]

Anyway, you are in the wreck and you see your buddy get that wild look in their eye. You see this because you're paying attention. You see the look and you stop him, you look him in the eye, you control the situation, you stop, think, breath, and then act. You probably exit the wreck. You never let it go to panic.

When wreck diving and also often in other situations I am diving solo. Probably with someone also doing that only a meter from me, but solo anyway for both.
Both of us would not like the other to act on our behalf in any way before we ask for it or really panic.

With most groups I dive with I have more dives than the instructors or equal to them.
Most of the time I go as a one person buddy team then, too, or have a buddy or two I have to watch constantly
Nobody looks after me at all. If someone does, it is an overeager instructor who panics when he sees me remove a tank.
And if I ever drop my helmet I will have to catch it myself.

Had a dive recently where I was filming from a 'just above ground position' upward.
Switched regulators, but the exhaust diaphragm was stuck open.
Gulped down a few regs full of water and went down.

The group videoed me from several angles throwing up the biggest unnecessary cloud I have for a year and camly moved on while I sorted regs and fixed the problem catching up.
They only found out about my problem later on facebook when I posted the picture to talk about it. We had other things to talk about in debriefing.

 

[Razorista]

I gave up on helmets all together, even when cave diving. It got to where the constant noise was more than I wanted to deal with.

Thanks. I had nearly thought myself to be the only one noticing that.

 

[The Chairman]

I wonder, and please take this as constructive, do they think side mount is dangerous, or do they think you are dangerous? It might be easy to confuse the two when you're so close.

We had a monkey diver on the boat here in KL recently. He thought the world of himself but to most of us, he was a train wreck. Only one second stage on a very, very short hose, all sorts of home made danglies and he was busy telling anyone who would listen about why he dove like this. After the first dive, he saw my SB logo on my hat and figured out who I was. I tried to be patient, but it was hard. We were on the Benwood for our second dive, one of my favorite screamers, and I couldn't get away from this guy. My buddy and I slipped down into a channel that ran parallel with the wreck and snuck away.

I think his biggest problem was that he was trying way too hard to impress everyone, including himself. From the little bit I've read here, it appears that you might be in the same boat with him. Dive and let dive. Don't worry about what others think or don't think about you. Have fun. Try not to be a drama queen by calling attention to yourself. Learn to ignore the other drama queens where you dive and even here on the interwebs.