Sunset House goes 100% NON-Smoking.

[cowboyneal]

Under the view of the people in this thread then why should you even be allowed to wear a wetsuit? How about the DM tells everyone how much weight they can use? What are you going to do with that knife? No divers more than 10 lbs. overweight (not overweighted). Those extra long fins look like they might break some coral heads to me! I mean, come on, let's get serious people...

I don't use gloves to touch anything; however, my hands are very sensitive to cold. No gloves = more cold. More cold = my hands work less effectively. My hands working less effectively = more personal danger (kind of hard to really do anything when your fingers won't move). Plus, I've been diving since I was 14 (which is 33 years) and I'll put my dive skills up against any of the 'cyber' divers on this board...and anyone else for that matter...my use of gloves is actually no one's business but my own...Classic example of a bunch of people ASSuming things they know nothing about. Let me also tell you as well that Tech divers haven't cornered the market on good diving skills...overblown gear sets and big egos, yes, but dive skills, not so much...

So I'll just keep using and spending my dollars in places where I'm not treated like a 5 year old and that let me choose and use my own configuration of exposure protection, of which there are plenty, thank you very much...(plus now I have a set of gloves that are skin toned that I put on once in the water and take off at the end of the dive, which no one yet has noticed...heh-heh)...

 

[MikeFerrara]

Why do you need gloves if you don't touch things you shouldn't? I've never used gloves and never had a problem with a hand injury, even inside wrecks.

I don't have to need them. Wanting them is enough. Fins are what divers use to disturb the bottom most often. If they want to help the reef, they need to outlaw fins.

 

[Diver Dennis]

One thing I didn't take into account was cold Neil, I see your point there. I've just seen too many divers here in Asia, warm water, using their hands as a crutch for poor buoyancy skills, just as much as their fins killing coral and breaking off pieces of the reef. I'd like to see some of them without gloves and learning through trial and error

Mike, I agree. Some divers need to be kept at a minimum distance from the reef at all times or have some type of "bunny hill" area for inexperienced divers. Not that it will ever happen. I shake my head at the quizzical looks I get after grabbing their legs and pulling them back off the coral.

 

[DiveDad]

Cowboy you apparently missed my caveat "When they're appropriate (cold water for example) have at it"...and you may be the best diver in the whole world, but being an instructor and having been diving for 33 years (what if you've been doing it wrong for 33 years?) still doesn't tell me anything about your in water performance. I think the line is from Top Gun...show me what you got kid.

Personally, I started this thread about how refreshinig the Sunset House policy was, you brought the glove issue up and now are slamming other divers who merely are making observations....how is life in Judgementalville?

 

[padiscubapro]

Under the view of the people in this thread then why should you even be allowed to wear a wetsuit? How about the DM tells everyone how much weight they can use? What are you going to do with that knife? No divers more than 10 lbs. overweight (not overweighted). Those extra long fins look like they might break some coral heads to me! I mean, come on, let's get serious people...

I don't use gloves to touch anything; however, my hands are very sensitive to cold. No gloves = more cold. More cold = my hands work less effectively. My hands working less effectively = more personal danger (kind of hard to really do anything when your fingers won't move). Plus, I've been diving since I was 14 (which is 33 years) and I'll put my dive skills up against any of the 'cyber' divers on this board...and anyone else for that matter...my use of gloves is actually no one's business but my own...Classic example of a bunch of people ASSuming things they know nothing about. Let me also tell you as well that Tech divers haven't cornered the market on good diving skills...overblown gear sets and big egos, yes, but dive skills, not so much...

So I'll just keep using and spending my dollars in places where I'm not treated like a 5 year old and that let me choose and use my own configuration of exposure protection, of which there are plenty, thank you very much...(plus now I have a set of gloves that are skin toned that I put on once in the water and take off at the end of the dive, which no one yet has noticed...heh-heh)...

I never said there are times when Gloves are not appropriate, Thw aters in GC are quite warm.. The coldest I have EVER seen it (in almost 2 years of visiting the island) wa 79f.. Usually mid winter is about 80-81f with 85-86 in the summer.. I have never heard of hands getting cold in that warm of water..

When I am running trimix rebreather classes in GC we have dives with 4 hour run times, we all wear 3mm wetsuits (I have had students that used 3mm shorties) but no hoods or gloves and no one has every complained about being cold..

I am also not saying tech divers are perfect but the average tech diver (properly trained) generally have good buoyancy skills because they have to have them or they will get hurt.. On GC I have done many sites at both recreational and technical depths, you can easily see the area where the recreational divers stay, since once you get deeper.. Its hard to find ANY diver damage..

Cayman has a no gloves rule to protect their natural resource, although I rather make it a diver choice, there are too many poorly trained divers that do alot of damage to the reef..

 

[nipi]

The bottom line is that it is the law in Cayman - if you cannot respect that (however much you may disagree with it) don't come here.

 

[cowboyneal]

That's right, exactly: I'll take all my cash for hotels, diving, restaurants and (especially) tips and bring it somewhere else...again, the "no gloves" rule doesn't protect a reef from bad diving. If someone could get under control enough and close enough to put down the proverbial finger or two, then they certainly aren't crashing into the reef with their poor buoyancy skills, triple tanks, extra long (black) fins, hanging hoses, gauges and other miasma and all the other reef damaging items that get a lot more 'damage' action than a couple of gloved fingers...This is like the "Bush" theory of dive regulations...let us tell you what to do, what to wear and how to act, and either you are with us, or you're "with the terrorists (reef damagers)..."

 

[tvictory]

The bottom line is that it is the law in Cayman - if you cannot respect that (however much you may disagree with it) don't come here.

Most people would agree that reefs should be protected from contact with divers. Most reef damage is caused inadvertantly or carelessly by divers with inadequate buoyancy skills than by divers who want to handle the coral. I'd venture to say that far more damage is caused by people carrying cameras than by people wearing gloves but, for obvious reasons, no one advocates the banning of cameras or the certification of photographers. The no-glove laws in Cayman and elsewhere are largely symbolic of a low cost display of eco-friendliness

 

[cowboyneal]

Most people would agree that reefs should be protected from contact with divers. Most reef damage is caused inadvertantly or carelessly by divers with inadequate buoyancy skills than by divers who want to handle the coral. I'd venture to say that far more damage is caused by people carrying cameras than by people wearing gloves but, for obvious reasons, no one advocates the banning of cameras or the certification of photographers. The no-glove laws in Cayman and elsewhere are largely symbolic of a low cost display of eco-friendliness

Bingo...

 

[DiveDad]

Most people would agree that reefs should be protected from contact with divers. Most reef damage is caused inadvertantly or carelessly by divers with inadequate buoyancy skills than by divers who want to handle the coral. I'd venture to say that far more damage is caused by people carrying cameras than by people wearing gloves but, for obvious reasons, no one advocates the banning of cameras or the certification of photographers. The no-glove laws in Cayman and elsewhere are largely symbolic of a low cost display of eco-friendliness

and that's exactly the point I was trying to make....too many divers use gloves and/or excessive lead to compensate for inadequate buoyancy skills...and maybe (he said optimistically) those divers who have to (NOT need to) wear gloves, or are overweighted, or drag cameras, fins, and consoles over the reef, or divers who just plain don't know any better (cuz their instructor or divemaster never told them) will read this post and realize we're talking about them.

and it may be a symbolic gesture, but look at how much dialog it's spawned in just this topic.

It's up to instructors & divemasters to point out to their clients that they don't need gloves (when they truly don't) and encourage to them to use less lead. When ever I take a group to a WARM water destination I encourage them to do a weight check and then challenge them to see if they can use less weight by the end of the trip than they started with....as far as the glove issue, I took care of that dinosaur years ago.

as has been said many times....If you think you know everything then you most assuredly don't. We ALL have room for improvement.