When does diving become "ridiculous"?

[Stoo]

Many interesting points made and I understand what each is saying. In hindsight, perhaps "ridiculous" was the wrong word to use in the thread title... I suppose it implies disapproval, and that wasn't my intent... perhaps "too much" would have been better

 

[mdb]

Many interesting points made and I understand what each is saying. In hindsight, perhaps "ridiculous" was the wrong word to use in the thread title... I suppose it implies disapproval, and that wasn't my intent... perhaps "too much" would have been better

Your thread has been good Stoo.

The comments made have been reasonable and interesting.

 

[Stoo]

The comments made have been reasonable and interesting.

That's the great thing (well, one of them) about diving. It can cover so many levels. Whether it's the vacation diver who logs 10 dives a year in warm water, the guy who dives every weekend or the people who undertake these dives that are more like missions to Mars, we're all divers.

 

[Dan]

We need to know our limits. They seem to get clearer, narrower & more defined as we get older. 300' deep diving is way way beyond my limit.

Looking back to the time when I got to 147' deep, for getting a better picture of Mola-Mola in Crystal Bay, Nusa Penida, Bali, Indonesia, I shake my head now. Never again doing that stupid thing.

 

[Freewillow]

Many interesting points made and I understand what each is saying. In hindsight, perhaps "ridiculous" was the wrong word to use in the thread title... I suppose it implies disapproval, and that wasn't my intent... perhaps "too much" would have been better

"ridiculous" is fine with me, especially if you are using the word with " ". Interesting topic Stoo .

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

But that was hard-core exploration. This particular dive may have been dabbling at "exploration", but mostly it was just doing the tourist thing, but at an 11 in the scale of 1 - 10. And what will we learn from this double fatality? Don't dump your life-support equipment when you are umpteen hundred feet back in a cave and 260' down? Pardon my bluntness, but I kinda knew that already, and I don't cave dive, or do 300 footers. It sorta seems like "Life 101" stuff.

There is little left to be explored on Mt. Everest anymore ... and anyone with the wealth to purchase a professional guide can attempt it. Many fail ... many don't return. The upper slopes of Everest are littered with the bodies of people who thought they were well-enough prepared. Almost 300 people have died on that mountain since Sir Edmund summited it 63 years ago ... many of them amateurs who had no business being there in the first place.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

To them, this apparently wasn't considered that intense a dive. It just went horrifically bad, and they couldn't catch a break trying to get out. Are there things that would have helped, either in setup or during the event? Sure, but I'll let people who dive these kind of dives discuss them.

That can happen at all levels of diving. Degree of difficulty is relative to experience and skill levels, and if you dive long enough you're sure to have what my friends and I refer to as "I'll never do that again" moments. Most times you are able to say that after the dive ... sometimes people don't survive to get that opportunity.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Stoo]

That can happen at all levels of diving. Degree of difficulty is relative to experience and skill levels, and if you dive long enough you're sure to have what my friends and I refer to as "I'll never do that again" moments. Most times you are able to say that after the dive ... sometimes people don't survive to get that opportunity.

I call those "Come to Jesus!" moments~ And we become better divers as a result. Usually anyway!

 

[PfcAJ]

Doesn't this show that @Stoo's questions are relevant? I don't do tech, I don't do overhead and because of that neither my wife (of 26yrs) nor I have seen any need for a talk like this. After the Plura accident, I had some discussions with non-divers about how that dive differed from normal rec diving. I compared the difference between those two types of dives with the difference between an expedition to Everest - or rather to K2 - and a one-day hike in the nearest recreation area. I still stand by that comparison.

All diving has risks. Again, poke your nose in to the accidents forum.

Maybe you should have that conversation with her.

 

[Neilwood]

That can happen at all levels of diving. Degree of difficulty is relative to experience and skill levels, and if you dive long enough you're sure to have what my friends and I refer to as "I'll never do that again" moments. Most times you are able to say that after the dive ... sometimes people don't survive to get that opportunity.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

The "normalisation of deviance" comes in - do any activity at a certain level and it becomes routine and most times everything goes fine. Unfortunately when things become routine, that is when things have a habit of moving outside the envelope (equipment failure, circumstance that wasn't envisaged etc) and that is when you, if you make it out the other side, realise that you were actually very close to the ragged edge.