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BTW, I noticed the first response was "how fat are we talking about" (to paraphrase)...
While I would love to see a "full range" of the issue discussed. IE both 20 or 30 lbs overweight AND "morbidly obese" ; I also understand that this is a limited fashion of communication and a full range would probably eat up thousands of posts...
Feel free to limit the discussion down if you feel it necessary.
Can they swim?
Can they perform the skills?
Are they safe?
If they are so fat as to interfere with those things, then they're too fat. If they can perform the tasks then they're not.
There's a reason aquatic mammals are typically fatter than their terrestrial cousins
Rick
"You can have peace, or you can have Freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once." (Heinlein)
"... they saw the deeds of the LORD, his wondrous works in the deep." (Ps107:24)
Well, i wouldn't reccomed any long and/or strenuous diving for them. Especially not wreck diving. But if they can complete the skills no problems and show compitence in the water i don't see any problem - same standards as everybody else. However, if I have to string three weightbelts together to get them around the person, i'm going to suggest that maybe diving isn't for them as I have a feeling it might kill them.
I have taught 3 grossly obese divers. Two of the three are good active divers, and the third quickly gave it up.
I made absolutely certain they could reliably meet the requirements of the class. Swim test - no problem. Float test - are you kidding? Skills tests - no reason they should have a harder time than anyone else. Walking up from the beach with full gear including the extra weights they need - a challenge unless they're strong.
I think it's valid to be concerned about an obese person if they do not have physical stamina and/or are weakly muscled. A strong obese person will generally do fine.
On another note - my FAA flight examiner was *huge*. Yet the FAA decided that he was perfectly fit to fly airplanes.
There's a reason aquatic mammals are typically fatter than their terrestrial cousins
Rick
Which is mainly insulation to maintain body temperature. We're not the same in that regard.
But to OP: I've dived with really overweight people while working as a DM/guide. I looked at it like this....they know they risk they're taking. If they have a heart attack or any other problem, I'll do what I can to help just like any other buddy or diver. If I can't lift them out of the water....I can't. So what? Who am I to say no to anyone?
Would I dive with an overweght friend off my boat? Definitely yes. Why not? I have a buddy who weighs about 400 lbs and when we snorkel, I spear and he takes photos, I have to tie a rope off the stern while he puts a foot on the antiventilation plate and tries to pull up. Sometimes it takes three or four tries...but I get a workout and he gets to snorkel and take pictures and have fun. it's cool. As soon as he gets a long enough weight belt to hold all the weight he needs, we're going to scuba dive. If he dies while trying...I won't feel guilty. Better then dying while watching TV.
...If he dies while trying...I won't feel guilty. Better then dying while watching TV.
Very well put.
That being said, as dive instructors I believe we have a responsibility to inform people of the risks they take when we introduce them to the sport. Recommending that the diver get a medical sign off and discussing issues which may be more difficult for them is appropriate.
I have seen numerous threads on this subject......and that being said, as a BBD (Big Beautiful Diver, Fat Diver, Obese Diver, Fluffy Diver---what ever you want to call me), YES I can dive, YES I dive well, and YES I am instructor. Are there more health risks for me?? Perhaps, but then again Im 53 now and not a 21 year old kid. I regularly work for a shop here in Key Largo...and make 2-4 dives a day--5 or 6 days a week.
One of the reasons diving is such a wonderful sport, is that once we are in the water---the playing field levels out! Look at the person doing the diving--not their size!
I'm not happy with teaching or diving with ANYONE that has problems physically handling a full set or gear or swimming against a mild surface current or climbing a ladder or anything else that shows me a deficit in normal physical stamina. I've seen plenty of people who do not meet those requirements and many of them were rather obese but I've also seen in with thin, middle-aged women and kids who were certified without being able to walk a few steps in full gear.
It seems that the bigger a person is the more likely the cardiovascular stress shows and the smaller they are it tends to be a strength issue. To my mind, both are important to being able to safely participate in scuba diving.
"Sticking with a moron will only subject you to a bucketful of ad hockery when they finally discover that they have issues and now you're both in the stank." - Doc Intrepid
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