Love my HPR, I get positive and Negative attention. About the Negative attention:

[Finneli Felwitch]

I was lectured by the scuba police this weekend, given the typical lecture of “you are doing a very dangerous thing; you will die on your dive”. The reason for the lecture was that my scuba regulator did not meet their definition of a safe regulator.

I dive a Phoenix HPR Royal double-hose regulator. When I asked the scuba police why I was going to die and what was dangerous, the response I was given is that my scuba regulator is old. The scuba police gave no additional information to support their claim only that all double-hose regulators are old and unsafe.

I said that it has been serviced and that the 1^st and 2^nd stage are new this year 2014. The scuba police said that nobody makes or services double-hose regulators anymore and if I serviced it myself, then I am an idiot.

I would like to know, is there a law or a rule that says that only dive manufacturers/dive shops can service scuba gear? There really cannot be one that covers every dive manufacturer, since US. Divers/Aqualung does not require you to be a service technician to repair some of their models. Vintage Double Hose (A company in Central Florida) does not require you to be certified to repair the Phoenix HPR Royal, Zeagle, the manufacturer of my BC, not only allows me to modify my BC, but also sells the manual and repair kit in case I need to repair my power inflator or patch up a hole in my Bladder.

The scuba police chose to ignore that information, really I just pissed them off even more.

Who trained Cousteau and Gagnan? They invented the Scuba regulator. Am I not allowed to teach myself through studying and practice and eventually creating my own scuba system just like Cousteau and Gagnan did? If they spent the time teaching themselves, shouldn’t I be able to do the same and not get attacked for it?

 

[Luis H]

Can you explain what are calling the "scuba police"?

There are no federal or state laws (that I am aware of) that has any regulation or jurisdiction on the type of gear that you dive or the maintenance of it. Therefore, since there are no laws, there is no law enforcement agency ( or police) that could have any actual jurisdiction.

Was this issue in Florida?

Were you diving in private property or from a charter boat? That would be the only places where the owner or operator may place requirements, but those are not laws or regulations, just owner imposed requirements. An owner does have the right to place any requirements he feels like imposing, even if they are stupid and based on miss-information.

I have personally never had any issues with any dive operator, but if I did, I would first try to educate them and if that didn't work I would just avoid them.

The comments that you got are from pure ignorance.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

Pissing someone off is like a delicious cherry on top of the ice-cream sundae of a good dive. Dive what you like and enjoy it. If your doing so upsets some idiots along the way, so much the better; savor their angst like a fine Sauternes.

 

[divad]

Can you explain what are calling the "scuba police"?

They are self-anointing (read "onanistic"). There is no explanation.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

They are self-anointing (read "onanistic"). There is no explanation.

True, but if you're trying to dive off their charter they're more relevant than if you just happen to run into them on the beach before a shore dive.

 

[divad]

True, but if you're trying to dive off their charter they're more relevant than if you just happen to run into them on the beach before a shore dive.

True, if you're diving off their charter, some of their rights trump some of your rights. I had just assumed that he was diving from a pubic beach.

 

[redacted]

True, if you're diving off their charter, some of their rights trump some of your rights.

Tell them that they are WRONG on every point and that many more divers, their age, have died on the modern junk they are using than the quality built regulators of old.

Enjoy.

 

[divad]

That would probably be similar to arguing with a gopher.

 

[Finneli Felwitch]

This happened at the public beach. I fully understand that from a boat charter or private property that they would have the final say. Scuba Police would be sort of like the Doing It Right divers, they spot something that does not fit with their "Right way" and consider you doing it the "Wrong way".

I got certified with SSI in 98, my instructor told me that if you put your mask on your forhead, a wave could easily knock it off. He said that the mask on the forhead as a sign of distress is just stupid, if you are really going to be in distressed, why would you take the time to put the mask on your forhead?
So if I have my mask on my forhead even out of the water, don't shout at me asking if I am in distress. Scuba Police will point out anything and lecture you about unsafe diving practices. I was trained to use dive tables without the need of a dive computer. There are some scuba certification agencies that now teach open water students to never do a dive without a dive computer. If you go diving without a dive computer, the scuba police will lecture you about being an unsafe scuba diver.

 

[duckbill]

....and if I serviced it myself, then I am an idiot.

I've seen enough regulators mis-serviced by "certified" idiots to know that certification doesn't cure congenital stupidity. Because of this, I feel much safer using my own, self-serviced regulators than trusting my life to some stranger. If one doesn't feel comfortable or confident servicing his own regulators, then by all means he has the right to play Russian roulette with a stranger, and perhaps should.

The scuba police would do well to heed the old proverb, "It is better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are a fool, than open it and remove all doubts."