Things you are (almost but not really) ashamed of doing while diving
- Thread starter Dody
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Your expectations are misplaced. SB has free flowing discussions, particularly for a thread such as this one. Furthermore, despite the fact that you created the post that does not mean you get to dictate what other people post. If you expected no reaction to what you posted, particularly on the heels of your thread about panicking in a cavern due to being underweighted, being inexperienced, and having insufficient buddy skills, then I recommend that you read more SB threads to get a feel for how this community functions.
You are getting the reaction you are getting because in your thread about the cavern, you explained that your were 10 meters from your buddy, which you professed was too far to get their attention and signal that you did not want to enter the cavern. In this thread you nonchalantly explain that you dive 10 meters deeper that your buddy, but in this case you stated doing so is "perfectly safe."
In response to the original question, there is nothing I do regularly while diving that I am ashamed of or even "almost, but not really ashamed of." The reason is because if I was even somewhat ashamed of something I did, my personality is to try to learn from the experience rather than replicate something I know significantly deviates from my training. The closest I have come to repeatedly doing something I know I likely should not do was when I dove with a camera. Many times when I took a picture, especially of something very small, I would often hold my breath in an attempt to hold steady for the moment I snapped the shutter.
SlugLife
Contributor
When looking through Accidents & Incidents, typically I see a consistent "rule of 3s" where there were 3-or-more causes which all have to happen at the same time, to transform the event into an accident. We can think of most causes as in the category of (a) neglect or (b) poo-happens. The majority of incidents have at least 1 point for neglect. As far as poop-happens, it's quite common for one problem to cascade into, or reveal a second problem or third problem.
I'll admit, I've pushed limits, such as solo-diving without redundant air or other redundant equipment. I took precautions, but regardless was still taking risks. Thankfully wizened up and fixed that. Most "risky" things in diving, can be made non-risky with appropriate training, practice, procedures, and/or experience.
Example: Someone neglects their training, doesn't secure their octo, and generally dives in a non-mindful way, generally over-weighted, often leaving their buddy at a distance. Their reg is knocked out of their mouth or they forget to monitor air. The diver scrambles to reach for that reg, but can't find it. They start to freak out and panic, and burn through limited-oxygen faster. They forget about their octo, or by the time they remember, they can't find it (due to previous lack of practice & not securing it). They scramble to surface, but surface slowly, having trouble finding their inflator, and not remembering their ditchable weights.
In this example, this diver could easily have 100 or more dives. Depending on how we count the above, a LOT of things had to all go wrong at once, before this diver was injured.
OP
Dody
Contributor
First smart thing you say. Bye bye.
KatieMac
Contributor
Maybe going from every 2 minutes to every 3 or 4. Seriously ... maybe that gauge check 4 minutes into the dive made me miss a seahorse.
But someday that first guage check could give you early warning that you're going to have a problem.
I check my air very carefully before I enter. Even though I have a routine that is not to be tampered with or ever changed, one day I still found myself at 15' with no air. I can only assume that I'd been distracted at some point. In this instance, it wasn't a matter of guage checking failure, it was a matter of a closed cylinder.
Be that as it may, I could become distracted again someday and find that I had a short fill.
I always check my guage within a few minutes of entering the water, at least I think I do.
I was about to say the same thing! A common theme in all these threads by Dody is him justifying his choices against advices of others, and yes, most often far more experienced divers. I used to think Dody was not a real person when he just started to post as I thought it was a troll trying to get a raise out of others (kind of like another poster - a kid a few months ago who wanted to go to navy so wanted to dive without any certifications, but would argue with everybody on everything and always had “justification” for his choices). Both, I think now, are real peopleLike all his threads
I suppose a take-away for me, is that different people have different risk tolerance/risk acceptance. Good folks at SB laid out different risks (some personal, but some involving buddies and others in the group) that are associated with questionable choices and it is up to others to figure out what they going to do with this type of information
CT-Rich
Contributor
I check my air at the shop, setting up and just before entering the water (just in case I have a leak somewhere). A few minutes into the dive I check to see what I have in real terms now that the tank is in the water and not in the sun. During the dive, I check direct and depth pretty often for navigation and spot check the pressure. Once we hit the turn pressure I get more anal because I like surfacing at exit point and not doing long surface swims.
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