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Bill Simpson, a familiar face to those who frequented Dutch Springs, passed away after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Bill worked as a hyperbaric chamber technician at UPenn and as an EMT at Dutch Springs among many other positions within the EMS and firefighting communities in the...

Reducing the Odds of a Snark Attack It is extremely likely for a person to be attacked by a snark on ScubaBoard, but snark attacks are rarely life-threatening. However, if you are thinking of posting on any of the forums, and if you are concerned about snarks, there are a number of steps you can...

I've known three scuba instructors who committed suicide. One instructor was my open water instructor, one was a friend, and the third I only knew on social media. Has anyone ever done a study on depression linked to diving and suicide among professional divers? I don't know how many people the...

We sometimes say the most dangerous part of diving is going to or returning from the dive site. We are more at risk of having a car accident than a diving accident. A popular female cave instructor was T-boned by a vehicle pulling out of Eagle's Nest, one of the deepest caves in Florida, for...

Video of the damage to the Nord Stream pipeline has been released. One such clip is found here: ‘Powerful explosions’ caused Nord Stream leaks, Danish authorities say Any thoughts from @Akimbo or others who might have experience with underwater demo?

We often use the term "dive guides" when referring to the instructors and divemasters who work at resorts because a big part of their job description is to lead underwater tours. After all, the local reefs are their neighborhood. They know where to find interesting marine life, the resident...

The pirate jokes do get old when you have an eye patch. I walked out of my dentist's office a few weeks ago to hear some guy in a truck make the "Arrrgh!" remark. His window was rolled down, and I almost walked over and just punched him in the face. The only reason I have to live is because of...

Maybe this should be in the Advanced Scuba Forum because this situation is definitely one for the highly experienced! Dive storytime. I just had strabismus surgery to realign my right eye due to nerve damage from DCS in 2018. On Facebook, I posted a pic of me showing what my eyes look like 3...

For those of us who came of age in the 1980s, the decade was a pretty good one for Hollywood. One of the most popular directors was John Hughs who was responsible for films like The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Home Alone along with many other comedy classics...

As some of you may know, I suffered decompression sickness that left me with permanent neurological injuries back in 2018. At the time, I was living seasonally in the 1,000 Islands region of New York and I would make several dives in the Brockville, Ontario, area every week. Last summer, I...

I am looking at shelves of books and diving manuals that I've read over the past 41 years in the sport. Two even have my name on them! The older books are my favorites. They seem to contain the most in-depth information and are also the ones I remember most due to the principle of primacy. Books...

Last month, I geared up for a solo dive in the Delaware River in New Jersey. As I checked my equipment, I couldn't find my mask. I used to just wear it backward on my head before having an eye patch. But whenever I take my mask off it messes with my patch and I have to reseat both the eye patch...

I'm watching a movie called "No Limit" on Netflix. It was loosely inspired by the events that led to the death of freediver Audrey Mestre and her relationship with freediving legend Pipin Fererras. I met Pipin and Audrey around 1998. Pipin had started the training agency IAFD, but he supported...

I haven't been cave diving in the past 4 years since getting bent in the St. Lawrence River so I haven't seen the latest fashion trends in cave diving, but what was the deal with women wearing Converse sneakers instead of wetsuit boots? I used to see shoe laces just begging to get snagged on a...

I used to be a member of the British Sub^Aqua Club after I visited in England back in 1997. Prince Charles, now King Charles III after the sad passing of his mother, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, used to be the head (or figurehead) of BS^AC. Members received a newsletter or magazine or...

I finally was able to track down the history of the USLA 500-meter swim test for surf lifeguards without the easy button known as Dr. Sam Miller III. It was a political decision that was a compromise between the American Red Cross 500-yard swim in their Advanced Lifesaving course and a 600-yard...

I was talking to the girl with whom I had my first "date" in 8th grade last night. She became a skydiving instructor. I asked her about professional liability insurance in skydiving. She didn't have any. She said the drop zone just made the student sign a waiver not to sue. I asked the question...

I never thought I'd see the day when an NSS-CDS instructor was nothing but a poser.

Selling my classic Seatec "Military" Horse-Collar BCD. Black with the original charged CO2 cartridge. I wore this for one week in freshwater in 2011 while teaching a USMC Force Recon Marine who wanted to go through an instructor class wearing the same gear he wore in the military. $150.

In researching decompression sickness in shallow water, it seems the military has had enough cases of divers presenting with DCS to give one pause. Speculation seems to be that a number of these incidents were generated by lots of descents and ascents while working during a single dive or a...