1,000 Ways to Die: Is Diving One of Them?

[peterbj7]

So what's the stupidest way you've almost died?

One was when I was parachuting, and intended to land between two large trees. I had completely forgotten that between them was a third tree, equally large, that I couldn't see because I was directly above it. So I hit it (at about 70mph), stayed suspended for a moment while my parachute collapsed, then continued the 55ft to a very hard ground.

A very close shave was when I tried to land an aircraft in fog on a grass runway next to some trees, and realised just in time that I was actually headed for the trees. Another was when I took off in a plane that was too heavily laden and realised just as I lifted off that I wasn't going to clear the church steeple just ahead. I swerved past it about halfway up it. Another flying one was when I was flying through the Alps at night in dense cloud and the aircraft began icing up. That same flight ended when I managed to get to my destination airfield in England, but the engine quit through lack of fuel immediately after touch down and before I got to the aircraft parking space. Actually I have several more flying ones, like the two occasions when I nearly pancaked on top of another aircraft. Neither occasion was my fault, but that doesn't help a lot.

Or there was the time when I was motorcycling in the middle of the night in an English winter, and suddenly realised that I was on black ice. I was going at 140mph when the rear wheel started to overtake the front.

Or the time when I was practicing for a GS ski race in Austria, at some point made a silly but serious mistake, and ended up (according to witnesses) 50 feet in the air, somersaulting gracefully until I hit the ground, several times before I finally settled.

In diving I was at 109 metres on my CCR when suddenly the manual override valve for oxygen malfunctioned. I first knew about the problem when the high pO2 audible warning sounded at pO2 of 1.6, and in the very few seconds it took to come off the loop and onto OC and check my computers the pO2 had risen to 4.0.

None of these was especially enjoyable at the time, but they're all part of life's rich pageant!

 

[BoltSnap]

What about split fins? Can I die with dignity wearing my Atomics?

Not if they are pink.

 

[jepuskar]

So how come you ain't dead yet?

... and where's that BP/W video of yours anyway?

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

This one? YouTube - BP/W vs BC.wmv

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Or the time when I was practicing for a GS ski race in Austria, at some point made a silly but serious mistake, and ended up (according to witnesses) 50 feet in the air, somersaulting gracefully until I hit the ground, several times before I finally settled.

I did something like that one time in my younger daze ... ended up in the branches of a tree. One ski popped off, the other one didn't. When I stopped, I was dangling upside down by one leg, with my head about four feet off the snow. It wasn't particularly life-threatening (might've been if I'd hit the trunk instead of branches) ... but it was hugely embarrassing. Me and my buddies were cliff-jumping, and there was an audience of about 40 people watching me do it. Fortunately some were willing to come help me get myself outta that tree.

I got a lot of "10"s that day ...

... Bob (grateful Diver)

 

[Airleron]

One was when I was parachuting, and intended to land between two large trees. I had completely forgotten that between them was a third tree, equally large, that I couldn't see because I was directly above it. So I hit it (at about 70mph), stayed suspended for a moment while my parachute collapsed, then continued the 55ft to a very hard ground.

A very close shave was when I tried to land an aircraft in fog on a grass runway next to some trees, and realised just in time that I was actually headed for the trees. Another was when I took off in a plane that was too heavily laden and realised just as I lifted off that I wasn't going to clear the church steeple just ahead. I swerved past it about halfway up it. Another flying one was when I was flying through the Alps at night in dense cloud and the aircraft began icing up. That same flight ended when I managed to get to my destination airfield in England, but the engine quit through lack of fuel immediately after touch down and before I got to the aircraft parking space. Actually I have several more flying ones, like the two occasions when I nearly pancaked on top of another aircraft. Neither occasion was my fault, but that doesn't help a lot.

Or there was the time when I was motorcycling in the middle of the night in an English winter, and suddenly realised that I was on black ice. I was going at 140mph when the rear wheel started to overtake the front.

Or the time when I was practicing for a GS ski race in Austria, at some point made a silly but serious mistake, and ended up (according to witnesses) 50 feet in the air, somersaulting gracefully until I hit the ground, several times before I finally settled.

In diving I was at 109 metres on my CCR when suddenly the manual override valve for oxygen malfunctioned. I first knew about the problem when the high pO2 audible warning sounded at pO2 of 1.6, and in the very few seconds it took to come off the loop and onto OC and check my computers the pO2 had risen to 4.0.

None of these was especially enjoyable at the time, but they're all part of life's rich pageant!

You Win!!!!!

 

[Hoomi]

The danger factor is only going to be an appeal to adrenalin junkies. I'm sure there are plenty of those in diving, but the pleasure I've found in diving isn't in some kind of "I've beaten death yet again" rush.

The pleasure I find in diving is in the way that being underwater disconnects me from the cares of life above water. It's in being able to float amongst the marine wildlife, and see for myself the things I used to find so awesome in Cousteau specials and other underwater cinematography. It's feeling weightless to move in three dimensions with minimal effort, or to just hang suspended, motionless in the water column.

If I wanted a rush in cheating death, there are plenty of ways of getting that, closer to home, with minimal equipment to purchase, and no need for specialized training.

 

[san diego diver]

i was in Indonesia and one of our group died while on a night dive.
we believe he had a heart attack.
he was 72 years old, and knew the risks of diving,and accepted them.
he died in a tropical paradise, diving Lembaugh , doing what he loved.
he died with dignity and his death brought our group much closer together .
there was no criticism of him because of his choice to dive at his age, or analysis of reasons that he died , we just accepted his death and continued on with the trip.

 

[pir8]

i was in Indonesia and one of our group died while on a night dive.
we believe he had a heart attack.
he was 72 years old, and knew the risks of diving,and accepted them.
he died in a tropical paradise, diving Lembaugh , doing what he loved.
he died with dignity and his death brought our group much closer together .
there was no criticism of him because of his choice to dive at his age, or analysis of reasons that he died , we just accepted his death and continued on with the trip.

Sounds like he died doing what he loved.

 

[Farback]

I agree with the sentiments above. I'd rather die 'with my boots on' than waiting for it in a hospital bed, way past the point of being the person I've been. I see no dignity in a slow death. I've been a firefighter, tech rope rescue and PSD guy for 20 years, and I've seen a lot of sudden deaths; sometimes right in front of my eyes. I know it's not pleasant to die from trauma (mechanical, fire or drowning) but I would far prefer it to dying in a bed. As the old Apache saying goes, 'may a warrior's death find you'.

 

[dmcutter]

I bet you wouldn't "far prefer it" if it came 20 or 30 years too soon...I think a massive coronary while diving would be a relatively good way to go, assuming you were at a ripe old age and it was very sudden so you didn't realize you were drowning. As far as 72 being a ripe old age, well, my stepmother is just turning 70 and is a couple OW dives away from her certification.