An Accident Waiting to Happen

[jheil82]

The below post is one I ran into today on one of SportDiver.com's forums, which is very scary. I decided to post it here with my response so the thought never crosses a new divers mind.

Hello there,
This is my first time in the forum. I am a swimmer desiring to become a diver. I am going in vacation and my brother asked me to buy some equipment for diving. He is not a professional diver and is not attempting to dive more than 100m. I was checking the web and saw H2O EXTRA AIR SOURCE COMPLETE KIT-2ND GENERATION in http://www.scuba.com/shop/product.asp?category=33&fromsearch=1&hashvalue=033016/043068
I don't know if this is a good choice or not. Can you tell me please if I am completely off base what to do? If this is the right equipment how do you refill it, what extras are needed?
Thanks in advance

Hello, there are a few things I think you should know about diving before you get to deep into it.

1. You must become certified before you even think about going diving. Many places these days don't ask to see a cert card to buy gear, but if you go out with a tank and reg and no education you likely will not live to tell about it.
2. 100m is beyond the limits of even many technical divers (328'). Even 100 ft is a depth requiring additional training if your units just got messed up. If you meant your brother is a certified recreational diver, but not a dive professional (instructor, commercial diver) than 135' would be the max depth he should ever be at, and that requires experience and additional training.
3. The set-up you reference is to be a back up in the event you have a problem with your regular scuba set up at depth. It will only provide you enough air to make it to the surface.

If you would like to get into diving you should go to http://www.padi.com/padi/common/dcnr/default.aspxand look up a dive center close to you who can help you with training and eventually the gear you will need.

Whatever you do, do not go diving until you have had the necessary training, even if you are going to go with someone who is trained.

 

[kirwoodd]

While I agree with you, the original post looks like a troll to me.

 

[ItsBruce]

Tell the guy to make sure his affairs are in order, that his will is properly signed and that he should write the name of his next of kin on his arm. Also, if he would allow me to buy a policy of life insurance on him, with me as the beneficiary, I'd be real appreciative...I'm feeling real luck with this one.

 

[rjpv]

I really doubt many people actually do this.

First of all, sinking on purpose is not an easy thing to do (instictually), I doubt most of us could have done it before our first OW class.

Second, you'd have to know just enough to figure out HOW to sink ("I need weights!") and not enough to figure out that you were an idiot for trying without proper training. However I suppose this applies mostly to cold water areas where you'd be wearing neoprene... if not... well the bar drops a bit.

 

[mamashark]

I can see how this would happen. I had several people tell me that I didn't need to take a class to dive, that they would show me all I needed to know. Well....I was smart enough to take a class. And I am glad I did. There is more to know then just putting an air hose into you mouth and going under water. I also checked out that website. Pretty cheesy itself. Half of the questions newbies are asking went without one reply...for months.

 

[Cacia]

While I know where you all are coming from, I must say it frightens me when people cannot inquire about things. Remember, he is asking a question, that is all.

 

[newbie_diver]

100 M???? I wouldnt dare go more than 10 M....5 is enough for me

 

[Lost_At_Sea]

100m is way too deep for me. People will do what they want to do. I wouldnt do it. I think this guy needs some education.

 

[RonFrank]

It's very difficut to tell much from the original post.

First, is the guys brother certified? Maybe he is, and is looking to have his brother get him a spare air kit. Certainly no harm in that, and he may live in a location where getting such equipment is difficult, or expensive.

The original poster says he wants to become a diver, but he does not really say how he plans to go about that. One could assume that he is going to bypass an OW class, but that is an assumption. As a non-diver, he may not understand or be quoting max depth correctly.

I understand that people want to encourage safe diving, and proper training, however people appear to be reading a lot into the original post without getting the facts.

IMO the best thing to do would be to ask the original poster what his intention is before going off on a rant.

 

[divinginn]

100 meters probably meant 100 ft