Bonne Terre Mine, MO

[Hoosier]

Randy,

Gee~~, was it cheap post? I pretend to be expensive though.
Good, we are both cheap. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thanks.
P.S. I am still waiting for Bigblue63304's explanation.

This post was kinda cheap... for me, anyway.

Thanks for the information. I appreciate it.

Randy

P.S. I'm going diving the mine this coming weekend and will let you know how it went and my overall impression of the operation. By the way, I'm very cheap! Just ask anyone who knows me!

 

[Randy43068]

you get to Gilboa this summer let me know.

Maybe we can get a dive in together.

Randy

Randy,

Gee~~, was it cheap post? I pretend to be expensive though.
Good, we are both cheap. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thanks.
P.S. I am still waiting for Bigblue63304's explanation.

 

[crpntr133]

Since Big Blue now has pretty much been shot down I doubt he will be back. And if he does come back to post here I am sure that it will be more BS.
Thanks Hoosier for covering the legal aspect of this thread.
Randy43068, I hope you enjoy your dives at BT. Anyone posting here that says they have dove, or going to dive, the mine and are cheap are just kidding themselves. I think most would agree that it isn't the cheapest dives around. But it was sure a different environment.

 

[Randy43068]

I dove the mine! I'll write a trip report and submit it in a day or two. All in all, it was a great trip and really interesting diving. I'm going back!
Several points I'd like to make.
1) I've never seen a more safety concious group of divemasters.. ever.
2) Before the mine was turned into a comercial dive operation several divers died. When one wanted to dive the mine, they paid the owner (not sure who owned it) five to ten bucks and the owner tossed the keys to the diver. It's a huge cavern/cave system and it's easy to see how an unprepared, untrained diver could die there. Those days are now gone.
3) Everyone associated with the dive/mine operation was extremely nice, and polite. We had a group of 14 divers and all had same oppinion.
4) It's a different kind of diving, but enjoyable for every skill level.

 

[Randy43068]

Several years ago, acording to present day management, several divers actually did die there. The mine is HUGE and the water can be dangerious if a diver doesn't have the skill or equipment for cave/cavern diving while diving alone back then.

As it was explained by the staff at the mine, when someone wanted to dive they paid 5 to 10 bucks and they got the keys... The water is, naturally, in total darkness and there are miles and miles of water down there. One could easily, while exploring, get into a situation that they couldn't get out of if not properly trained and equipped.
Those days are long gone, however. They don't allow anyone to be in the mine or water without an escort. It's a good idea, if you ask me.

Wow, all of this so "easy" to find stuff is a pain in the *** to find. I've looked 3 times now, and I can't find anything on anyone dying in Bonne Terre mine except here on Scuba Board. Well, there was the guy who died after an explosion in the mine . . . damn, I bet it was the meth lab exploding LOL. The only reason I haven't been is b/c I don't have my dry suit yet, and it costs too damn much!

 

[Randy43068]

You can check all the facts with the bonn terre police department, the missouri state police department, and the st.louis post dispatch. You can probably find additional information on the local news channel websites such as KSDK 5. KMOX 4. KTVI 2. KPLR 11. the best bet would be to check the archived material, and don't for get to check the public records of the area Including public libraries and at the city halls. I would much rather that no one takes my word on anything and they do check these sources out for themselves. Do the leg work my man, you'll learn more than you want.

All of that is past history. I think you may be refering to a time, maybe in the 70's and 80's before the mine turned into a comercial dive operation. Today, it's extremely safe. Well as safe as diving can get. If one is a terrible diver, they won't be safe in the mine or in any water for that matter.

 

[Randy43068]

Yeah, if you do go to Bonn terre mines, they won't shut up about two minutes of footage being shot in the old lead mine. They are the only people I will rag on, only because I seen first hand, some very unforgivable mistakes with a buch of newbies, that should have been cared for more a lot more than they were, and if it wasn't for the people that paid to go there, they might have been fishing somebodies out later that day.

This is one of the safest sports in the world, when people follow their training!! And there are no other sports out there, that has so many different ave. to go through. It's really a crying shame when you have an ego maniac, running a center and his personality starts attracting others just like him, then you get nothing but a big pissing contest between all of the dive guides, and they are only concerened with how cool they are.

One bad apple can do so much damage. I have done several dives with them because they was not too many placese to go in Missouri. I have 10 trips in that mine under my belt, because I used to live less than an hour away.

You seem to have an axe to grind, and are off track with today's dive/mine operation.
No one can keep track of every bad diver, but these guys do a more than excellent job of being safe. There is a dive leader and one or two safety divers, depending on the size of the group. If they had a group of really bad or new out of control divers, they would take them on very easy trails until there skills got better, or they wouldn't dive there. The people I met (and there were several) were very, very safety concious. They're nice people and don't want anyone getting hurt, especially while under their supervision.

 

[Randy43068]

Did any of the dive guides (tail guide) leave you beind, when you started into the overhead areas? That's what happend with us. Make no mistakes, I enjoy cave diving! But this place does not have a good saftey reputation, and to give people options of "wimping" out is not really a good solution for handleing overhead structures. I only use the term wimping out meaning that regardless of all the training, people will still want to try and be the big man and do what all of the others are doing regardless if they are having reservations in their own mind about this (i.e. stress and such don't mix with diving). The best and most logical thing for them to do, is not allow anyone into any overheads unless they are certified in an intro cave dive, and have the equipment for this activity!! If Doug was running a responsible dive operation, he would insist on this. But, in my oppinon he is more into the money than they concern, saftey, and education of diving. So for that I have to give him four out of five skull and cross bones.

No dive operation can make turn a bad diver with poor judgement into a good diver in one dive..

 

[pete v]

No dive operation can make turn a bad diver with poor judgement into a good diver in one dive..

in this thread i wrote earlier about the rumers with coustermer service, it sounds like that some people have had great experences and others did not, and the opions do vary quiet a bit on this site, i will have to try it and see for myself. thnaks for the info

 

[theskull]

in this thread i wrote earlier about the rumers with coustermer service, it sounds like that some people have had great experences and others did not, and the opions do vary quiet a bit on this site, i will have to try it and see for myself. thnaks for the info

Yes, trying it yourself IS the answer. I've surfaced from perfect dives in the Carribean and heard divers on the same dive say, "That sucked--the viz was only 60 feet and the giant sea turtle wouldn't hold still for me to take his picture!" Opinions will vary . . . a lot!

theskull