Cautionary tale for new divers

[Marie13]

I have a Facebook friend who is a newish diver. Not that many dives. Has AOW. Keeps posting on FB about deeper and deeper dives. I’m taking diver’s posts at face value. I’m concerned person is an accident waiting to happen. Thinks a pool session is sufficient practice for major equipment changes, not the quarry.

Please don’t do this. Gradually build up your experience. Maybe you have a high comfort level for doing 130ft dives within a short time of getting certified, but take your time. There’s nothing to be gained by pushing things. You have everything to lose.

If you’re pushing boundaries and someone expresses concerns to you about it, please stop and consider what they are saying.

FB friend doesn’t seem receptive to my concerns. I just hope this individual doesn’t have an accident.

 

[lv2dive]

I agree with your overall point. As a cave diver, I definitely see people going very quickly into advanced dives they are not ready for - and there have certainly been some instances where it did not go well for them.

That being said... I’d suggest to keep in mind not everyone has access to a quarry. Depending on the equipment change, a pool session may be adequate. Also, in fairness, a lot of people make equipment changes without even bothering with a pool session.

I do hope your friend slows down if they are moving too quickly... unfortunately, there are a lot of people who do not want take as much time as optimal.

I have a Facebook friend who is a newish diver. Not that many dives. Has AOW. Keeps posting on FB about deeper and deeper dives. I’m taking diver’s posts at face value. I’m concerned person is an accident waiting to happen. Thinks a pool session is sufficient practice for major equipment changes, not the quarry...

 

[Marie13]

I agree with your overall point. As a cave diver, I definitely see people going very quickly into advanced dives they are not ready for - and there have certainly been some instances where it did not go well for them.

That being said... I’d suggest to keep in mind not everyone has access to a quarry. Depending on the equipment change, a pool session may be adequate. Also, in fairness, a lot of people make equipment changes without even bothering with a pool session.

I do hope your friend slows down if they are moving too quickly... unfortunately, there are a lot of people who do not want take as much time as optimal.

Said person does have quarry access. The mindset is what worries me. Try out major gear change in a pool and take it down to 130ft the next day. If you don’t have quarry access, but try new gear out on a shallow dive, that’s fine. But really deep? Grrr. When my concerns have been pooh-poohed and brushed off, that’s when I got worried. Just hope I don’t hear on FB about an accident.

 

[MargaritaMike]

Are they married/connected? Get the SO involved. If this person listens then the SO was effective. If it causes them to split up, then the SO won't have to go to the memorial service.

 

[Bierstadt]

I am always tweaking my setup. I don't think I've gone on more than 2 dives this year without some little change. But how many major changes can this person really make? If this guy doesn't know what he doesn't know then I agree, he is putting himself at elevated risk. If knows what he is doing then it is less of a concern. Obviously everything that has been mentioned is generalities. I have had some dives that I learned a lot from and other I learned nothing. We weight averages and infer experience, but it is impossible to be certain without actually engaging the diver in question.

I would suggest using your depth of knowledge with this diver - it is entirely possible to make someone pause and think with technical discussion whereby they realize they are exceeding their skills with their aggressive approach, where a general questioning of readiness is ignored as "training agency nonsense." But you can only do so much, and every diver holds responsibility for his or her own life and safety.

 

[kelemvor]

I have a Facebook friend who is a newish diver. Not that many dives. Has AOW. Keeps posting on FB about deeper and deeper dives. I’m taking diver’s posts at face value. I’m concerned person is an accident waiting to happen. Thinks a pool session is sufficient practice for major equipment changes, not the quarry.

Please don’t do this. Gradually build up your experience. Maybe you have a high comfort level for doing 130ft dives within a short time of getting certified, but take your time. There’s nothing to be gained by pushing things. You have everything to lose.

If you’re pushing boundaries and someone expresses concerns to you about it, please stop and consider what they are saying.

FB friend doesn’t seem receptive to my concerns. I just hope this individual doesn’t have an accident.

I guess it's a matter of what your agency taught you is a "recreational depth". I went NAUI and 130 is the limit. Unless they've got one of those underage cards for kids, which carry some shallower limitation... I wouldn't personally worry about anything within that 130' limit. Even then I still might not say much because I'm not sure doing so is my business.

Beyond 130 it's tough to do the dive without incurring a deco obligation of having to deal with some narcosis so maybe additional training is needed. Some of the easy drift diving in Cozumel and Florida (east coast) area are a good 100' or so.

 

[Lorenzoid]

. . . Gradually build up your experience. Maybe you have a high comfort level for doing 130ft dives within a short time of getting certified, but take your time. There’s nothing to be gained by pushing things. You have everything to lose. . . .

A good point here is that how fast one attempts to build up experience should also depend on the dive conditions. A prudent diver might take more time building up to, say, 130 feet in Great Lakes conditions than clear tropical conditions.

 

[Marie13]

I’m dealing in generalities for obvious reasons. The reality would make your toes curl. Diver in question has a partner, but I cannot tell if partner is on FB or not.

 

[soggybadger]

How many dives should you have under your belt before you attempt a deep dive? For me it was down to 36m for my deep cert after fifteen dives and then a few more before I hit 30 dives. Wasn't much different from any of the others.

 

[soggybadger]

And is 40m proper deep? I'm not saying you are wrong to be concerned about your friend but some people are still liable to kill themselves after 50 dives and others seem to have it down cold after very little practice. Obviously experience is lacking but how much new equipment are they adding? Are we talking about primary equipment or might get used extras?