Tldr: Surviving a dive beyond our training/experience is luck and not skill. Nothing to be proud of. The record was set long ago.
Why do I keep hearing divers retelling happily the one time they went beyond their own safe diving limits and lived to tell about it?
Noticed a paragraph by John J. Gruener marking the 50th anniversary of their deep recreational air SCUBA dive.
The offical record for this specific hobby dive stands from 1968 - John J. Gruener and R. Neal Watson
(It's deep for a hobby diver)
Posting as a perspective note to those trying to set personal "depth records" in single tank rigs on air and feeling proud enough to repeat the story to other divers. Today there's nothing skilful about surviving "Russian roulette".
There are safer ways to enjoy depth.
In the past 50 years I would like to think we have matured as a community. Today dropping down to 132ft so a computer will record the max depth or feeling the need to talk about your 200ft dive in terms of depth and narcosis only speaks more to dumb luck and poor judgement then a mark of skill and training as a diver.
If we are going to happily recount the stories of the deep, let's tell each other the one's where we dive wisely within our training/experience. Or tell the story as a lesson learned without glory.
Nothing to be gained by being or encouraging the next fatality.
Bit of a rant / but also puzzled and wondering what we can do to help shift a dive culture.
Cameron
Why do I keep hearing divers retelling happily the one time they went beyond their own safe diving limits and lived to tell about it?
Noticed a paragraph by John J. Gruener marking the 50th anniversary of their deep recreational air SCUBA dive.
The offical record for this specific hobby dive stands from 1968 - John J. Gruener and R. Neal Watson
(It's deep for a hobby diver)
Posting as a perspective note to those trying to set personal "depth records" in single tank rigs on air and feeling proud enough to repeat the story to other divers. Today there's nothing skilful about surviving "Russian roulette".
There are safer ways to enjoy depth.
In the past 50 years I would like to think we have matured as a community. Today dropping down to 132ft so a computer will record the max depth or feeling the need to talk about your 200ft dive in terms of depth and narcosis only speaks more to dumb luck and poor judgement then a mark of skill and training as a diver.
If we are going to happily recount the stories of the deep, let's tell each other the one's where we dive wisely within our training/experience. Or tell the story as a lesson learned without glory.
Nothing to be gained by being or encouraging the next fatality.
Bit of a rant / but also puzzled and wondering what we can do to help shift a dive culture.
Cameron
