Honest assessment?

[northernone]

Considering the human aspect of technical diving.

As I meet more complicated divers I've noticed we all feel we are safe and largely 'right' regarding our favorite dive practices. And a good number seem to think others are unsafe, misinformed, and propagating dangerous theories and executing dives unwisely.

What has helped you gauge your own decisions as safe enough for you and loved ones close to you?

I watched a Wes Skiles interview this evening.

Regards,
Cameron

 

[The Chairman]

My first dive was in 1969. I have yet to be bent or seriously hurt. I think I'm doing something right after 48 years.

 

[kensuf]

My dead friends.

Edited to add:

Between 1995 and 2001 I lost 7 friends. The first one was a really close friend that was my IT when I became an assistant instructor and he and I completed full cave together in January 1995 -- the anniversary of his fatality is tomorrow, actually.

There were lessons that I learned from every single one of those fatalities that have shaped my dive planning and practices. The lessons I learned range from making sure I'm mentally and physically fit for any dive, to making sure I analyze a tank before putting a regulator on it, to making sure I have more than adequate gas reserves to conduct a dive safely, to making sure I'm not pushing drastically beyond my limits, to making sure I follow the basic rules of cave diving safety.

 

[Patoux01]

I watched a Wes Skiles interview this evening.

Yah, not sure that's the safest diver I've heard of tbh.


I tend to base my choices on reasoning and discussion, not on "my instructor said" or "that very well known diver once said", which kind of helps, once you go through the steps of thinking about issues and procedures, you tend to have done enough...

 

[PfcAJ]

I looked at who was successful and copied.

 

[2airishuman]

What has helped you gauge your own decisions as safe enough for you and loved ones close to you?

A combination of tradition (which is what the major agency training is really about) together with DAN reports, A&I, and the like.

I follow the tradition except in a couple of areas, where I've thought through my choices at length in light of the accident reports.

That keeps me closer to the center than you and many on these boards would find acceptable. For example, I have no interest in diving a rebreather, because too many people have died, and because I cannot convince myself that I am different enough from them that their history doesn't apply to me.

My first dive was in 1969. I have yet to be bent or seriously hurt. I think I'm doing something right after 48 years.

Whatever works for you. In this and many other endeavors, I apply 2air's razor:

"Never ascribe to good judgment what can be adequately explained by good luck"

Don't misunderstand me, though: from everything I've seen you post, your approach to diving is a safe one. But that does not follow automatically from the fact that you have been diving for 48 years without getting bent or seriously hurt. There is one recently-banned contributor here whose diving history is of similar length who has never, as far as I know, been bent or seriously hurt. I seem to recall that you consider his approach to diving to, how shall we say, pose safety risks that you yourself would not take.

 

[The Chairman]

I looked at who was successful and copied.

I saw who got hurt and avoided those kinds of dives.

 

[Doby45]

I get all my dive wisdom from those guys on "Cooper's Treasure".

 

[gobuyastick]

Have a sense of humility, be able to see your own flaws whether it's diving related or not. Easiest example is to have your buddy video you during a dive, people would be surprised at how they actually are and not how they perceive they are.

 

[DevonDiver]

1) Community consensus - The stuff that's been tried, tested and adopted by the majority (and at the highest levels).. that stands rigorous critique.

2) Accident Analysis - The mistakes that we can learn from and shouldn't replicate.

3) What's worked for me - that reduces task loading, eases dive operation, causes least issues.

4) What works best for students - who are still developing competencies and are likely to expose issues with practices and equipment strategies.

5) Near-misses - analysed as per accidents.