How does one avoid a Trust Me dive ??

[Mako Mark]

I think a trust me dive is when the little voice in the back of your head tells you that the dive is a bad idea, and beyond you capabilities and someone else tells you to trust them to take care of the critical information that pertains to your health, safety, life and personal well being.

Trust no one. Except yourself, unless you are willing to accept the consequences of the possible outcome of that persons lack of jugement.

This is not to say that an experienced guide, divemaster or instructor cannot help you expand your range and depth of experience, but they should explain their descisions to you and let you agree or dissagree with them rather than just telling you that they know best or it will be OK.

 

[Atticus]

Assuming a relatively inexperienced diver on a boat with a DM that is to guide the group...

Ask a lot of questions. If the DM doesn't have answers or is wishy-washy about their answers then ask more questions.

You need to end up with a level of confidence that would lead to you doing the dive with or without the DM.

This includes planning the dive on your tables, being willing to call an end to the dive (with or without the DM) if the plan is deviated from in a manner in which you are not confident, etc.

You need to take responsibility for your own and your buddies lives. The DM is there to help, but at the end of the day it's your butt and your responsibility.

As a DM I would much rather someone call a dive (even at an awkward time) than have them blindly continue forward when they've lost confidence. We hear about divers following a DM after telling him their remaining pressure, and continuing to follow the DM until their tank empties! WRONG!

Just my 2 psi...

 

[DORSETBOY]

If I am not confortable or my wife is unsure, we don't go and both of us have called a dive when we encountered a severe surge at a particular site.
Sean

Sean I think this is a really sensible, mature attitude. I personally think that I widened the scope of my experience by making plenty of dives within my experience and then occasionally stretching the limits bit by bit. If you are very comfortable diving within your previous limits then it's not such a leap to stretch these limits.

 

[Diver0001]

....snip.... When does it go from pushing the scope of your training to a trust me dive?

It becomes a trust me dive when you wouldn't have been able to plan and execute the dive yourself.

R..

 

[ninjamuzo]

When I go to a new site even though I might have the experience to do the dive then I like to have a 'local' take my on my first one.

This applies for recreational diving and for technical diving e.g. a cave or a wreck it can allow you to explore more than you would be able to if the site was being treated as a first exploration.

I recently dived Turtle Cave at Sipidan. We were given a map and told that a guide was mandatory. We dived with doubles and our guide did the whole thing with a single tank. We could have done the dive on our own but we would not have covered the site in as much detail as we did with the guide.

I agree with many of the posts above however. The real question you need to ask is do you trust yourself for the dive, i.e. are you comfortable with the depth, plan etc. If not there is no shame in deciding not to go.

In cave diving the motto is simple, "Anyone can call the dive for any reason and they will not be asked why." This approach is just as valid for any other dive in my mind.

 

[Winton]

Sean,
Sport Diving is fun, if it feels like work or stress or that it just isn't going to be fun, slak off and have a beer or soda, your call. :06:

Winton

 

[miketsp]

The type of dive I love most is a fast drift. Now if I go to a new location and there is a drift available but I am not familiar with the local currents and bottom topology how do I avoid putting myself in the hands of the DM and the boat handler?

In this case the above criteria of being able to plan and execute the dive myself rarely holds true.

In many cases you have to know exactly where to inject yourself into the current by coming out from behind a protecting ledge at a certain place and at what point you need to make an effort to get to an exit point.

 

[Diver0001]

....snip....

In this case the above criteria of being able to plan and execute the dive myself rarely holds true.

There is a big difference between an orientation, a guided dive and a trust me dive.

R..

 

[ABQdiver]

It becomes a trust me dive when you wouldn't have been able to plan and execute the dive yourself.

R..

Well Said!!
The more a diver plans and executes those dives the more comfortable they will get. There will always be situations that are new for that diver. As long as the new things don't add up to a stress situation the dive is manageable and enjoyable.

If we pay attention to ourselves, the situation and environment we will learn something from "every" dive.

 

[Curt Bowen]

The best way to expand your level of experience is to surround yourself with divers who have much more experience then you. Take the time to learn from their experience and equipment configurations.

These are not trust me dives, they are teach me dives. You cannot get experience if you do not dive in new tougher locations.