Inconsistent message to new divers

[Hetland]

I don't really have a much of a point - this is just me observing out loud. But on a related note, I would love to see SB'ers stop blaming new divers for just about everything that goes wrong and apply a proportionate blame to the dive ops who take advantage of a new divers' naivete and lead them into potentially dangerous situations. I think we need to recognize that new divers who do not read SB or other forums probably have no clue that "trust me" dives are bad. You can't be responsible for what you don't know (or maybe you can - what do I know?)

First, I'll say that every dive is a potentially dangerous situation. Holding your breath during an ascent from the bottom of a 15ft training pool is a good example of how one can kill themselves as early as class 2 of their open water course.

I see many newer divers pushing themselves beyond their training and experience. I was once guilty of this myself. I thought when I hit 25, 50, 100, and 200 dives, that I knew what I was doing. What I've found somewhere along the way, is that I MAY make tiny improvements on my individual dives, but I really learn more about what I don't know (which is vast) each dive. I'm usually more comfortable underwater than I am out of the water, but I find myself being more careful. I start my ascent a little earlier, I ascend a little slower, stay on my safety stop a little longer. I examine my own mistakes, and the mistakes of others, and try to learn from them.

I agree that shady dive ops, and incompetent dive masters should shoulder a percentage of the blame when bad practices contribute to injuries and deaths, and I also agree that a new diver doesn't know what they don't know, especially if their initial training is poor, and they've not built appropriate experience for the dives they attempt, but ultimately it's the individual diver's responsibility not to dive beyond their comfort level, not to dive deeper than their training/experience, not to ascend faster than their bubbles/computer, not to hold their breath, not to run out of air, not to overstay past their NDL, and to take the time to complete a safety stop. These are the basics, and there shouldn't be any compromising these elements because someone with 1,000 dives tells you it's okay.