Is a free diver a diver?

[Eric Sedletzky]

People on the North Coast who ab dove before scuba was available were called divers.
When scuba came around there were divers and scuba divers.
Now they are called freedivers and scuba divers.
When people hear the word "divers" they now think they are scuba divers because the simple term "divers" was taken from freedivers and given to scuba divers.
As a Sonoma County local when I hear that 3 divers died on the north coast during ab season there's a 90% chance they were abalone freedivers.
If the same thing happened in a quarry somewhere in the middle of the country it would probably mean 90% chance they were scuba divers.

At any rate who gives a crap about terminology.
All I can say is my heart goes out to the poor families and friends of the victims.
God rest their souls.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

What if a freediver used a scuba bottle.. I bet that would really, REALLY piss you off...

[video=youtube_share;r-L9extLDZQ]http://youtu.be/r-L9extLDZQ[/video]

 

[Tigerman]

What if a freediver used a scuba bottle.. I bet that would really, REALLY piss you off...
...

No, but when the media referr to it as his oxygen tank running out of air at 30 meters, it kinda annoy me..

 

[elmer fudd]

I hate freedivers! Never pitching in for gas, always wanting free air, using everybody else' old hand-me-down gear so that they don't have to buy any of their own and always expecting to eat your food.

They're just a bunch of cheapskates.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

No, but when the media referr to it as his oxygen tank running out of air at 30 meters, it kinda annoy me..

What idiots! Everyone knows you fill an oxygen bottle with oxygen, not AIR!

 

[Tigerman]

What idiots! Everyone knows you fill an oxygen bottle with oxygen, not AIR!

Yeah! Like REALLY!?! Conataminating the oxygen bottle with filthy air?

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Who is a real diver and who is a clueless, with near zero situational awareness?
[video=youtube_share;_JIKNLdEJ-s]http://youtu.be/_JIKNLdEJ-s[/video]

 

[TMHeimer]

Get over it. A diver is a diver.

Right on. And I thought I was a stickler for proper wording & semantics. When I was a kid I believe scuba diving was referred to as skin diving--same thing. Now skin diving means either freediving or snorkelling when you descend off & on to the the bottom or at least down a bit. Part of the PADI OW course is some snorkelling but going down to the pool deep end. That is called skin diving in the course. I thought that was just plain old snorkelling like I did for 35 years. So then what is pure snorkelling? We need a few more posts on this subject.

 

[Bob DBF]

Right on. And I thought I was a stickler for proper wording & semantics. When I was a kid I believe scuba diving was referred to as skin diving--same thing. Now skin diving means either freediving or snorkelling when you descend off & on to the the bottom or at least down a bit. Part of the PADI OW course is some snorkelling but going down to the pool deep end. That is called skin diving in the course. I thought that was just plain old snorkelling like I did for 35 years. So then what is pure snorkelling? We need a few more posts on this subject.

I lived through all this and I thought I knew what I was doing, but I guess I was wrong.




Bob
-----------------------------
I may be old, but I'm not dead yet.

 

[agilis]

Anything defined or given a designation by a certifying agency is is almost certainly incorrect, misleading and irresponsible. I can't understand the importance some people attach to this issue. Anyone who systematically descends beneath the water's surface is a diver. There are many different styles and types of divers, but they are all divers, every one. The use and implication of some terms has changed over time, sometimes because technologies change and sometimes because a group of divers choose to designate significant techniques they have developed, like 'technical divers'. The validity or logic of these subgroupings can frequently be measured by considering the antonym. Untechnical? Perhaps highly effecient and logically designed is more accurate than the ambiguous term 'technical'. The real distinction is between skillful well trained divers and the remaining 98% whose primary function is that of consumer.