No solo diving in overhead environment

[MXGratefulDiver]

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Oh my ... all that picture demonstrates is why that diver has no business being in an overhead.

- Piss poor trim ... regardless of the "pose" the moment you attempt to move from that position you're going to kick up silt.
- Lack of a guideline to the entrance. Sure, it's right above your head, and you can see the sunlight. But once you silt the place out that opening isn't going to be nearly as obvious as you think it will.
- Arms out like that are typically indicative of someone who doesn't know how to use their fins to control their position in the water. In fact, that person looks like they're coming in for a landing (on their knees).
- No redundancy ... if I have to explain why that's a bad idea in an overhead, you certainly aren't ready to be in one.

Epic fail ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

---------- Post added January 27th, 2014 at 05:38 AM ----------

Actually, according to Animal Planet, you are number 3 behind Volusia County, FL and South Africa. You are number one at poorly managing the problem, however. Where we see sharks, we see dollar signs. I don't understand why the NSW government is spending money to eradicate sharks, though. Call in a few Taiwanese fishing boats and they will wipe the sharks out in a matter of a few short seasons.

Sorry for the off topic rant.

Wrong country there, Frank ... Taiwan banned shark finning in 2011 ... they were the first country in Asia to do so.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[tstormdiver]

Have another look. I don't think he's carrying a torch either. He is however trained in penetration diving unlike myself.

Don't get me wrong, I fully endorse what you are suggesting in an appropriate context.

Saw something in the right hand,.. but could not surmise what it was,... may be a light,... may not be,..... be hard to tell from the picture.

 

[Foxfish]

Actually, according to Animal Planet, you are number 3 behind Volusia County, FL and South Africa. You are number one at poorly managing the problem, however. Where we see sharks, we see dollar signs. I don't understand why the NSW government is spending money to eradicate sharks, though. Call in a few Taiwanese fishing boats and they will wipe the sharks out in a matter of a few short seasons.

Sorry for the off topic rant.

Okay we may have slipped. In 2011 we had three fatal attacks. At a guess it has been something like 15 fatal attacks in the same number of years. I often dive sites where large white pointers are seen lurking within a few kilometres.

A few weeks back a dive course was ordered out of the water when one was spotted close by. I saw a few of the students at one of the dive shops a few hours later. They'd seen the shark about 15 m away. Ironically the dive shop running the course had an article in the paper a week or so earlier stating the risk of an attack was so low people didn't need to be concerned.

In other words, I consider the risk of an attack significant. So does the government and they're now catching and destroying those that pose a problem.

Off topic? Yes and no. It highlights that risks vary in different locations.

 

[Wookie]

Wrong country there, Frank ... Taiwan banned shark finning in 2011 ... they were the first country in Asia to do so.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Sorry, Bob. When I was on Johnston Island you could see the population of sharks change if there were a Taiwanese fishing boat in the area. We knew that they were Taiwanese because every now and again, one of the hands would stick a fish hook in his eye and require medivac. The whole island would shut down because a non secure person was on island.

Kudos to Taiwan for stopping that disaster.

 

[Foxfish]

Oh my ... all that picture demonstrates is why that diver has no business being in an overhead.

- Piss poor trim ... regardless of the "pose" the moment you attempt to move from that position you're going to kick up silt.
- Lack of a guideline to the entrance. Sure, it's right above your head, and you can see the sunlight. But once you silt the place out that opening isn't going to be nearly as obvious as you think it will.
- Arms out like that are typically indicative of someone who doesn't know how to use their fins to control their position in the water. In fact, that person looks like they're coming in for a landing (on their knees).
- No redundancy ... if I have to explain why that's a bad idea in an overhead, you certainly aren't ready to be in one.

Epic fail ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

And Bob you won't be surprised to know we didn't do a gas management plan before the dive apart from the 50b rule. Neither did we plan the route we were going to dive apart from jump in swim around near the boat and jump out back at the boat - unless you get lost.

I've never noticed my buddy's lack of finesse and neither does he so we get along fine. We had a great dive.

---------- Post added January 27th, 2014 at 09:16 AM ----------

Saw something in the right hand,.. but could not surmise what it was,... may be a light,... may not be,..... be hard to tell from the picture.

Had another look and you may be right. We often don't bother. The only reason for carrying the torch is so you can see stuff under ledges and in dark corners.

---------- Post added January 27th, 2014 at 09:24 AM ----------

Back to the OP....

 

[Wookie]

Had another look and you may be right. We often don't bother. The only reason for carrying the torch is so you can see stuff under ledges and in dark corners.

Don't get your knickers in a twist. You asked 'why', and you're getting answers from certified cave divers and certified solo divers and experienced both kinds. If you aren't getting the answers you want, don't come back to the thread. Don't get defensive when someone tells you what you don't know and it doesn't jibe with what you think or what you want to hear.

 

[DevonDiver]

Immortal divers are dime-a-dozen. I make my living educating them - we get lots of 'old timers' and ex-military (Aussie and US) here in Subic Bay. Skepticism and cynicism exist right up until we splash in the water. Then the learning starts. I put food on my table because those 'old salts' come back for more and recommend me to all.

I highly recommend Foxfish investigates some cave training, because no amount of experienced wisdom is going to make sense to him at this time over the inter-web. It's a "gotta see for yourself" sort of experience that's needed.

 

[Foxfish]

Don't get your knickers in a twist. You asked 'why', and you're getting answers from certified cave divers and certified solo divers and experienced both kinds. If you aren't getting the answers you want, don't come back to the thread. Don't get defensive when someone tells you what you don't know and it doesn't jibe with what you think or what you want to hear.

No problem this end. Your response seems a little terse though. Relax.

---------- Post added January 27th, 2014 at 10:09 AM ----------

Immortal divers are dime-a-dozen. I make my living educating them - we get lots of 'old timers' and ex-military (Aussie and US) here in Subic Bay. Skepticism and cynicism exist right up until we splash in the water. Then the learning starts. I put food on my table because those 'old salts' come back for more and recommend me to all.

I highly recommend Foxfish investigates some cave training, because no amount of experienced wisdom is going to make sense to him at this time over the inter-web. It's a "gotta see for yourself" sort of experience that's needed.

Good for you. I'm all for diver training and it sounds like you are both an experienced and knowledgeable trainer. I'd expect that in the contexts that you typically dive what you teach is useful and relevant.

If you're ever over this way then drop by for a dive. Don't be surprised if you get some quizzical looks. It's probably just that no one has ever seen a person lay a guideline into one of our caves before.

 

[DevonDiver]

I don't particularly care about peer pressure, so the quizzical looks won't matter at all. I like to dive safely, to mitigate risks. I've been doing that a while. If I hadn't then I'd probably be dead by now.

When the time comes that you have a close call, you'll re-evaluate. If you have the opportunity to. Until then, I guess you know better than the rest of us.

As I've said earlier in this thread, no diver that died on a scuba dive ever envisioned they would die. They got into the water happy and smiling, absolutely confident that they'd be back up as planned. They looked at the risks, they looked at themselves...and they were happy with it. Then they got killed. A surprise to all of them, every single one.

I'm still not sure what point you were trying to raise when you started this thread. It certainly wasn't advice, and it certainly wasn't going to make you look glorified amongst the community. And if you'd done some research... you'd know that nobody was going to endorse what you're doing. So... I'm mystified.

We, the readers, do 'get' what you're saying: "It'll never happen to you". Fair enough, good luck with that.

 

[Foxfish]

I'm still not sure what point you were trying to raise when you started this thread. It certainly wasn't advice, and it certainly wasn't going to make you look glorified amongst the community. And if you'd done some research... you'd know that nobody was going to endorse what you're doing. So... I'm mystified.

It was to get some understanding of why solo diving is not recommended in an overhead environment.

As a matter of interest, how many of you solo dive in an overhead environment.