What have you learned in the last year, regardless of how long you have been diving?

[jscott099]

That there are some opinionated and misinformed divers out there.

 

[ScubaSmurf0700]

Not really. Maybe another dive increases one's experience in the water, but I don't want every dive to be a "learning experience."

I agree that one should stay ahead of the dive at all times, however.

but in order to stay ahead of the dive you have to learn along the way; should you miss your buddy nitrogen narcosis on the previous dive and allow them to reenter you would be a step behind. and YES there are those dive where your experiences may be the same as before, enjoy the time, but you have to pay attention (aka "learn") with each new dive site, weather/buddy change, dive crew, equipment, etc... Not every dive is the same.

 

[Ana]

Again, this is exactly the kind of thing my post was talking about.
If someone is too proud to take a suggestion or advice from someone younger than them, there are issues, especially if it's sound and well thought-out. I am always open to suggestions, no matter who prompts them.

I will say I find it ironic that I'm getting life lessons from someone who is apparently 8 years my senior.

</hijack>

Just wait... before you know it, they won't listen to you because you'll be too old and can't possibly know the new ways, even worse if you are a woman, then you definetly DON"T KNOW.
My solution? keep the suggestions to yourself, let your actions speak instead of your words, those with enough brain-matter will recognize the knowledge and most likely will ask.

 

[Skeeter1097]

Each any every dive I make. I am at ah with the who thing. I am learning in progress. and the snorkel goes on the out side and it wont leak.

 

[porsc]

Not really. Maybe another dive increases one's experience in the water, but I don't want every dive to be a "learning experience."

I agree that one should stay ahead of the dive at all times, however.

there is no such thing as the same dive. i work in st thomas, and i dive the same reef, almost everyday. and each dive is different. there is no such thing as the same dive, because something will be different on each one. i have been diving since 1980, and i can honestly say that i learned something new on every single dive ( more than 5,000 logged).



why would you ever give up a chance to learn something? i find nothing redeeming in your statement. sorry, i don't mean to be offensive, but i have very little patience, given the state of this country (the dumbing down of america), for anyone who is against learning at any time or place.
every time you submerge, you are taking your life in your hands, or the hands of the divers around you. so why, pray tell, would you ever miss a chance to learn from what you are doing?
let me put this another way. how would you feel, if you were diving with a friend, and you found yourself in a position where you needed to be able to react to save his or her life, but you couldn't or made a mistake, because you didn't pay attention to similar situations from the past, (which never became "life threatening" because of someone else who did learn from past experiences, reacted and kept it to a trivial incident)?
the point is, that i do this for a living, ever single day. and more often than i would like, certified divers, who i am just leading on a dive, get themselves in a panic situation because of lack of knowledge. several of those situations could very well have turned fatal if i hadn't of been there to react and make the diver calm down and relax.
there is NEVER a bad time to learn, especially in scuba diving.

 

[rhephburn3900]

Better boyancy skills and hovering skills and am working on the air consumption issue;
I,m a hog, still!
R.H.

 

[The Chairman]

• You're not supposed to stay in the water when alligators are in the springs which means you're REALLY probably not supposed to go over and pose with it for a picture (and it debunked the myth I'd heard that alligators don't go into the clear water of the springs)

• Next year learn how to use your inflator to herd these guys! Was that out of Alexander?

 

[The Chairman]

I learned to slow down EVEN MORE. I had limited success finding sharks teeth at Venice Beach. 100 or less was typical. Then, this past July, with out having anyone to worry about, I started to score over 250 teeth per dive and have had one dive with 435 teeth. The difference? Slowing down.

 

[Zieg]

why would you ever give up a chance to learn something? i find nothing redeeming in your statement. sorry, i don't mean to be offensive, but i have very little patience, given the state of this country (the dumbing down of america), for anyone who is against learning at any time or place.
every time you submerge, you are taking your life in your hands, or the hands of the divers around you. so why, pray tell, would you ever miss a chance to learn from what you are doing?
let me put this another way. how would you feel, if you were diving with a friend, and you found yourself in a position where you needed to be able to react to save his or her life, but you couldn't or made a mistake, because you didn't pay attention to similar situations from the past, (which never became "life threatening" because of someone else who did learn from past experiences, reacted and kept it to a trivial incident)?
the point is, that i do this for a living, ever single day. and more often than i would like, certified divers, who i am just leading on a dive, get themselves in a panic situation because of lack of knowledge. several of those situations could very well have turned fatal if i hadn't of been there to react and make the diver calm down and relax.
there is NEVER a bad time to learn, especially in scuba diving.

Driving the car to the corner drug store you are taking your life in your hands, probably alot more than diving. Stop trying to make diving more dangerous than it is. And every dive does NOT have to be an educational experience. I've made countless dives in the same spot, out of the same boat, under the same conditions, and It is imposible to learn something new everytime. Not that I don't keep an open mind, but not every dive is a learning experince.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

A.....One thing I've learned over the past year or two is that if you're young, people will discriminate against you based on age or perceived experience level. It is unfortunate but I have personally had plenty of people tell me "What can you know? You're only 21!" or some variant thereof. Yes, it really bothers me -- what does my age have to do with a suggestion or any advice I might have? If the advice is sound and I present a logical argument, does my age suddenly make anything I say invalid?t.

Maybe it is because some of us have been solo (Non DIR) diving, (with a decent safety record in challenging conditions) for longer than you have been alive. We sometimes get the feeling that you have learned a lot of the stuff by reading books and/or by diving in a quarry that is shallower than many people freedive. I'm only half serious, but I still use a regulator that is alot older than you....