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What do you guys mean by I am leery of the quiet types?
I suck at small talk. When I am an insta-buddy, I will engage in conversation to go over hand signals/communication or the dive plan, otherwise I keep to myself. I am not one to start talking about the local sports team with you until we reach the dive site.
For me its rarely one thing that puts me into full alarm but rather its a combination of little things. Of course we should all be a little bit extra cautious of a new buddy. Heres some of my cues.
new divers with muck sticks, ding. weight belt on the wrong way ding ding. Oh your weight belt should be right hand release - I'm left handed, ding ding ding ding ding. No buddy checks DING DING. A look of disapointment that we're only going to X depth, ding. Leaving your tank standing on a rocking boat,ding. allowing your alternate(potentially my alternate) dangle about, ding ding. not realising you've forgotten something till your actually in the water, ding. Tying off that pesky loose weight belt bit,DING. knife strapped to the calf, ding. Not talking to me ,ding. Big camera/video rigs ding ding*.
*usually good divers but not always good buddies.
I didn't care for this comment too much. It comes across as somewhat narrowed minded IMO. I strap a knife (BFK) to my inner right calf and one to my left forearm (smaller). There are many divers here in the PNW that do this. Am I a poor diver because I add a pair of EMT shears to the mix as well? I think not. I am a newer diver, my total dive count so far is only 25 and my last dive was in December 2013. Sometimes there are reasons for not being able to get in the water for a few months. If a diver does his/her due diligence on keeping up with their skills then as long as they do what they are supposed to do underwater I don't see a problem.
oops , sorry Lowdrag. I really meant my list to be a bit tongue in cheek and to be honest many if not most of the things on the list are actually things that I've done myself. I've quoted myself above(how wonderfully narcissistic of me) and highlighted the its not one thing but a combination of many little things part. When I see a knife strapped to the calf it only gets a little ding but it does not trigger a full alarm however the knife coupled with other bits on the list can make me cautious simply because there are divers out their who wear knives as a fashion statement. Of course the best way to turn on or off my alarm is by talking to me. everything on my list can be cancelled out before we even get in the water
More proof that these alarm bells aren't always accurate, but should at least make you wonder. All divers do some stupid things. Heck, during my Cavern/Intro class I was so focused on how my tanks were trimming out during a "gear check swim-around" I forgot my fins at the picnic table. It took about a minute before I realized WHY my new fins had so little thrust. My instructor caught me exiting the water in what he calls a cave-breast stroke.