What To Do About Reckless Divers?

[TSandM]

There's no way someone was down at 135' for 30 minutes on a single 100.

I could do this without any problems (the time at depth, but not the deco as well). I won't, because I won't go that deep and stay that long without redundancy and helium and a deco gas. But don't discount that people with very good gas consumption can spend more time at depth than you think they should be able to do.

 

[Amazz]

I disagree a bit. I have been to Hole in the Wall and had the time of my life. I witnessed schooling jacks and tuna and bonita and bull sharks charging the fish. I have seen sandbar sharks and dozens of goliaths. Other times I have seen barely anything at all. It's seasonal. If you dive a lot, you see a lot. Come out and dive!

 

[Aquaventurewhitetip]

My life my choice, I die you don't.

Great comments guys, wish there was a Scuba Police.

Seriously though. If we all adopted and practiced openly good safe diving practices. Then the boneheads, I hope would soon feel isolated and maybe adjust there actions accordingly through embarrassment if nothing else. I wish.
If your faced with knuckle heads like this then I guess TC is right, ask them straight out what the game was and if they started the dive expecting help if they f*&!ked up because they can't plan a dive properly.

 

[DaleC]

Good safe diving practices according to who?

 

[Thalassamania]

On a recent trip to the Hole-in-the-Wall in Jupiter I had the pleasure of diving with some really aggressive and reckless divers. For those who dont know, HITW is a deep dive into a short overhead cave around 130-140FSW and subject to swift currents.- beyond recreational limits for sure

I planned 135 for 30 minutes, deco on 70% and was surprised to hear that three others would dive similar profiles... HP100s with no redundancy and flying computers the whole way.!? It should be said these divers are seasoned veterans with 1000s of dives and posses a bit of seniority on the boat- nevertheless, it concerned me a bit when one showed me 500psi with 10 minutes of hang time to go...:depressed:

As 'experienced divers', they obviously knew what they were getting into so i elected to mind my business

What would YOU do?

Perhaps they are reckless as you say ... or perhaps they know something that you do not. It'd be interesting to find out which.

 

[farsidefan1]

I'd let them do their thing and stay out of it.
Live and let .... Darwin take care of the rest. Of course lend assistance if needed but otherwise....

 

[Aquaventurewhitetip]

Dale I think we all know or should know what constitutes safe and what does not. I was not being bitchy.
If the divers new something Steve did not then why show him the gauge? just to be funny?
Who knows, I guess only the diver. If he knew he had no issue then he should of kept his SPG to himself. If not he should of headed topside a bit earlier, plan better or stay further within his limits I guess.

 

[snturner]

On a recent trip to the Hole-in-the-Wall in Jupiter I had the pleasure of diving with some really aggressive and reckless divers. For those who dont know, HITW is a deep dive into a short overhead cave around 130-140FSW and subject to swift currents.- beyond recreational limits for sure

I planned 135 for 30 minutes, deco on 70% and was surprised to hear that three others would dive similar profiles... HP100s with no redundancy and flying computers the whole way.!? It should be said these divers are seasoned veterans with 1000s of dives and posses a bit of seniority on the boat- nevertheless, it concerned me a bit when one showed me 500psi with 10 minutes of hang time to go...:depressed:

As 'experienced divers', they obviously knew what they were getting into so i elected to mind my business

What would YOU do?

If I am reading this right... you thought you were doing this dive solo? You have the experience but assume they don't.

I would have minded my own business.

 

[DaleC]

Dale I think we all know or should know what constitutes safe and what does not. I was not being bitchy.
If the divers new something Steve did not then why show him the gauge? just to be funny?
Who knows, I guess only the diver. If he knew he had no issue then he should of kept his SPG to himself. If not he should of headed topside a bit earlier, plan better or stay further within his limits I guess.

It's just a discussion . I don't know why the other diver showed his SPG. It's hard to extrapolate that they were being reckless from it. Maybe he was wondering what the OP's pressure was or maybe he was just making conversation on the hang. My point was just that one persons reckless could be another persons SOP.

If I am reading this right... you thought you were doing this dive solo? You have the experience but assume they don't.

I would have minded my own business.

A perfect illustration. In some minds this would be reckless.

 

[Slonda828]

I'm not at all trying to pick on the OP, just more or less making an observation. Diving is an activity, not a job (at last in my case). As long as I pay to do it, then I get to do it my way (within reason). If that means that I have to dive on a certain boat, or at certain sites, then so be it. I like to dive vintage gear, so I only dive on boats that let me dive vintage gear (of which there are plenty). When anybody starts paying me to dive, then I will follow someone else's rules. So many people treat diving like a job. It's not, it's a leisure activity. It's a lot like playing poker or softball, it is just a hell of a lot more expensive.

All of my dive buddies like to dive the way that I do, so it is not a problem for us. We are well trained, we have standard operating procedures, and we practice. It is important to note that our SOPs may not be yours, so you may not be able to visually tell if I am "doing the right thing", but then again that is not your responsibility as a diver. If I drown during the course of these activities that I pay and volunteer my time to do, then so be it. I am a grown man, I know that to which I am subjecting myself. This isn't a wanton risk that makes life terrible for others like riding a motorcycle without a helmet where EMTs will have to show up and do crazy things to try and save me when my brain is evulsed. If I drown, then nobody will need to render me any assistance other than retrieving my and possibly my buddy's body. If I get bent, then I have to sit in the chamber and pay for doing so.

Maybe one day diving will become more like rock climbing, and people will start to take responsibility for themselves and their buddies, and not spend all of their time worrying about everyone else. If they are on the boat, then they are "qualified" to be there. If they are not skillful enough to warrant that qualification based upon the generally accepted idea that a diver can pretty much purchase any level of certification that they have enough money to get, then that is on the diver. It is not as if there are people following downhill mountain bikers, ocean kayakers, white water rafters, rock climbers, canyoneers, and others around telling them what is or is not established practice on behalf of their community. Many of those sports are factually more dangerous than diving and they get by just fine. They do not even have (gasp) certification cards! I guess my point is that unless you assume some sort of liability for me, such as a divemaster or a boat captain, then (respectfully) leave me alone. If you do inherit risk on my behalf, then by all means make sure my air is on and that I know which side of the tank valve faces the back of my head.

I don't usually vomit forth my opinion with such aplomb, but you did ask us. I am not a minority either. Of the 15 or so dedicated dive buddies that I have, they all pretty much feel the same way. In fact, some of them are on this board.