What would you do: Molested at 100' by an OOA Diver

[Pullmyfinger]

The rig I saw was used by a diver that recently completed OW training, when I saw no octo, I asked about air sharing. They replied that they were taught buddy breathing in their class.

I'll take a picture next time....I am curious now.

I have seen the SPG on 6" HP hoses while living on Guam. The Japanese dive operators have them set up they way you describe for their "guided" dives for Japanese customers.

I will confirm this next time I see it; I could very well be wrong about the SPG so I'll take a picture. There was definitely no octo however.

Are diving classes still taught this way that you know of, in other parts of the world? I'm curious now.

Cheers.

Mitch

---------- Post added June 13th, 2013 at 04:35 PM ----------

This is COMPLETELY off topic, so I apologize. I was in Japan for the first time 18 months ago visiting my daughter-in-law's family. I was in Tokyo and a couple of other cities. The most remarkable thing I noticed was that there was no one talking on a cell phone while walking on the street. Not a single person. Not one. I'm used to the NY /NJ Metropolitan area where just about everyone is either blabbing or texting. I've often seen people nearly hit by traffic while doing so, but so far have not been lucky enought to seen one given involuntary flying lessons.

I asked about the absence of what I was used to in the US, and was told it would be considered crude, rude behavior. Maybe there is a God. A beautiful, marvelous civilized place.

I love living in Japan. But don't assume it's some sort of Utopia. In some instances.....behind the polite smile and bow.....there is an undercurrent of racism and rudeness.
Not a criticism of Japan.....I mention this only to point out that it is not different than other places.

There is good and bad here, much like any other place I have lived.

As for the phone use.....get on any train or a subway......smartphone zombies are everywhere!

Cheers,
Mitch

 

[Frosty]

Once a completely panicked ooa diver with supercharged adrenalin fueled strength has his/her hands on you and your air supply, their certain target, ripping off their mask may do no good unless you take your thumb and do your best to remove an eye immediately thereafter. Sounds harsh, but for most of us the alternative may be drowning.

I'm sure there are highly skilled super capable people who can handle these situations. Sometimes. Not always, though. It only takes only one lungful of water to put you down. I once tried to pull an 11 year old from the Point Pleasant canal. Killer currents there. I was in an 18ft power boat moving from Bay Head to the Manasquan with a few friends, and I jumped in to help pull the kid out of the water. I was about 19 and very strong, a skilled free diver, but that kid damn near killed me by climbing on my head and holding on with the power of a circus strongman until someone older and wiser clocked him. Would you believe his parents were angry because he had a bruised cheekbone and a black eye?

Sorry mon I was being polite.-I agree totally.I'd do what I needed to do to get the bleep away from them. If he can never father children afterwards so be it.

 

[beanojones]

beano, I really don't care whether a regulator gives warning of someone running out of gas or not. My point is that the PRESSURE GAUGE gives warning, and in today's world, just about everybody has one. You don't run out of gas without the pressure gauge going into the red. There ARE a few very odd malfunctions that will suddenly shut your gas off (like a clogged dip tube) but they are rare. Running out of gas is almost always due to a failure to plan enough gas for the dive, AND a failure to monitor one's gauge. I stand by my position that time spent teaching divers to watch their gauges is much better than time spent teaching them to cope with the results when they don't.

And yet people diving in the tropics for the first time often enough do not bother to check their gauges when they get confused by water clarity and light penetration, thinking it shallow when it is deep, hence guides having to handle divers running OOA in dramatic fashion.

Regardless, this is not the "Instructors Arguing with Other Instructors" Forum, so teaching methodologies are not at issue.* Rather, reaction to an OOA diver at depth is; as is preparation for being able to help an OOA diver. Or if you like, an encouragement to someone who wants to be more confident in their ability to self-rescue, even at depth.

* As I have noted in discussion about 'gas management' and 'gas planning' in that I2I forum, I personally think that gas management and gas planning are not going to help in many cases, and in many cases, gas planning procedures actually interfere with proper in dive behavior because they build a false sense of security about the need to constantly check SPGs.

 

[Frosty]

Hey pull my finger are you at the Us airbase there? I spend a bit of time in Osaka. Stay in Namba,work around the Kobe prefecture mostly.
Do you get in any diving over there?

 

[Pullmyfinger]

I'm at the Marine base in Iwakuni. Most of my diving has been in the local area so far.

 

[supergaijin]

*Not to mention the "Can you dive down and free the anchor?" or Can you dive down and grab that Camera/weight Belt/GoPro" Dive computer etc. The reason so many of us learn to free dive to significant depths is because we have to and we don't have time to change tanks or put on our gear, not because we necessarily want to do a bunch of rapid ascents after nitrogen loading.

Are you seriously free-diving to significant depth after dives? You would never catch me going more than 2ata without gear after a multi-level dive. I thought Thistlegorm tie off practices were bad...

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Are you seriously free-diving to significant depth after dives? You would never catch me going more than 2ata without gear after a multi-level dive. I thought Thistlegorm tie off practices were bad...

I don't believe half of what beano is blowing out....

 

[triplecove]

Not to be off subject too much but The Japanese do some strange things according to this article:
Eyeball-licking: the fetish that is making Japanese teenagers sick | Life and style | The Guardian

 

[Abdullah]

* As I have noted in discussion about 'gas management' and 'gas planning' in that I2I forum, I personally think that gas management and gas planning are not going to help in many cases, and in many cases, gas planning procedures actually interfere with proper in dive behavior because they build a false sense of security about the need to constantly check SPGs.

Where is the "dislike" button?

 

[agilis]

Not to be off subject too much but The Japanese do some strange things according to this article:
Eyeball-licking: the fetish that is making Japanese teenagers sick | Life and style | The Guardian

And so do we. Just different strange things. There is no question, as was noted by pullmyfinger (speaking of amusements that might not be seen in a positive light in some cultures) the Japanese can be unbelievably racist, almost as bad as the average American was a couple of generations ago. The typical attitude toward other asians, like Koreans, is astonishing. Being an exceptionally homogeneous society fosters some interesting perceptions.

I'm marginally familiar with the resurgent club scene in NYC. If you are not a twentysomething hip metro type you might faint at first glance. The Eurotrash scene is worse. Pullmy finger is exactly right. Few places in our closely interconnected world are uncontaminated by human folly, and a youth culture so thoroughly alienated, decadent and insulated from reality assures that things will steadily become even more bizarre.

To make a feeble attempt to stay on topic, I'm amazed by the hostility that exists between instructors reprsenting various perspectives and accreditation agencies. I also think it is a great error to think that better equipment is the primary reason for the moderate mortality rate among the vastly increased numbers of poorly trained sport divers. I think the close supervision of most resort divers is a big factor, and the undemanding kinds of diving typically undertaken is not all that dangerous. For accident and mortality contrast, look at things like Andrea Doria type deep dives, cave diving, the use of close circuit equipment and similar kinds of activities. I suppose the dedicated participants of these pursuits may take offence at my remarks, so even before objections are raised please be assured that I concede that you are right and I am wrong.