What's the most unpopular benign/non-polarizing opinion you hold re: diving?

[Dan]

If analyzing air fill, you don’t need the Nitrox guy’s analyser that checks oxygen, instead you would need the carbon monoxide analyser for “bad gas” in case the compressor sucked in exhaust. Or an analyser for both gases: COO2 if Diving Nitrox.

Thanks to @DandyDon for posting CO concern, I bought & plan to bring this Sensorcon Inspector on my next liveaboard trip for CO analyzer:

 

[rabe]

If analyzing air fill, you don’t need the Nitrox guy’s analyser that checks oxygen, instead you would need the carbon monoxide analyser for “bad gas” in case the compressor sucked in exhaust. Or an analyser for both gases: COO2 if Diving Nitrox.

that's a very good point, but I think his concern was about having a tank with the wrong % of O2 in it...

 

[BRT]

...next time you see some of the nitrox guys measuring their tanks, just ask if you can borrow the gas analyser: it takes literally 1 minutes to do it

And costs over $100 to learn how.

 

[stretchthepenn]

Also related: I like diving cold(er) water.

Definitely unpopular. The warm, salt water only folks all think I'm crazy.

Same here, for the most part. I do enjoy warm-water diving, mostly for the staying warm factor, but I'd just as soon put on my drysuit and go for a chilly-water dive.

 

[rabe]

And costs over $100 to learn how.

L've learned for free

 

[rddvet]

Sounds nice. How do you do it? Cause' I have done OW and AOW and have never been trained in it. I have no equipment to do it. I have never seen anyone other than Nitrox divers do it. I would be much surprised if a significant percentage of rec divers analyzed air fills. Or if they have not had nitrox or tec training, had ever been trained how.

If analyzing air fill, you don’t need the Nitrox guy’s analyser that checks oxygen, instead you would need the carbon monoxide analyser for “bad gas” in case the compressor sucked in exhaust. Or an analyser for both gases: COO2 if Diving Nitrox.

Actually, the best and smartest thing is that all divers should be testing all tanks for % as well as CO. It should be taught to everyone at all levels. I have seen people on boats thinking they're diving air, but actually have 32 or 36. That would potentially suck if you break MOD significantly.

As to how to test. Buy an analox or oxycheq CO or Nitrox analyzers and they come with instructions.

 

[rddvet]

Thanks to @DandyDon for posting CO concern, I bought & plan to bring this Sensorcon Inspector on my next liveaboard trip for CO analyzer:

View attachment 428878 View attachment 428879

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but those Sensorcons suck. They are very finicky in dive applications. I had two and neither would regularly read the same. I contacted their tech support which is horrific. They eventually conceded that the unit wasn't made for dive applications and therefore is very fussy when it comes to proper flow to the unit.

Also many people loved them when they first got them but then a year later when they need to calibrate them they're not too keen on sending them back in.

 

[Kevrumbo]

The false sense of security and misunderstanding from a lot of Divers of the Nautilus Lifeline GPS as a stand alone VHF Radio Rescue Beacon. . .

Where divers get confused in the application, and assume "instant" local alert and rescue capabilities of an AIS/DSC VHF radio unit over a 406 MHz PLB is in the classic MOB (Man Overboard) Scenario:
Tactically this is fine for example, if you're crewing a sailing vessel in the biennial Transpacific Yacht Race from San Pedro Calif to Honolulu Hawaii, and you fall MOB during rough seas at night: Along with your crew, there will be anywhere from twenty to forty or so sailing yachts out there with AIS/DSC within VHF range in the otherwise traceless open Pacific Ocean ready to immediately assist in picking you up.

AIS/DSC VHF MOB devices are not meant to replace but rather augment PLBs. That said, since they alert nearby AIS-equipped vessels, such as the boat from which the person fell overboard, to assist in the search-and-rescue effort, these devices can reduce rescue times substantially. A PLB, on the other hand, works worldwide, well beyond VHF range, to summon rescuers. It’s important to keep a PLB around if venturing far out to sea and away from other boaters.

A Lost-at-Sea/Missing Diver can be considered a special case of a "delayed" MOB Scenario: Delayed in the sense that an elapsed normal recreational depth dive time is about 50 minutes to an hour -->if the Diver surfaces after an hour and does not see any sign of the diveboat, then the Diver has to manually call or activate a VHF DSC Distress Beacon such as the Nautilus Lifeline, but the caveat still being the limited range of the VHF signal along with hoping there are other boats or land stations in the vicinity with VHF transceiver capability. Again, if you're at a remote divesite hundreds of kilometers away from the commercial shipping lanes or land VHF receiving stations, then the satellite PLB is your last resort:

McMurdo Dive Canister - Star Marine Depot

 

[george_austin]

Kelp dives with 150 ft + vis, Santa Ana winds, a sea surface like hydraulic oil and 70F water to 130fsw is the gold standard in scuba diving. Everything else is just comparative research.

Scooters are walkers for divers.

Every diver must know how her/his equipment works and how to service it themselves.

Keep your BC out of the camera bucket - please

 

[Kevrumbo]

Kelp dives with 150 ft + vis, Santa Ana winds, a sea surface like hydraulic oil and 70F water to 130fsw is the gold standard in scuba diving. . .

. . .and a smartly administered -with both tax payer and private donation support- joint Private University Research/County Government run 24/7 Emergency Recompression Chamber for Diving Casualties Only for over 40 years.

Scooters are walkers for divers. . .

Scooters/DPV's may get you out of trouble just as fast as it can get you into trouble. . .