diving mishaps

[scott]

not really a story, but if you go to the decostop.com, there is a huge link with diving accidents, plus cavedivers.forum also has a lot of stories about accidents. i've learned a lot of what not to do from both of them

scott

[lrmoll]

If often surprises me how often dive buddies won't ask for help gearing up. Or won't graciously accept help offered by their buddy. You are supposed to help each other that is what good dive buddies do!

[Omicron]

My buddies and I pride ourselves on self-sufficiency. If you can't even start to be mostly self sufficient on land gearing up, how can you expect to be underwater??? All of us will typically say no to help. There are exceptions...like if you get a hose twisted in a really bad spot...but more often than not we'll slip out of our rigs and get it straightened ourselves before asking for help.

I've had some really bad experiences with people being essentially dependent on other people to help them get geared up. I vowed to always strive to be the exact opposite of that.

Plus, I'm very fussy about my gear and the way it gets put on and put away. Other people usually just get in the way - I've got a routine, I can run through it fine...anyone else just causes problems.

My drysuit zipper is finally broken in enough that I can get it started on my own - it's been a couple of months of having to ask for help and it was really bugging me.

[lrmoll]

Pride goeth before the fall ;D I'm not saying one should not be mostly self sufficient. It also does allow gaining some familiarity with gear configurations on your buddy.

[Omicron]

That may be...but I'll quit diving before I look like some idiot that has to have his buddy help with every piece of gear

And I'm already familiar w/ all of my buddy's stuff...we all have essentially the same setup.

[shamre]

In my opinion it is better to look like an idiot and have help than miss something and end up in a serious life or death situation. They have buddy checks for a reason. Now dont take what i am saying to mean that i don't think it is good to be self-sufficient, but i think having that extra level of safety for a buddy check is good also. Alot of diving fatalities happen to solo-divers,regular divers, because something went wrong and they did not have a buddy to share air with.

[Omicron]

We definitely do buddy checks!! I'm not trying to advocate against that!

My girlfriend and her dad and I especially (we all dive together...) do s-drills, gear matching, bubble checks and gas planning before each dive.

[LKunze]

Like Omicron I gear up entirely by myself as most of my buddies do. I would feel no shame in asking for help if I had to. If someone asks me for help I will graciously assist them but I don't go out of my way forcefully offering assistance to someone who doesn't ask for or need my help.

[Omicron]

I'd like to second some of that - I will give help when asked for - definitely!

And occasionally, I get a drysuit hose so twisted around I can find it anywhere, so I ask for someone to unbury it. Or every once in awhile I manage to get both of my arms half way out of my harness and get stuck...hehe. But for the most part, I strive for independence.

[Mark Y]

#1: 'Pools open!', said the divemaster. I rolled of the boat: kick, kick, kick. Nothing. Fins on boat - 'Fins, please!', I said sheepishly. :

#2: Tied off dive flag to rock. Couldn't find our way back to the exact location. Surfaced. The flag was no where to be - wait! There it was, two feet underwater!

#3: To be continued . . .