KEY LARGO.. 3 divers die OOA

[eric myers]

I agree with the pony bottle or redundant setup arguments but if I am reading this right...and I like to think I am...they dove the wreck the day before  and that was there basis for planning an extended and risky penentration?

I immediately have four thoughts that come to mind: 

  As a rule I will never penetrate a wreck on the first dive.  Using this dive to map the entire wreck in my mind.  The longer and more complicated the wreck the more familiarization dives I may need to committ to before penetrating.

Rank the Risk:  Also, it can be prudent to rank the penetration difficulty using a 0-5 scale.  In that way, you would never try a level 5 penentration before some number of penetrations at lower levels.

Penetration:  diving is not always conducive to "buddy diving," and can often obfuscate the return course and quickly lead to panic and group entanglement.

Group Dynamics:  I am willing to bet that their was a diver in the trio that wouldn't have tried this dive but for being apart of this group.