"Newbie," or *not* "Newbie"

[mag3]

OK, I think I'll try a poll. This poll is based on some of the comments
from the "Diving with new people" thread. Assume the following definitions:

1) New Person - someone you don't know or with whom you've
never dived, regardless of respective cert levels/experience.

2) Known Person - someone with whom you have a sufficient history
of diving together and with (most likely) similar cert levels
(ie. a "permanent" team member).


3) Interviewing - directly talking with the "New Person," assessing
their skills, reading their logbook, getting a sense of their
personality and determining if they're a good fit for you.


4) Vetting skills - Observing the "New person" from a distance
(ie. with others), asking other "known persons" about them, talking
to their/other instructors, and could also mean doing a "checkout"
dive with the new person to verify skills (ie. "Thumbing" if things
don't go right).


Assumptions:


1) Sites are limited to those that can be done at any cert level (eg.
Devils/Peacock I/JB). No "advanced" sites (eg. EN, WW, Diepolder(s) etc.)

2) All persons must have at least cavern certification or better.

3) All dives must be planned in advance, and not exceed the level of the
*least* certed/experienced diver.


This is a "private" poll. Vote with confidence/comfort/security.


And Happy Thanksgiving!!!

[Slüdge]

I ONLY dive with people that I feel comfortable talking to.

[RN]

So, Russell, that means you'll dive with pretty much anyone!!!


For me, it all depends. I will dive with most anyone at least once. As I said in the other thread, I can always thumb the dive. However, there are days when I have a certain dive plan in mind and that's the dive I want to do. Those dives often involve me going solo.

[BackstageDiver]

I'll dive with anyone as long as I have spoken with them am comfortable with their skills and the dive does not go beyond the lowest level of training.

[LiteHedded]

it depends on the dive really.

[Meister481]

I'll dive an easy dive with just about anyone. If they screw that up I'm not going anywhere with them. Planning a difficult/lengthly dive with an unknown diver would be a bad choice, IMO. I'm very careful when it comes to this, been bitten once.

[MORGAN]

When Tracy and I were intro and apprentice divers, several more experienced divers (especially mmcauliffe and jeano) were gracious enough to go on dives with us, even though they could have been doing something more interesting without us. We learned a lot from them, and always had a great time.

We also will dive with pretty much anyone who needs a buddy, as long as we're doing a dive that everyone is qualified for and comfortable with. We stay clear of people with attitude problems or testosterone poisoning, and they're usually easy to identify on the surface. We emphasize to new buddies that we're conservative and safety conscious, and do an extra thorough job of dive planning. And we stick to familiar dives when we have an unfamiliar buddy.

Mike

[LCF]

I had an extraordinary experience today -- I agreed to dive with somebody who contacted me on the net. We met last night for drinks and liked one another, but in the cave, it got even better. When we surfaced from the last dive, my new friend looked at me and said, "It's too bad you're leaving, because otherwise, I've found my dive buddy." And I felt the same way. So don't knock blind dates; sometimes you find a good partner.

[aainslie]

I'll dive with anyone willing to go into the holes I like to dive. For some reason I hardly ever manage to find anyone...

[atedeschi]

I'll dive with anyone willing to go into the holes I like to dive. For some reason I hardly ever manage to find anyone...

give me a call ill go
hows the diving going? almost done right?