I could use some pictures with permissions

[MORGAN]

I believe that was made in the mid-1990s.


Edit: It was made in 1997.

Mea culpa - I guess the news hadn't made it up to VT yet. When Tracy was teaching OW classes, she showed it to all of them, as well as a Harvey Boyd cave diving movie starring Kelly Jessop to show what buoyancy and trim ought to look like.

[Red Hat Jef]

I was not aware that PADI or any recreational dive agency had a course that focused on the dangers of overhead environment and used the Easy Way to Die video as the focus. Could you identify those courses, please?

I am also not clear on the message you want to send. Are you saying that we should tell all OW divers that they should never enter any overhead environment, because doing so risks a near certain agonizing death? Don't you think that message will confuse them when they go to places like Cozumel and routinely go through short swim throughs, or go to south Florida and enter the artificial reef wrecks like the Ancient Mariner that are dived nearly every day there? It seems to me that will be kind of like when I was a teen and our student body was taken to the school auditorium to watch the movie Reefer Madness, which warned us of the horrors (including death) that awaited us if we even tried that most evil of all drugs, marijuana. Once we realized what a joke that was, we paid little attention to any of the other dire warnings we were given about other evil drugs. If they lied to us about one of them--how could we trust them on the others?

I've heard of several instructors who show the easy way to die video as part of their OW class. I've heard some indicate that they believe it is critical because here in Florida it can be easier to jump in a nearby spring/sink/cave instead of the ocean. I believe this falls into the more education part - and to be clear I'm a huge fan of more education.

The thing I can't agree with is providing students who are already overwhelmed with the basics of mask clearing and setting up their regulator and buoyancy control with more data and a complex message about a dangerous situation.

The power of the current situation of "no overhead" is that it's a "razor" - every situation falls into a category of good or bad. That makes it a simple message.

When I went through advanced open water I dove the ancient mariner. My instructor confronted the swim throughs with another powerful message - it's ok to do them if you can clearly see the other side.

I'm simply not convinced you can turn this message about cave environments and about what overhead is ok and what is not into a razor.

Why not just call it what it is and speak to the issue of cave diving with open water divers directly (such as what I've heard about diving cenotes in Mexico) - and talk about why its dangerous and against the rules?

These points are basically what the original video is all about. That's why I keep coming back to it.

[Sludge]

The thing I can't agree with is providing students who are already overwhelmed with the basics of mask clearing and setting up their regulator and buoyancy control with more data and a complex message about a dangerous situation.

Simple: get rid of the three-day OW course and go back to six weeks.

[MORGAN]

Simple: get rid of the three-day OW course and go back to six weeks.

Yes!

[Line Squirrel]

Simple: get rid of the three-day OW course and go back to six weeks.

Agreed, +1

[adam0321]

Six weeks? Are we to make students perform push ups and open water mile swims also? I would be all about it. As much as I hate to say it it's a business and although I do not agree with a 48 hour class that you basically can't fail, I understand that it's the most profitable. I for one do not feel that all OW instructors have their students safety or education as a first priority. In fact MANY OW instructors I knew in Panama City had little to no respect for the dangers of caves. The shop I used to work at ( where I was the only cave diver) would regularly take students to vortex and morrison as well as other springs with caves and let them swim around in them. When I would suggest having the student watch an easy way to die I all but got threatened to be fired in fear of scaring off business.

I guess where I am confused is what is in it for the student to take this class? Just education? Do they get a card saying they know to stay out of caves? I just don't see there being much motivation for a student to pay for a class that does not enable them to do something.

I think instructors, especially those in north Florida should be charged with the task of slowing their classes down and educating their students on the dangers of the overhead.

[jj1987]

Simple: get rid of the three-day OW course and go back to six weeks.

It's being done, but these types of courses are a hard sell for those starting diving without a close friend's advice.

Here's the class my fiancee took. The skill level to require it was significantly higher than even my cavern class. The gas planning lectures cover more than most cave classes.
http://www.globalunderwaterexplorers...1-nitrox-diver
Video on the course, and it's creation

[mdax]

I think what you're trying to do has merit.
Ginnie encourages new OW divers into their cavern, which is a less dangerous environment...however that same behavior in most other caverns in Florida will get divers in real hot water, real fast.

If this class was delivered via the web, for free, that'd be really cool.
If not, it'll be hard to reach enough folks to make a difference.