Originally Posted by FW
I agree. You can control what you do in a cave and how you do it; on the highway there are all those other drivers.
Welcome to the Cave Diver's Forum.
I agree. You can control what you do in a cave and how you do it; on the highway there are all those other drivers.
At the risk of starting a flame war. There is "Danger" and there is "Hazard".
Hazards are seen, known, avoidable. Dangers are hidden and cannot always be avoided.
Walking near a cliff with your eyes open is a hazard. Walking near a cliff blindfolded is a danger.
I view cave diving as extremely hazardous, but only as dangerous as you make it. With proper training, equipment, attitude and skill the hazards of cave diving can be (reasonably) overcome. As statistics have borne out for the past few decades.
But caves have NO tolerance for stupidity, rule breaking, or macho behavior. You break the rules, you get bit in the @#$.
My two cents.
Flame on!
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
I see no reason for flaming, everything gschaut said it true.
At this point, it's experience and process. Gear maintenance happens on a schedule (process). My surface prep is doing things the same way by having a well of experience to draw from. Training is not the same as remembering rules and my training has become muscle memory. I simply start every dive intending to survive...not in a worrying way more by way of preparation. To include zero dependence on a buddy. If I need what he has then I planned quite poorly. And I have a personal rule set that I follow when diving.
My favorite part of cave diving is that the most annoying of cave divers disappear quickly. I'm sure Kelly can give us data, like a point of intersection, that will prove the more aggravating a cave diver is the less their length of time involved in the activity.
There is a graph, I'm sure.
Bob
Number 3? If they had made their survey 30 years ago, cave diving would have been number one!
What a bunch of boowah! Cave diving more dangerous than Heli Skiing? Their own data contradicts this More dangerous than BASE jumping? Cliff jumping? Who makes this stuff up? Can we get them to stop?
"Have you ever noticed
When you're feeling really good
There's always a pigeon
That'll come shiat on your hood?" John Prine 4-7-2020
"Into the blue again; in the silent water
Under the rocks, and stones; there is water underground" Talking Heads
No doubt that training, gear maintenance, and dive planning are all important aspects of safe cave diving but this ignores perhaps the most important aspect which is experience. Perhaps this could fall under dive planning, i.e., planning dives within your level of experience. There is simply no substitute for experience gained incrementally over time. I see way too many relatively new cave divers using newer technologies, like scooters and rebreathers that enable them to go too far, too deep, too fast. These divers are one small issue away from catastrophe because they have no reserve mental capacity. Mistakes also tend to happen when divers are task loaded and diving too close to their limits. Task loading is not limited to CCRs and DPVs. Photo dives, new caves, exploration, restrictions, silty conditions, new buddy, new gear, etc. all add task loading to a dive. As cave divers, we accept that we need to have gas, light, and scooter reserves but frequently ignore our most important resource, which is mental capacity. This is not to say that there's a finite point where we go catatonic or bolt for the door in uncontrolled panic. However, there is a point where mistakes start to happen and issues become increasingly difficult if not impossible to address.
The best ones were the one's Berman named. Jabba the Hut or Blue leader. Jabba the Hut would show up twice a year, and act like he knew everyone, and walker behind dive shop counters to help himself. Hmmm..... Amount of PITA is inversely proportional to the length they stay in cave diving. Bob, your a genius!
"Not all change is improvement...but all improvement is change" Donald Berwick
Let?s not get carried away.
But I would say he?s both an exception to your rule. And an anomaly.
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