Scenario: OW diver asks you where is the cave.

[Kelly Jessop]

Smile and say "if your life is that bad and you are sincerely interested in killing yourself there are better and less painful ways but please don't cave dive around me unless you are properly trained and can prove it"

Always wondered if you wanted to give "Deceptively Easy Way to Die" more punch,show the recovery divers finding the bodies,and proceeding to strip off dive computers and other dive equipment of value,get in there car and leave. The thought that as an open water diver if should die in the cave and someone will take my gear, unfortunately sends a more repulsive message than going in there,getting lost and drowning.

[Sludge]

I saw the recovery video of the double fatality at Royal from March 2001. Gruesome.

[cavewoman]

At some point personal responsibility has to start taking the forefront and people have to stop passing the buck. But as another famous Forrest said "Stupid is as stupid does".

The hardest thing to do is teach someone something they already think they know. I believe is was Socretes that said this, or it could have been Forrest w/ 2R's...it's hard to remember.

Very true, there is nothing you can say to change the mind of some....eventually they will remove themselves from the gene pool one way or another. It's unfortunate that they do so in the caves and put others at risk during the recovery process.

[Real1628]

Always wondered if you wanted to give "Deceptively Easy Way to Die" more punch,show the recovery divers finding the bodies,and proceeding to strip off dive computers and other dive equipment of value,get in there car and leave. The thought that as an open water diver if should die in the cave and someone will take my gear, unfortunately sends a more repulsive message than going in there,getting lost and drowning.

How about adding some interviews of recovery divers telling the stories of what they found. ie: last messages to loved ones on slates, fingers shredded from clawing rocks, etc.

[FW]

How about adding some interviews of recovery divers telling the stories of what they found. ie: last messages to loved ones on slates, fingers shredded from clawing rocks, etc.

The 12 year old kid in the parking lot, waiting for their father who is never coming back.

[Bill_Lester]

The 12 year old kid in the parking lot, waiting for their father who is never coming back.

Nice touch.

[billyf]

bust out my computer and show them "A deceptively easy way to die"

have them sign a waiver

take them on a guided dive, showing them the wonders of cave diving, and then introduce them to the horror.
make sure they understand both sides of the coin.

turn them on to getting the training and how to do the sport safely.

tell them no, hide information, stalking them on a dive, being aggressive underwater, attempt to stop them from learning about caves and YOU are just as much of a Dumb Ass as they are!

mentoring is just as important as instruction!

talk to some of today's explorers and you will find they had mentors that taught them more then could ever be taught in a cave class.

being negative to OW divers could actually cause them to do exactly what you want to prevent!

[skip]

Excellent. Be a mentor, reveal wonders, scare the hell out of them, send them off for training. Perfect answer and exactly right way of handling their request. Wish I'd have thought of it. But it is what I will do if the situation arises, which it never has.

skip

[skip]

The 12 year old kid in the parking lot, waiting for their father who is never coming back.

meaningless to those 22 year old buddies who are not married, childless, and invulnerable.

skip

[JamesK]

So how do you reveal the wonders with them? Offer to take them in the cave as they are? Tell them you will take them at a later date when they have the right gear.

I believe in mentoring 100%. It's how I got in to cave diving. However my mentors got me in contact with instructors and then after I was trained help me become better.