On Thursday, May 03, 2001 3:31 AM, Reef Fish wrote:
Subject: Re: [SCUBA-SE] More on Cairns


(snip)

> Nobody has ever accused me of being a "chicken diver" (all too
> many have flamed me to be 'too bold' in my diving style <G>),
> but I just don't think it's wise to venture into something
> inadquately prepare/trained and not be self-reliant.

I know that your response was prompted by John's mention of caves, but it's
a good lead in to the topic - again - of solo diving!  :-)

Although I believe that recreational diving is an activity that's made more
enjoyable when the experience is shared with others, I also tend to believe
the maxim that a diver's first priority is themselves - and then their
buddy!  In that sense most buddy pairs consist of solo divers who happen to
be in the same water with another person at the same time!  :-)

The self-reliance that a solo diving course presumably aims to teach is, to
my way of thinking, excellent training and - in a sense - a pre-requisite
for being a good buddy!  (A bit like, "What comes first?  The Chicken or the
egg?")  :-)

And I agree with you about the need for appropriate preparedness and
training!  And I would never, ever, call you 'Chicken'!)  :-)

> >I guess the model at fault here might be the Padi model.
> >We did our first dives on a tourist/resort course. By no
> >means was that a certification, but we went diving (with
> >a guide). We were told the basics, and then put in the
> >water with tanks on our backs. From that came the
> >interest to get certified for real.

I hold unpopular views about Resort Courses!  Particulalry the ratios of
students to Instructors.  However I do recognise that they have been the
spur that prompts many people to follow up with certification training.

> But the resort-dive to OW-certification route is not a very
> good analogy to diving-cave-without-training to cave-cert
> route.  Few (if any) die in the former;  many die in the
> latter before being cave-certified.

> Can't really blame that one on PADI!  :-)

I always feel saddened when folks condemn the training agencies.  Without
them - and the phenomenal growth in recreational diving - we'd all be back
to making our own wet-suits and obliged to belong to a club before being
allowed into the water!  (And - as the saying goes - I wouldn't want to
belong to a club that'd accept me as a member!)  :-)

> >It's kind of like "tease marketing." I'd suspect you'll
> >have something to say about that.

> The only thing I have to say about that is:  "If Strike
> offers to sell you a sq.in of real estate in Hong Kong
> CHEAP <BG>, you DON'T HAVE to buy it."  I didn't.  :-))

CHEAP??? (I far prefer the word "inexpensive"!)  :-)

> >Or, what about putting tanks on 8 year old kids???

> I am ambivalent to that idea.  It's up to the PARENTS to
> decide.  My kid is already over 30.  :-)

> >They are somewhat ignorant,
> >yes, but can they be guided? I guess we'll find out the
> >answer to that.

> They are generally very ignorant and irresponsible compared
> to adult divers, but the ENVIRONMENT in which an 8-yr old
> dives, I presume, is closed supervised (one on one) in a
> shallow surrounding in which the adult can easily OVERPOWER
> the kid to safety if the kid can't be guided.  :-)

> I see ANOTHER new thread in the making -- scuba diving for
> under 10 yr-olds.

I can only imagine that the idea behind the Bubblemakers and Scuba Ranger
programmes is to attract the parents into diving?  It is, to my way of
thinking, a short-term fix to try and make diving appeal to a new
generation; a process that - by the time the kids are actually old enough to
make a decision for themselves and take proper open-water certification -
will probably turn them off from diving.

And that's to ignore all of the problems of whetting their appetite for
diving and then denying them the opportunity to experience it for themselves
in an open water environment - and the adverse publicity when a kid does
come to grief!

My attitude to that is, if they're not old enough to drive a car; drink
beer; and carry their own equipment, then they shouldn't be near the water!
:-)

Strike