On Wed, 13 Dec 2000 08:24:58 +0700, Bjorn Vang Jensen
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Brad,
>
>It's been a long time since I've offered advice on diving in this forum,

which is a damned shame, because you and a few others who used to be the
critical mass of Scuba-L, then Scuba-SE, are dropping out for one reason
or another, to have made these lists not the FUN/EDUCATION/DISCUSSION
forums they used to be.

Congrats on a well-expressed piece that Brad and others CNs, OCNs, COs,
and OCOs should paid heed.

-- Bob.


>because its members have very little to learn from me. Note, please, that I
>say that as a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer who has certified hundreds of
>divers to all levels between OW and DM, and logged about 1,500 dives of my
>own on the side. That will hopefully give rise to some thought on your part
>about the competence of the people who have been giving you advice
lately...
>
>The statistics are available, and they are frightening: People die in caves
>and caverns every year, and they hold every level of certification, from
>every agency. It is said that, relative to the population that engages in a
>given diving activity, cave and cavern divers have the highest fatality
>rate, by factors.
>
>It is ALSO a sad but indisputable fact that Dive Masters and Instructors
>with no formal cave training make up a large proportion of the body count.
>We have a habit of thinking that we are invincible, somehow not subject to
>the same limitations that apply to the poor, unwashed masses. We are wrong,
>and if your intended buddies are not formally cave-trained, then they are
>wrong, too, no matter whether they are instructors or hold any other
>certification level.
>
>Virtually every instructor or DM I know has a personal horror story to
tell,
>although it may take a few drinks to dislodge them. If yours don't, then
>they are either lying, in denial, incredibly lucky, or saints.
>
>I appreciate that you may not have been aware of this, but I implore you to
>think again. When you say that you fully expect your instructor buddy to be
>the first to say, turn back, then you are making an assumption that, in
this
>case, may cost you your life.
>
>I have dived several locations here in Asia where mouths of caves are
>"decorated" with plaques in memory of divers who went a bridge too far,
>never to be seen alive again. Some of them were instructors...
>
>If your instructor buddies are associated with PADI, put them to the test,
>and ask them to show you the PADI video called "A Deceptively Easy Way to
>Die". It is about cave and cavern diving, and was made by PADI to counter
>the growth in the statistics you aspire to become a part of. Take it
>seriously, Brad, it was made for people like yoursef, who are about to do
>something that they are not trained for, together with people who are not
>trained for it either. It is possible, and has happened, to die within just
>a few yards of the mouth of a cavern. Watch that video, then make up your
>mind. At least that way, you will be making an informed decision, and the
>advice you have been given here will maybe also not seem as rash and
>condescending as you seem to think it is.
>
>And if you still don't believe me, try this:
>http://www.caves.org/section/cds/pamphlt.htm
>
>Or this: http://216.118.30.212/aa_fatalities.htm
>
>Good luck, whatever you do.
>
>
>Safe,
>Bjorn