Better Way To Dive, To Be A Better Diver

What is the ‘Better Way To Dive’?. Now I have used ‘Better Way’ rather than ‘Right Way’ as I don’t think forcing something on people works, especially when some of the points don’t match up with what they have been taught in their courses. This is one of diving’s major hurdles, as many divers take what they have been taught as gospel. Now a lot of the time the instructor is not entirely incorrect and what they are teaching was correct at one stage/time or unaware of a more efficient process. The best examples of this is 1) the quarter turn back when opening the cylinder, 2) Proper buoyancy control and trim.

Now as diving has increased in popularity 2 things have happened;
1) The amount of research being carried out within diving has greatly increased around practices and equipment.
2) The recording of incidents and root cause analysis has also improved leading to better data for point 1 above.

Now we can’t make divers change or improve, as the desire to do that comes from the individual as the way we reason is different. So I am going to try and share my views in a way that it will hopefully get people thinking about their own diving in a similar way to my previous and future posts. So don’t worry I will not be telling you how you should be diving.

First my disclaimer! Having been diving for 23 years, I can admit, I have not always been a good diver, and are guilty of the many things I have now started to post about. What changed for me, was my attitude around risk and my naivety that I believed I was a good diver in skill and knowledge. One of my favourite quotes I heard was ‘At 50 dives I thought I knew everything, at 250 I realised how wrong I was!‘. My risk acceptance changed for me as I grew older, slightly more wiser and very much in recent years when I started a family. Also as I progressed, expanded my diving and I meet a few divers who reset my perception of where the bar was set to be seen as a good diver. I am a competitive person by nature, so this gave me a major boost to try and be better. I now do a lot of reading/research on world class divers and trying to increase my own knowledge. I am currently reading a couple of instructor manuals on Ice Diving, now where I live, there is no ice so no courses but I have that desire to learn something new and gain a new perceptive.

Second is my little rant, throughout my diving life, I have heard and used the phrase ‘There is more than one way to do it’ which I agree with. However it does frustrate me, when it is used to justify a dangerous practice or view point, especially when that view point is being pushed on to new/inexperienced divers. It’s a bit like the phrase ‘That’s how I have always done it, and it’s been fine’. There is always more than one way to do something, but each one comes with its own Pro’s and Con’s and its how these balance out that really matter.

So let me break down what I mean by ‘Better Way To Dive. “Safety”, “Simplicity”, “Effectiveness” – all while being affordable. This is very much in essence on the best way for you to dive as an individual.

Affordability:
We all have to start our kit collection somewhere and majority of divers cannot afford the best kit, so my view is whatever kit you buy understand it’s limitations and stay within them. How many of you know your regulators max operating depth or minimum water temperature?
Understand what you Must Have, Should Have and Could Have. This can be difficult due to the vast amount of information out there and will require you to do some research. I normally listen more to divers who fit some of the following criteria; Moved from Recreational to Tec Diving, Are Multi Agency, Dive Different Environments, Dive With Multiple Clubs/Groups. This means on average they have wider experiences then a recreational diver who has had the same instructor for every course and dives the same sites and conditions. However another disclaimer, we all know there is always at least one person who bucks a trend.

So with the above in mind try and get kit in that order, and if you are going to be buying higher end models focus on the Must Haves first. No point in having a high end £800+ multi gas computer if you don’t have the kit to support those types of dives, when a £150 computer will do, and the difference could buy a better set of Regulators or Buoyancy Device, the main life supporting systems. Carrying on this example of the dive computer if you used the money on the must have kit, you only need a couple of cheap bottom timers and slate to use the kit to its full potential. Try to use money wisely and buy for the long term. The amount of money I have wasted on gizmos and the latest must have thing makes be cry! Like the fishes we love to swim with, we are all attracted to nice new shiny objects. This can sometimes be challenging because of costs, so try and work out a little road map on where you would like to take your diving, this will better help you plan your development and what kit you will need when.

Safety:
This is one of the biggest reasons we decide to attach 20+ kilos (44+ pounds) of kit to ourselves then jump in water to deep to stand in. We ‘feel’ safe and here lies one of the issues. Safety is based on our own perception and knowledge which sometimes can be fairly limited. A good diver is always questioning is what they are doing/using is the safest option. If you ever hear a diver talking about something being unsafe, all I can say is listen and understand why they think that as they will always be right as that risk exists! It will be down to your own views and opinions on how big that risk is to you. An average diver will decide if the risk outweighs the reward or not to them. A better diver will multiply that risk to themselves and others around them against the reward to themselves. An example, let’s say the risk is 1 point but the reward is 2 points. You could say the reward outweighs the risk. However if you take your buddy into account its now 2vs2 if they don’t completely feel the same way. If you then consider a group of divers (4), the risk could now be stacked 4vs2. A common real life example I see, is in buddy pairs were one diver has a bailout out bottle and the other doesn’t. In this case it’s not uncommon for the bailout bottle diver to push the dive to his limits (as he feels safe) but is dragging his buddy beyond his. This line of thinking should also goes beyond your buddy and group but to the people supporting the dive and the environment itself. The more of those factors you take into account the better diver you will be.

Simplicity:
Task loading is a big challenge for divers and becomes more challenging the deeper we go due to the effects of narcosis. Our brains work like computers, when they do too much, they crash. Now these crashes can materialise in divers in a few of different ways.
First, they just give up. I am sure many people have had experiences where so much is going on at once and people are asking for different things, you think sod this I am going to go lie down and switch off, as you can’t deal with everything that’s going on.
Second, they actual crash. You see this regularly in accidents or when someone is in shock, there is so much going on the person just stops and freezes as they struggle to process everything. An example of this you will see a lot is in children when they climb up something then freeze and can’t get down as they can’t process how to. The same thing happens to adults.
Third is panic. I don’t think I need to explain or give examples for this one.
These are all fine when you are in your own home or on land, not so great when 20m below the surface.

Research shows people can deal with a total of about 5-7 tasks consciously and unconsciously at the same time. With this in mind you need to make things as simple as possible. Is your dive plan simple, is your kit configuration simple as possible (example, loading a D-Ring up with accessories will only make it more complex to find the one you need). Now for an uneventful dive, this may not be an issue, however when you throw in an emergency the task loading shoots up. This is where the 3 Strike Rule is good. For everything that is not right gets a strike (Leaky mask, Sticky Clip etc). Each issue is fine on its own as your mind is dealing with it on a consciously/unconsciously level. However when you get to 3 strikes you could be using around half your task loading capacity. Throw in an emergency and that task loading doubles/triples leading to the issues above. So if you get to 3 strikes, it’s better to call the dive.

Remember a Dive can be called by anyone at any time (even before getting in the water).

Effectiveness:
This is very much about how you and your buddy can effectively deal with a dive and any problems/issues that may occur. To me this relates to skills and knowledge. So before I kick off this section a few questions! When was the last time you did an out of gas scenario? Or an emergency lift? Cut someone out of a harness? Did a no mask swim? Stuck inflation valve drill? For many divers the last time they did some of these skills was in training which could have been years ago. Why not on your next dive, throw your buddy one of these skills to deal with or do one yourself. A good diver will always ensure their skills are up to date, and the only way to be sure is trying them out. I have heard some horror stories in my time, and a common one, is when divers say they hate taking off their mask as they struggle to clear it. Most of the skills we learn are for safety, if you are struggling with one of these, you are putting not only yourself but other divers in danger. If these skills are easy for you and that’s your excuse for not needing to practice, then challenge yourself! Combine problems to make them challenging! How about trying to do an emergency lift with only one fin, an almost flooded mask, with a broken bcd (Have your buddy hold open one of this dump valves) while dealing with your own free flowing Reg?

Remember practice does not make perfect, only perfect practice makes perfect.
Knowledge is also a key to being a good diver, but what I normally see are divers living in bubble. Now what I mean by that, is that the divers knowledge is focused in on themselves and their kit. A good diver will be focused on what’s happening outside that bubble, they will understand how their buddy’s kit works. I see this a lot of this in the UK when buddies are on completely different kit such as one on a re breather. Now I don’t dive with one, but have buddies who do, so I have built up my own knowledge on re-breathers and also try and find out from my buddies if there is anything on their kit I should know about before we even get to a buddy check. Divers will have a good understanding of the local environment, tides and weather. They will know local emergency procedures, laws, rules and regulations. So next time on when you go diving, take a few minutes to look around the site and to understand more about it. Don’t assume nothing has changed since you were last there.
Knowledge can be built up in a number of ways, reading, watching video, workshops, training courses or speaking to others. To really build on this knowledge you should always be asking and thinking why and why not. Try and break that bubble (eg train with different instructors, different agencies and dive with different people)

Majority of us dive for Enjoyment and I believe the safety, simplicity and effectiveness of our processes and kit greatly affects that enjoyment. We can all think of dives we did not enjoy, and can normally put the reason why into one or more of these categories.

So a Better Way To Dive to Be A Better Diver!
So with everything above in mind, normally when I teach/discuss this approach to be a Better Diver, I put it into terms of a points system, where each bit of equipment, skill, knowledge or decision is based out of 10 and if you take 10 things that will give you a maximum score of 100. (You can never get to 100 as nothing is absolutely safe, you are rarely 100% perfect, and our decisions can vary greatly). So when I am discussing kit options one option might be 5 points, another 6 and 3rd being 8. Option 8 might be out of the question because of affordability, and the argument is then between 5 and 6. There is no real difference so why do it? The challenge then comes if you can move those 10 things from a 5 rating to 6, you actually end up 10 points safer / better overall than you were before. An example of this is driving a car. We all know drivers who never indicate and it is extremely possible for them to go their whole driving life without indicating without causing an issue or having a crash. However that one small change can make them a little bit safer. Also as importantly makes it that little bit safer for other drivers, cyclists and pedestrians in the area. This is the same for diving. Your small change has a ripple on effect to your buddy, your group and the local area.

As with all my posts, I hope this one has given you something to think about and I would love to hear and for you to share any bad diving experiences you had and what made them bad. I would ask others to respect the poster for sharing and refrain for comments telling them what they should have done. Would just be great and would bring this piece to life with some real examples.

G-SAV