Posted by Clinton Bauder on April 12, 2000 at 16:04:57:
In Reply to: Re: Tech diving posted by SLANG on April 12, 2000 at 14:57:06:
I also dislike having people tell me how to dive and I tire quickly of the "Do it our way our you're gonna die for sure" attitude that seems to emanate from South Florida. Still, those guys have some useful stuff to say about equipment configuration and diving techniques. Once I got past the "Dive Nazi" attitude I've learned a lot from them and even bought a bunch of Halcyon gear. In a way you can look at them as logical extensions of the more mainstream training agencies that gave us 130 foot limits, no solo diving etc. I may not agree with everything NAUI or for that matter GUE says but for the most part both communities provide good training and information.
Also I think the people Mike is worried about aren't the folks who have been doing it for years but rather the "More stock options than brains" types. These are the ones that think that just because they can purchase the equipment and read some stuff on the internet means they are somehow qualified to do aggressive diving. Of course the Cave/Tech Community has probably at least indirectly contributed to this by glamorizing their activities and making information about it more widely available.
In any case as you point out it's up to the individual diver to look after his or her own safety and long may it remain so.
Clinton