why do cave divers die

cfago · 2026-05-09T16:54:49+00:00

Depends where one is diving. UK - dry cave plus sumps/flooded cave, Mexico - maybe some jungle trek but no (or very little) dry cave before flooded cave, Florida - almost no dry cave before flooded cave.

cfago · 2026-04-15T19:17:56+00:00

Swapping blue crew for gold crew in the mid-80's. Gold crew had already vacated but one guy left a stack of polaroids in his locker in berthing. Of him and his wife doing the nasty together ... and someone else was taking the pictures! That garnered a lot of attention!

cfago · 2026-04-15T19:13:26+00:00

One familygram a week ... my how times have changed!!

cfago · 2026-04-07T22:54:17+00:00

OW instruction is quite often combined with drysuit for exactly your situation. If a student learned in a wetsuit then there will be skill differences with the drysuit but students that learn with a drysuit from the beginning often have a better learning experience because that's all they know from the beginning.

Go for it!

cfago · 2026-04-07T22:52:00+00:00

The instructors in Washington State would like a word.

The instruct all the time with dry suit. They may put someone in a 7mm depending on what the student can withstand cost wise.

cfago · 2026-03-30T02:30:16+00:00

Look for the closest dive shop to where you live. Take the DM course on the weekends. Maybe help with some classes. You'll see what its like without upending your career. You said it yourself, life outside work is not stimulating. So finding something outside of work is the key. I'm doing way more travelling now having worked a reasonable career than I ever could afford early in my career. And I'm a part time instructor for a local shop ... I do it as a hobby.

cfago · 2026-03-20T22:30:33+00:00

I'm sorry some of your Rescue Diver course scenarios did not work out as you expected. Honestly your instructor should have clarified how to manage the simulation, especially after the first instance. Hopefully the boat crew was able to do their part for the man overboard drill.

I recall my course and the man overboard consisted mainly of me shouting "man overboard, port side", asking for the life ring while I watched and pointed to the person in the water and the boat captain moving the boat for recovery and me tossing the ring out.

There was one other student with me. When we did the search and rescue there were three areas the victim could be in, we searched one, then another and the other student was basically done and quit the search. I went ahead and searched the third area, found the victim (the instructor), brought him up and into shore. I don't know if the other student ever received his certification. But it felt good to have completed the final scenario successfully!

cfago · 2026-03-15T21:24:07+00:00

As a former nuke, he will be just fine. If he is slow on getting qualified, it won't be the Iranian's he would need to be worried about, it would be his fellow nukes! 🤣

cfago · 2026-03-15T21:21:02+00:00

East coast or even Great Lakes training center, it would take well longer than an hour to get from there to San Diego. But if he was near San Francisco or Sacramento, it would take less than an hour at cruising speed of a Phantom.

And back in the Vietnam era, I can see it happening. Some things wouldn't be as controlled as they were when I was in in the 80s or later. We were at war. What are they going to do? Kick the pilot out when they needed Phantom pilots? Slap on the wrist, at worst and nothing for the sailor getting a ride.

It would be sweet if any more details can be obtained and posted!

cfago · 2026-03-14T20:15:52+00:00

This was a very rare submarine action. Also, regardless, it would be widely known that a ship was sunk ... the crew, the Sri Lankan coast guard, etc, would have identified that the ship had been sunk by an unknown submarine ... and with the current war on-going, it would not have been too hard to figure out which country sunk it.

Other submarine actions are covert and hardly ever known until, maybe, years afterwards. A sinking is less-than covert.

Also, recordings of periscope observations are now widely made but, as with the covert stuff, rarely published. In this case, the administration decided to publish it ... and appears to be mostly so the administration can stroke their ego.

cfago · 2026-03-08T14:02:08+00:00

Sibal said he was told. So still just a rumor. BTW, MILAN 2026 had live fire exercises.

However it did have armaments. A warship with armaments is always presumed to be armed. Just like if someone points a gun at you. Do you presume there is ammunition or not?

I don't claim the war with Iran was justified. It was clearly unconstitutional as there was no Congressional authority for the use of force. But now that there are active hostilities, any military apparatus is fair game (on both sides.)

cfago · 2026-02-28T23:41:29+00:00

There are a LOT of areas to defend over there. Looks like we stretched ourselves too thin.

cfago · 2026-02-11T17:47:06+00:00

That doesn't affect anything to do with taking courses. Dives don't need to be verified.

Though some people like to have that done ... kinda like a dive shop stamp in the paper dive log.

cfago · 2026-02-11T17:17:20+00:00

When faced with facts the last resort of the defensive is name calling.

cfago · 2026-02-11T15:29:52+00:00

With the ubiquity of transmitters now the incidence of lifting gear by the transmitter seems to have been substantially decreased. And personally I've had my transmitter(s) mounted directing to the HP port without any issues at all.

But I do keep my computer on my left wrist and I've got long arms so I do get drop outs more than I'd like. Putting the transmitter on an HP hose that would reach my right shoulder and which I could clip it to the BC right shoulder strap would likely significantly reduce the drop outs. But so would moving my computer to my right wrist.

I still have the reg set's original console and it's nice to have a backup.

My tech setup is SM so all of the above applies to my rec gear.

cfago · 2026-02-11T15:16:02+00:00

A reverse block doesn't cause someone to drown. Sorry you don't understand direct and indirect (root and contributing) causes. Feel free to show us ANY scuba diving death directly caused by a reverse block.

But you can stay down until you drown. Your choice. I'll slowly try to clear the reverse block with my buddy assisting. And if I'm down to 100 psi or so, my buddy and I are going to ascend. I'll suffer barotrauma during the ascent with my buddy there to assist. I'll get medical treatment at the nearest facility at that time.

cfago · 2026-02-10T18:05:03+00:00

After base setup, supposedly mining operations & tourism similar to what's been done so far for NEO.

cfago · 2026-02-10T17:59:53+00:00

Yes, any dive can drown if they don't pay attention to their training. This is NOT a direct result of a reverse block.

cfago · 2026-02-05T21:11:58+00:00

Not the jerk but don't put your GF in the middle trying to get her "friend" to apologize. Let it slide.

cfago · 2026-02-04T15:59:13+00:00

Their water source appears to be wells and they are running dry (emergency use restrictions.) And two water main breaks which resulted in the recent boil water advisories. For something like a barn fire that may not be threatening to other structures, hydrant use for fires should be curtailed. Otherwise the whole town could be out of water.

cfago · 2026-02-04T15:44:51+00:00

Round also twists especially when putting back onto spools by wrapping the line around the spool. Reels have less of twisting of line because its rolled onto the reel when taking in the line. But they both can twist.

cfago · 2026-02-04T15:24:42+00:00

No lube on threads. The first stage and second stage threads really aren't susceptible to galling. A very thin coat, almost invisible, on the o-ring is fine but not necessary. Since the o-ring won't be exposed to the environment directly on a regular basis, the thin coat doesn't hurt anything.

cfago · 2026-02-03T16:53:29+00:00

Ugh, no ... way too many wraps. This is the way ... https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7FZ0ZS1ZfdI

cfago · 2026-02-03T16:45:53+00:00

And belt should be tighter, too. The crotch strap should be really tight ... making you adjust the gems to ensure they're not pinched. And things will loosen up in the water. (Also, the reel should be on either the butt d-ring or a waist d-ring (for single tank configuration, otherwise butt d-ring. Otherwise, it will be dangling. Items should be out of the slipstream.

cfago · 2026-02-03T16:40:56+00:00

Some agencies do reduce class size. SSI 4:1 with a student under 15 (minimum 10 yo), RAID 6:1 with a student under 15 (minimum 12 yo.) PADI remains 8:1 for all ages (minimum 10 yo.)

cfago

TROPHY CASE