Flying doesn't scare me, so I don't need to be in control.

Besides, I don't have to worry.  I only fly Comair.  They'd never make a
mistake like that.  8^(

Lee

You're flying with the wrong commecial pilots!

LD.

Actually, it was close to a tie.  I rarely dive with anyone who's been
diving longer.  I've been at it since 1962.  Most people I dive with,
however, are very good diver.  My buddy on the spearfishing trips is the
lead diver on a local police dive team.  The other two divers have been
doing the trip two or three times as long as I have.  None of us are what
you'd call novices.  All four of us took our nitrox course together.  I
probably dive it more often than the other three, but only one, my buddy,
was relatively inexperienced in doing multiple dives on nitrox.  The concept
of experience is sometimes hard to pin down.

Lee

Thus spake bluNOboxSPAMthief
<newsgroups-spambaiter@runningIHATEwithSPAMbulls.com> :

I used to be able to whistle up 2600.  And I still have my Capt Crunch
whistle.

np, but having said that......don't assume somebody else will *ever* check
anything as well as you will.

LD.

You may or may not know, Curtis certainly does..... the tanks I own both
have H valves, one is left handed and one right. Either way, one of the
things I give Capt. PADI (if that is AJ) credit for, is looking at them and
saying, "Hey, if you know it's on, I tust ya".
I liked that about him too. Hands off!

LD.

 I'm glad for it, too, as opposed to being limited only by one's delusions,
like you and Francis.

 Trimming replies for context, and then responding to them, is the second
to last bastion of the absolute whining usenet bitch.

  Well, thank you!  :-)

 The way my rig is set, that wouldn't work.

 Or maybe it's my chest and shoulder geometry.

 What you describe would, on me, face the gauge straight to the front.

Bernard wrote:

You've sure come to the right place to ask your questions.  If there's one
common trait shared by most people in this forum, it's their need to
understand their options and why one is better for them than another.  Some
of what new divers learn in their entry level training isn't quite what it
seems.  Chances are, when that's the case, someone, or several someone's
here will know all about it.

Example, since I know someone will want one.  There's a rule, a hard and
fast rule as taught to most new divers.  Always breathe.  Never hold your
breath.  I'd bet you've heard it already.  The thing is, it's not what it
seems.  Actually, it's a device to keep new divers from holding their breath
while ascending.  There's nothing at all wrong with holding your breath
while you descend.

Lee

"bluNOboxSPAMthief" <newsgroups-spambaiter@runningIHATEwithSPAMbulls.com>
wrote >

Sorry to throw a spanner in the works but, although it *is* a very logical,
easy-to-digest bookwise sport, it is also a great learning experience. I am
still reconfiguring gear/ techniques after probably over a thousand dives.
Oh, and btw, there's always someone with thousands more!

LD.

Beware of the dust cap rule.  It was invented by those that fill tanks, not
by those that use them.  When I'm on a dive boat, where somebody needs to
know which tank is empty and which is full, I honor the convention.
Otherwise, my dust caps serve as . . . well, dust caps.  They're on the
valves when the valves don't have something else in them.

Your SPG tells you how much gas is in a tank.  Don't depend on anything
else, including memory.

I breathe a variety of gases.  At any give point in time, my tanks may
contain pretty much anything from 21% (air) to 50%.  I've got one tank
that's full of O2.  I needed a way to be sure I know what's in each tank
before I put it in the car.  Here's what I came up with.  YMMV.

The tank is filled, hopefully, but not always, with what I requested.  The
fill monkey checks the gas.  If he doesn't do it automatically, then I ask
him to.  It's part of his job.  Then I check it.  If we don't agree, the
difference is resolved while I'm still at the shop.  I've not been wrong
yet, but you never know.  At that time, the fill monkey, or I, put whatever
the shop uses for a sticker on the tank and somebody writes the mix on the
sticker.  Here's where my method gets a bit different.

When I get my tanks home, after they have temperature stabilized and fully
mixed, if you believe they aren't in the shop, I test them again, this time
with my analyzer.  I also check the pressure.  I then remove the shop's
sticker and add my own.  I use yellow duct tape . . . always.  I include the
mix, the pressure and the date.  No shop or boat I know of uses yellow duct
tape, so when I see it there, I know who put it there.  When it's time to
use the tank, I check the sticker, set my computer, plan my dive, whatever,
based on what it says and take the sticker off the tank just before I put my
plate and wing on it.  If I follow my process consistently, which I normally
do, I know what is in the tank if it has a yellow sticker and know I can't
be sure if it doesn't.

Simple, no?

For those that want to be even more anal about it, do some Google searches
until  you come up with the fill, testing and labeling process used by
George Irvine III.  He does what he does for the same reasons I do, but has
an even more detailed process for doing it.  He should.  He also dives to
depths and into places that I don't even consider.

Lee

Were you already in teh water when you checked?  If so, maybe your buddy is just a hoover.

 You'll find that many of us advocate solo diving, which is something that
you might, at this point, be well warned away from by your training agency.

 As an extensively researched and careful decision made by more experienced
divers...

 Speaking for my self, but possibly for the majority, we focus of
forethought, preparedness and self-reliance.

 When two solo-oriented divers dive together, we may not pay quite the same
attention to each other as we would if we were diving with someone who
regularly buddies.

 But make no mistake- when agreed upon before hand, we can and will buddy
by the numbers.

 Conversely also, no scuba diver, who chooses to buddy, should have
the -slightest- objection to you -double- checking his gear.

 Not the slightest objection, just as long as he knows...

 We don't like people touching our gear, either. :-)

 Emphasis on -double- check.

 He should have already checked it thoroughly.

 If he didn't, that's not a good sign.

 If he gets raspy about you doing it, that's -really- bad.

 Be diplomatic, or if necessary, act stupid, and ask, "how does your octo
work?"

 Or, "Cool SPG, can I see it?"

 Or, "Let me check your tank valve, or I'll choke the sh.t out of you".

 You get the idea.