Diving

[aarthrj3811]

Being under water Is one of the most enjoyable and dangerous part of gold
mining. I believe every diver should take a diving course or read a few books
about It. We should at least be aware of the rules we are Ignoring.
I see Miners who put their air hose under their weight belt because they
don't have a harness or Just want to keep it out of their way. Have you been In
15 foot of water and rolled a boulder over and got a Charlie Horse In your legs.
Guess where that belt Is going to be If you drop your weighs? I was In a hole
25 feet deep when a large boulder started to slide In. I knew It was going to
slide In but after the wake (for lack of another word) I found myself In fast
water at the end of my air hose. I don't think I would have made It to shore
with 80 pounds of lead on my air hose.
Have you ever been down 25 foot and had your mask washed off by a rush
of water because someone 40 miles away dumped some water out of the Dam.
The worst part Is you can't remember how to clear your mask. Be honest, can
you remember how to clear your mask. The first day of mining season every
year, I practice clearing my mask.
Has the relief value on your compressor every stuck open? Mine did and I
was 20 foot down.
Do you know the methods for clearing your ears? If you don't know what
I'm talking about you had better take some lessons or read some books. For
those Who know-OUCH
Be Safe and have a good year.
A. Flowers

 

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[wreckdiver1715]

Well stated my friend, I have been a diver for many years and must say that I agree with you. Regardless if you are using a hookah rig in the river, or diving with a tank and BC in the open ocean, you should most defiantly be certified. The most important reason for certification is SAFETY! Don?t cheat yourself from the knowledge to save your own life, or the life of a friend or loved one just so you can save yourself a couple hundred bucks. It happens every year, some damn fool thinks he?s smarter than the average bear and does not need to be certified. Then they pull his dead lifeless body on shore.

 

[Darren in NC]

Well said, guys. The whole point of being certified is to offset the number one killer of divers...panic. Practice of proper technique combined with education builds skill that keeps divers from freaking out when the unexpected happens. Even after you become certified, you should spend the first few minutes of every dive practicing the basics. It may mean the difference of life and death one day. Happy diving and hunting!

 

[Charles,Oak Island]

Get certified and never dive alone. Know your buddy and know the signals......

 

[cptbil]

Get Certified!!!... Don't Dive Alone!!!!
? ?Man!
What has happened to the American Spirit?
I have been diving longer than most people are old!
Guess what!
I am neither? Certified ...
Nor !
Am I? DEAD and? Lifeless!
I have SCUBA'd in The Pacific, Atlantic, Hawaii, Sea of Japan, Sea of Cortez, in caves, dark dirty rivers, bayous, lakes (looking for bodies, of people who played in the water and didn't learn to get out of the way of boaters)etc..
You name it....
I would have missed all sorts of good diving, if I had to wait until I found a partner!
? The Very SAME as I am doing today!
I have to go out TH'ing and prospecting? ALONE!
Because I can't find a full time partner!
AND! I am neither? DEAD!? nor am I? "LIFELESS!
How much of our country would have been discovered,
? ? If the Mountainmen had to be "Certified" and never have "gone out ALONE" ??
Cptbil

 

[cptbil]

? OH!? ?
:P? I forgot to mention!
The Local "Dive Shop" here,? USED!? ?to require a? "partner dives only" on all of it's dives.
Guess what?
An accident happened and the "partner" was successfully sued for not paying attention to his partner!
Because of this "requirement"!
He returned the favor, by sucessfully, suing the "Local Dive Shop" !
They, in effect, made him responsible for the other "Partner"!
There, in court, the subject of being "Liable" for your partner was brought up! Very successfully!
Think Twice about taking on the "Liability" of/for a "Partner"!
Or! For anyone !
Or!
Some smart lawyer will have you in court!
Doubt that?
Check with an attorney!
Cptbil

 

[Charles,Oak Island]

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.
F. Scott Fitzgerald

 

[wreckdiver1715]

Cptbil, I too dove for many years without being certified, and I have dove alone (still do from time to time, based on my own risk assessment). However, I learned allot from getting my PADI certification that I did not learn from the experienced divers that taught me some of the basics. I like to think that some of that training helped me to avoid potentially dangerous situations. It may just be me, but now that I am older, and I like to think a little wiser. Before I do anything that may be dangerous, I like to get as much education and training as possible.
You are correct, this is America and you have the right to trek off into the wilderness of discovery blindly if you so desire. But I will lay you odds that even the mountain men and frontiersmen of days gone by learned all they could before loading up the pack mules and heading west. That is, the ones that survived to tell the tale. How many ended up dying alone in the wilderness because they never learned one of the many basic rules of survival? I guess we will never know.

I think I can guess why you can?t find anyone to dive with you!
Continued good luck to you my friend.

Q

 

[Hoser John]

BIG difference between diving in the ocean,100+' and piddling and diddling dredging.I have dredged for over 30+ years,manufactured and resold for years,known 10's a thousands a dredgers logging MILLION a hours and only 1 ignoranus dumb enough to drag a dredge under overhanging brush and die!! Man alive I've never heard such extreme panty twisting paranoia in my life!! Idiots winching boulders on themselves,burying themselves by undermining banks,winch cables snapping , and such are 10,000 more times likely to happen to any miner!!Tons a au 2 u 2-John

 

[cptbil]

? Well! "Wreckdiver1715"?
? I certainly hate to mention this,
BUT!
I'm afraid that you did not read my "post" very carefully!
I never said that I couldn't find a "Dive Partner"!
Hopefully, you read your "Dive Manuals" with more care and understanding!
Please go back and see what I am talking about!
And! Then, perhaps you will have learned a lession...
You mentioned that you thought that you knew the reason I could not find a "Partner" !!
Assuming, but not reading, my "Post" !
:P? That "word", "Assuming", has gotten more people into more trouble!
cptbil

 

[Hoser John]

Partners mean losing a large % of my hard won gold!! And finding one who'll keep his hands outta the dredge sluice is another!! Or sober,or a million reasons.Yes I've had'm but ONLY as a last ditch effort due to extreme isolation,overburden,or running a dredge larger than a 6".MINE-MINE-all mine is my motto!!Tons a au 2 u 2-John

 

[wreckdiver1715]

Gentlemen, it is obvious that we will never agree on this subject. However, I believe that we have each made our points very clear, and I respect your decision to take a pass on certification process and wish you continued success in your endeavors.
However, I hope that others who read this exchange of opinions have gained some food for thought before they descend below the surface.

Q

 

[Charles,Oak Island]

Q
nicely put and good closure.


When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it - this is knowledge.
Confucius