-=> Quoting Jay Hanig to Achim Lohse <=-
 AL>   Wait a minute. I'm not arguing that a good pressure gauge is not
 AL>   desireable. And I'll get one as soon as I can.  But _any_ pressure
 AL>   gauge can fail you. How many people do you know who have two
 AL>   pressure gauges connected on a dive?
 
 AL>   Besides, shouldn't a J-valve that holds back 500 lbs. of pressure
 AL>   allow you to make a safety stop?
 JH> Sure.....if it works.
  Both my J-valves were inspected by a reputable dive shop just three 
  dives back. Why should I trust them any less than a gauge?
 JH> From reading this little exchange of messages, it's obvious to me that
 JH> you consider a pressure gauge a desireable but nonessential piece of
 JH> equipment. I've been diving a long time and my attitude is completely
 JH> different from yours.  Failure of a pressure gauge makes a dive no-go
 JH> for me. 
  Don't understand how you arrive at that interpretation. My pressure 
  gauge leaks but performs its job. I haven't ever made a dive without 
  a working pressure gauge, nor have I said that I would. Unlike most 
  divers, I've got a backup device in my J-valve. If _your_ pressure 
  gauge failed during a dive, how would you be better off than me?
 JH> Steve was right.....you are an accident waiting to happen.  I've
 JH> recovered bodies of guys like you before. 
  Seems a rather rash pronouncement to me, given the information 
  available to you.
  JH> I don't mean to be nasty, but you need a swift kick in the ass 
  before
 JH> you kill yourself.  If you can't afford a SPG right now, you can't
 JH> afford to dive. 
  As I've said before, _any_ gauge can fail, even the next one I might 
  buy.  And if the possibilty of such failure constitutes an 
  insurmountable obstacle to survival, then no-one should dive without 
  back-ups of every "essential" item of equipment. How many divers 
  meet this criterion? 
  I'm trying to find out if the leak in the gauge casing signifies an 
  explosive potential, a point on which I'm still not clear. 
  If you're inclined to crusade for scuba safety, I suggest there are 
  many thousands much more needy than I am. Just cast your eyes on 
  some of the guided dive operations in the Carribean, for example, or 
  the travelling dive schools we get up here.  Most dive fatalities 
  are not due to equipment failure in my view (though it _would_ be 
  nice if the dive industry published some statistics), but human 
  error, usually the error of accepting the wrong dive buddy or 
  divemaster to submerge with, often aggravated by picking the wrong 
  instructors to train with, and topped off with a what-me-worry? 
  attitude.  At least _I_ try to inform myself as to the risks I might 
  be taking.  Most divers don't even want to hear about things going 
  wrong.
  A year and a half ago I reported on the Internet about a dive 
  operation in Ocho Rios, Jamaica where the divemaster refused to give 
  me enough weights for the dive (my first ever in salt water), but 
  promised to carry an extra for me if I should need it, then took off 
  with my "buddy" while I struggled to get under, and left me all 
  alone, underweighted, for the entire dive. Nine out of ten people 
  who responded to my post called _me_ incompetent, and a couple even 
  wished I had drowned.  The divemaster was PADI certified, and was 
  said by one of his admirers to have made 5000 dives.
  Various correspondents said I should make a formal complaint to PADI 
  or shut up, but not one could come up with an e-mail address or even 
  a FAX number to which I might send the complaint. I guess they don't 
  get many complaints.
  Safety concern in scuba is mostly a matter of "see, hear, and speak 
  no evil".
  Achim
  Achim Lohse...Box2250, Invermere BC, V0A 1KO
  lohse@rockies.net/a.lohse@netcom.ca
  FAX: 604-342-0404
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