-=> Quoting Jay Hanig to Achim Lohse <=-
 JH> 14 Sep 96 17:30, Achim Lohse wrote to Jay Hanig:
 
 AL>   Both my J-valves were inspected by a reputable dive shop just three
 AL>   dives back. Why should I trust them any less than a gauge?
 JH> It is the nature of the beast that makes it undesireable.  I have seen
 JH> one of the shops here in town tear down a j valve and when they
 JH> rebuilt it, managed to reinstall the handle that the pullrod attaches
 JH> to upside down.  In the up position, it would allow you to breath the
 JH> tank dry.  This was a reputable shop.  Now *I* know how to avoid that,
 JH> and I know how to test for it, but people make mistakes. 
  If that's your only objection to J-valves...
 JH>> completely different from yours.  Failure of a pressure gauge makes
 JH>> a dive no-go for me.
  And as I've said repeatedly, mine hasn't failed, it appears to give 
  accurate readings. About all I've heard so far is that it's likely 
  to fail sooner than one without a leak.
 JH> Since I check my pressure regularly during a dive, I would have a
 JH> pretty good idea of where I stood with my air.  If I was deep, I'd
 JH> surface then.  On a shallow reef, I'd probably stay a while longer. 
 JH> What I wouldn't do is make another dive until it was repaired of
 JH> replaced. 
  Well, I do all that, AND I have the added buffer of the J-valve.
 JH> You are the one who keeps claiming that the J valve is an adequate
 JH> backup.  I don't believe it is. 
  Compared to what? You're saying a J-valve is an "inadequate" backup, 
  so it's better to have none at all!
  ...
 AL>   I'm trying to find out if the leak in the gauge casing signifies an
 AL>   explosive potential, a point on which I'm still not clear.
 JH> No.  The housing is not going to go boom.  The bourdon tube and the
 JH> gears attached to it will probably freeze from corrosion.  The end
 JH> result is a gauge that never moves. 
   Thank you!  And I check my pressure gauge for functionality before 
  entering the water, in fact, before leaving home.  So it's rather 
  unlikely that it should die on me during those relatively few 
  moments when I'm actually diving.
  ...
 JH> I'm sorry that happened.  I would have taken your side in that
 JH> situation. Being underweighted is a major PITA and detracts from the
 JH> fun of the dive.... if you're even able to get down.  You say a couple
 JH> of people wished you'd drowned?
  Yes, and quite a few more expressed the view that anyone who used 
  "outdated" equipment, such as a horse-collar B.C. is incompetent and 
  shouldn't be diving. But the main feeling I got was that people were 
  unhappy to hear about how negligent a divemaster could be and were 
  keen to divert the blame for the situation onto the diver.
  I mean, this dive should have been a no-brainer. Great visibility, 
  one divemaster for two divers. But the divemaster was in a hurry to 
  get the dive over and get back to shore, even though both of us had 
  requested a second dive from the start. He separated me from my 
  "buddy" (whom I had met five minutes before on shore) so we couldn't 
  help each other gear up, then hounded me to hurry up with my gear, 
  so that I didn't go through my checklist as I usually do. Several 
  people commented that I was a real loser for letting myself be 
  bullied this way.
  Fact is, I'd done just about everything to anticipate the problems, 
  including lugging all my own gear, including a rented dive computer, 
  from Canada to Jamaica, everything but weights and tanks (even 
  brought my own belt), because I'd read of weighting problems with 
  carribean divemasters.  I argued with the divemaster for more 
  weight, and even slipped an extra into my bag before boarding the 
  boat. Unfortunately in the rush to gear up and get in the water, I 
  forgot to take it along, otherwise I might still have had a decent 
  dive by myself in spite of everything.
  The scariest thing was the number of readers of my post who decided 
  that it was ok for a divemaster to take my buddy and take off 
  leaving me alone at 65 feet with insufficient weight, on my first 
  ocean dive, and my first dive in over two years (both facts known to 
  the divemaster) just because I was "obviously" a jerk. That's what I 
  meant by the "hear no, see no, speak no evil" comment. In 
  recreational scuba community kill the messenger seems to be the 
  order of the day.
 JH> They get plenty of complaints.  You still want those numbers?
  No, thanks. I'm sure lodging a complaint wouldn't have done anyone 
  any good. After the dive, I took aside the young English PADI 
  instructor whod been along on the dive (doing the open water 
  checkout for a young couple) and had of course witnessed everything 
  and complained to him about the handling of the dive. He merely 
  shrugged and said "he's the divemaster". So I have to assume nothing 
  too unusual happened that day, and have no reason to believe that 
  there aren't hundreds of divemasters as bad or worse than the one I 
  got.  
  Achim
  Achim Lohse...Box2250, Invermere BC, V0A 1KO
  lohse@rockies.net/a.lohse@netcom.ca
  FAX: 604-342-0404
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