From: Charlie_Gibbs@mindlink.bc.ca (Charlie Gibbs)
Subject: Re: WHO IS AN EXPERIENCED DIVER ???
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1992 00:29:23 GMT

In article <1992Dec23.151615.7646@nctams1.uucp> 0031b@pnet16.cts.com
(Rmcs Falcone) writes:

>  Can anyone tell me at what point is a diver considered "EXPERIENCED"??
>Is it the number or dives ?? The level of qualification ??? Just what is it
>that allows a diver to consider themselves "Experienced" ?? I was reading an
>artical in "Dive Training" and it made me think....is there such a point in
>one's diving experience that you can qualify yourself as being an
>"EXPERIENCED" diver ???

     I think this is another of those "how high is up" questions.
There isn't a magic line you can cross, after which you become
Experienced.  It's a matter of degree.  For instance, my air
consumption decreased as my experience increased.  But it was a
continuous process; I didn't just go out one day and find that
my air consumption had suddenly dropped from 1 cfm to 0.5 cfm.

     Determining when one has become "experienced" is a problem
that has plagued mankind for millenia.  It's probably why ancient
tribes had various rites of passage: to establish a definite (if
arbitrary) point at which someone becomes entitled to certain
privileges.  In our society, the accepted rite consists of receiving
specially-marked pieces of paper which are intended to certify one's
qualifications in given areas.  So powerful is the magic contained in
these papers that large numbers of people (usually called bureaucrats)
spend their entire lives issuing, receiving, filing, and tracking the
movement of them.

     (Oops, I'm getting a bit carried away.  Excuse me while I
extract my tongue from my cheek. :-)

     There are many kinds of experience, which further complicates
the issue.  Imagine a diver who has done several hundred wreck
penetrations, but who has only been in tropical waters.  I, on
the other hand, haven't penetrated a wreck but have done all my
dives in cold water.  Which of us is "experienced"?

     I likely wouldn't ask simply whether someone is or is not
"experienced"; that's too vague to be of much use.  Instead, I'd
ask how much experience that person has in the areas I'm interested
in.  If I were evaluating a potential dive buddy, I'd want to know
how much experience and skill he or she has in the sort of diving
we'd be likely to do.

     Experience should be viewed relative to the current point of
interest.  I could probably learn a lot from that wreck diver,
but I could also probably show him a lot about cold-water diving.
Certificates usually indicate that a person has enough training and
experience to function in a certain capacity in certain conditions.
For instance, a C-card states that the holder can conduct him/herself
in a reasonably safe manner underwater, while an instructor's
certificate suggests that he or she can impart such knowledge to
others as well.  Specialty ratings indicate proficiency in various
fields.  The system isn't perfect, but if administered with enough
care, a certificate can give a fairly reliable indication that a
person has necessary capabilities for a given task.

     The ultimate criterion, though, is a person's actual conduct.
No doubt there are people with 50 dives who handle themselves
better underwater than others with 1000 dives.  Who is more
experienced?  Who would you rather be with?  There's more to
experience than putting in time; how much you learn in that time
is important too.

     As you can see, I've come up with more questions than answers.
But in closing, let me mention one thing which I consider just as
important as experience: knowing your limits.  A person who knows
and respects his or her limits is less likely to wind up in a
situation he or she can't handle.  In the example above, if I
wanted to get into wreck penetrations I'd take instruction from
someone whose skills I trusted; I'd wind up with more skills and
be able to set my limits a bit higher while maintaining the same
level of safety.  I'd be that bit more experienced.

Charlie_Gibbs@mindlink.bc.ca
This sentence has threee erors.