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The Weird, Dangerous, Isolated Life of the Saturation Diver

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Re: The Weird, Dangerous, Isolated Life of the Saturation Diver

#71

Post by vertex-four »

erikpukinskis wrote: post #57
vertex-four wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a lot of training involved in going offshore, and if you're able to go through training to get out of poverty, there's a hundred other careers to go for that don't involve multiple weeks away from family.

Is it important for families to be together 7 days a week?

I don’t see what that has to do with my comment. I’d suggest that it’s difficult to form a connection with someone who is not present in your life for significant periods of time on a regular basis, but of course it’s a sliding scale.

Re: The Weird, Dangerous, Isolated Life of the Saturation Diver

#72

Post by pzone »

yosito wrote: post #40

All that for less than $60/hr.

$1400/24 is not a very fair comparison. Just to start, I bet these guys have to sleep significantly more than 8 hours per day, and that's no different from any other job involving strenuous labor. Also, living in a cramped pod does sound like a drag, but if you're lying in bed with Facebook and Netflix I think it counts as downtime.

Re: The Weird, Dangerous, Isolated Life of the Saturation Diver

#73

Post by aksyn »

steve19 wrote: post #68
aksyn wrote: post #56

I got into diving a couple of years ago, and managed to combine the two passions - there's an Open Source diving computer[1], and it's fascinating to read through the source[2]. I was surprised on looking into it more that we're really just winging it algorithmically + safety margins, based on research done in the 60s. The empirical research basically consisted of the Navy et al. throwing people in at depth, and seei…

That dice computer looks great. Do you own one? Do like it?

I have both the OSTC4 and OSTC3 Plus. The screens are extremely visible underwater, with the OSTC4 having a better resolution and much larger screen (equivalent brightness). There are quite a few YouTube videos of other computers to compare - these stood out. As far as computers go, they have all the features needed (even up to tech). I find having a nice piece of technology on my wrist provides some intangible comfort, especially on Blackwater dives :) The screen is so vivid I even managed to spot a battery warning (forgot to charge it) on my buddies computer from distance!

Re: The Weird, Dangerous, Isolated Life of the Saturation Diver

#74

Post by toomanybeersies »

fjsolwmv wrote: post #47
Retric wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The population is tiny which means even if the accident rate is low per time, the risk per diver is extremely high. It depends on you benchmark, but people think of police officer as a dangerous job and they mostly die in car accidents.

Isn't there something about how general aviation pilots mostly die flying if they don't retire from it young?

There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots. That's the saying anyway.

Re: The Weird, Dangerous, Isolated Life of the Saturation Diver

#75

Post by jjcm »

mbrameld wrote: post #63
jsjohnst wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To expand further, oxygen is toxic at 1.6ATA. For those unfamiliar, pressure doubles every 10m (33ft). So if I tried to breath 100% oxygen at 33ft (aka 2.0ATA), I’d die pretty quickly. At 66ft, that caps you at about 40% oxygen. At 99ft, you essentially can’t breath any higher oxygen concentration than natural air. As such, nitrox’s purpose isn’t to increase depth. It’s actually used to increase bottom time (at a los…

> For those unfamiliar, pressure doubles every 10m (33ft). Does it? Or does it increase by one atmosphere every 10m?

Increase by one atmosphere. If it doubled then at the bottom of the Marianas Trench it'd be 10^330 atmospheres, or approximately 10^318 times greater than the pressure at the center of the Sun.

Re: The Weird, Dangerous, Isolated Life of the Saturation Diver

#76

Post by GhostVII »

Xylakant wrote: post #13
Hendrikto wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It may not be politically correct to say, but there ARE differences between men and women. One of them is that, generally speaking, men are more willing to take higher risks for money and recognition.

Saying this is politically correct. The contentious issue is the question of why this is so. Is it because society shapes us in such a way that men are more inclined to take risks for money and recognition. This would imply things can change and women can be excellent saturation divers. Or is it because our genes shape us in this way, making it impossible for women to excel at diving.

It makes more sense in nature for females to be more selective than males, since once they choose a mate they have to deal with that choice for a while, resulting in males competing for females. So I think it makes sense that men would naturally be competing for women, and would have to take more risks, and try and get more money/recognition, to do that.

Re: The Weird, Dangerous, Isolated Life of the Saturation Diver

#77

Post by steve19 »

aksyn wrote: post #73
steve19 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That dice computer looks great. Do you own one? Do like it?

I have both the OSTC4 and OSTC3 Plus. The screens are extremely visible underwater, with the OSTC4 having a better resolution and much larger screen (equivalent brightness). There are quite a few YouTube videos of other computers to compare - these stood out. As far as computers go, they have all the features needed (even up to tech). I find having a nice piece of technology on my wrist provides some intangible comfo…

Thanks. I have just started scuba diving and am looking at getting the ultra budget Cressi Leonardo Dive Computer. Is getting that a bad idea given I am just a newbie?

Re: The Weird, Dangerous, Isolated Life of the Saturation Diver

#79

Post by posterboy »

Xylakant wrote: post #31
yason wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or maybe money and recognition aren't that valuable intrinsically and the industry is basically (ab)using men craving for those both. Maybe women are simply much smarter to not choose that line of job in the first place, or it would take a lot more of something else than money and recognition to convince them to take those risks.

That might be true but brings you back to the question why this is so. Are women intrinsically more intelligent due to their gender or does society place different expectations on the upbringing of boys, leading to a different selection of skills that develop. Or is it a mixture of both?

It's a physical job. Men are on average stronger. Even though the distribution of strength might not be proportional, the general perception should lead to a manifest self-image simply by association. And it helps that people like me corroborate this, frequently.

Re: The Weird, Dangerous, Isolated Life of the Saturation Diver

#80

Post by GuB-42 »

Xylakant wrote: post #13
Hendrikto wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It may not be politically correct to say, but there ARE differences between men and women. One of them is that, generally speaking, men are more willing to take higher risks for money and recognition.

Saying this is politically correct. The contentious issue is the question of why this is so. Is it because society shapes us in such a way that men are more inclined to take risks for money and recognition. This would imply things can change and women can be excellent saturation divers. Or is it because our genes shape us in this way, making it impossible for women to excel at diving.

From a biological standpoint, the reason men take more risks (for any reason) is clear.

Take a tribe made of 10 men and 10 women, each women give birth to 4 kids during their life. You need 8 people for a very dangerous task. Are you going to send men or women? If you send 8 men and they all die, you are left with 10 women and 2 men. The two men can impregnate all the women and you have 40 kids for the next generation. The tribe will soon recover. On the other hand if 8 women die, there will be only 8 kids for the next generation, which is a much bigger hit.

That women are more risk adverse is only natural, and it is indeed the case. In fact, it maye be the most significant non-physical difference between men and women.

As for women possibly being better saturation divers, I don't know. After all, they do pretty well in space, they even seem to have some biological advantage. However, these divers are not just divers, they are also construction workers, and physical strength is important, an area where men have the advantage.

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