29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
So important for a diver to know these things, October 30, 2005
This review is from: Diver Down: Real-World SCUBA Accidents and How to Avoid Them (Paperback)
I have a subscription to Scuba Diver magazine because it has a section called "Lessons for Life" that gives you the story of a diver who died or came close. This book includes those stories and so many more. It is so important to know the many ways that one can get into trouble and I rarely read one of these without learning something that changes the way I dive or care for my equipment. The one objection I have to certification and specialty classes is that they don't include these factual accounts of diver deaths and near misses. It is as if they don't want to scare us when in fact I find that each and every one has something to say as to how I should apporach the sport. I personally have made changes in behavior soley based upon the lessons taught by these stories and consider this book a must read for anyone diving today.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely Essential Reading for Divers, November 10, 2005
This review is from: Diver Down: Real-World SCUBA Accidents and How to Avoid Them (Paperback)
This book should be required reading for an Advanced Diver rating or above (probably even open water, but might add too much stress to beginers). It is absolutely fantastic and definitly could save your life or the life of someone you love. Please don't kill yourself with mistakes that others have already made. Learn from the mistakes of others and avoid them. That is what this book is all about. This book has several stories of dive mistakes and what lessons can be learned from each case. If you are a diver I would consider this book to be #1 on your must read list. Get it, read it, live it, and dive happy!
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great analysis of what can go wrong and why, October 1, 2006
This review is from: Diver Down: Real-World SCUBA Accidents and How to Avoid Them (Paperback)
One might consider this book by Michel Ange, who is Technical Editor of Scuba Diving Magazine, a downer as someone dies in almost every chapter. That's because Ange presents a series of case studies of diving gone wrong. Each chapter tackles a specific issue and tells the story on how something went wrong during a scuba dive, often with deadly consequences. The stories are real, though names and places have been changed so as to preserve the privacy of those involved.
While Ange's book presents some harrowing evidence that our sport can be dangerous and deadly, we must consider that this applies to almost any sport, and even to life in general. More accidents happen in bathrooms than anywhere else, and no one would consider them especially dangerous or deadly places. The value in Diver Down is that it describes what CAN go wrong if rules are not observed and common sense does not prevail. That is the gist and primary value of this book, to point out what can go wrong if we do not pay attention, become over-confident, or cut corners.
Each chapter is dedicated to a single topic: Nitrox, trimix, over-confidence, lack of experience, cave diving, wreck diving, decompression sickness, dry suits, lack of maintenance, navigation, rebreathers, following rules, and so on. Ange presents a scenario, describes what happenes, often to the bitter end, then analyzes the situation and closes the chapter with a set of rules on how the accident could have been avoided.
What makes the book extra valuable is the technical explanations inserted into each chapter. They explain, in plain English, the underlying concepts, physics, and technology. Likewise, the book's lenghty introduction serves as a Scuba 101 course (and is actually named "Scuba 101"). It is clear and concise and contains a lot of good information.
You will also quickly find that Ange heavily leans on some common sense guidelines: Follow the rules, always. Don't do anything you are not trained to do. Take diving and equipment maintenance very seriously.
Layout and graphics are basic. Do not look for colors and fancy graphics. And if you do not wish to know the outcome of each chapter right upfront, skip the intros that give them away. I have no idea why they are there.
Recommended. In fact, this book is so good, it deserved better graphic layout and treatment.
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