Understanding The Difference Between A Stroke And An Inexperienced Diver.
DIR Fundamentalists often use the term ?Stroke? to label a person as being an unsafe diver. Their Rule #1 is ?Don?t Dive With Strokes?. There?s no way to list every possible combination which may fall under this label. Ask any of these DIR fundamentalists and they will tell you a stroke is anyone who doesn?t dive the exact same gear configuration, doesn?t take a holistic approach to diving, and doesn?t have the exact same dive skills as themselves. They coined the term, so I guess they can define it as restrictive as they?d like.
But I do think it?s important to distinguish between a diver who is trying (the inexperienced diver) and a diver who simply doesn?t care (the stroke). The stroke may disregard innovations in technology or gear configurations, or simply may break basic cave diving rules. He may even be a diver who frequently exceeds his level of training without first doing his homework (in other words, a total lack of dive planning).
For any number of reasons, the inexperienced diver may not be up to par yet, but given time will eventually be able to modify his knowledge, skills, and equipment enough to be considered a worthy dive buddy. For example, there?s a big difference between a diver who still has trouble with fin technique and a diver who opts to make visual jumps. One is still needing to improve his skills. He may just need time in the water. Whereas, the other is disregarding basic safety rules and is eventually going to get himself killed.
Everyone has to start somewhere, and given the newness of the DIR philosophy in relation to the number of years cave diving has been in existence, it is possible a diver can unknowingly receive training from a stroke instructor. I have seen it happen. Luckily with the divers I?m thinking of, they relearned bad habits and made modifications that reflected modern dive techniques. There are many other reasons an inexperienced diver may not be up to par (i.e. lack of funds to buy everything he needs up front, etc), but there?s no need to list them all here.
The important thing to understand is that we all started out as inexperienced divers and if we dive long enough we will eventually rise to the ranks of the most experienced divers around. So we need to be careful to differentiate between divers who will never improve and those who will.
A good cave diver must be able to change his diving style given the buddy he is diving with. If the buddy is less experienced or in-between training levels, the experienced buddy must be even more attentive during the dive than he otherwise might be. A diver concerned about diving with an inexperienced (yet trained) diver on even the most basic of cave dives, might need to reconsider his reasons. Is it because he is concerned the buddy won?t be able to help him in an emergency? If so, then the experienced diver isn?t diving with a ?self-reliant? confidence and is therefore also in need of improvement. A cave diver should always approach all cave dives as if he were solo diving even if in fact he is not.
The stroke is going to be a diver who doesn?t check every piece of gear before the dive, doesn?t do proper dive planning, has the ?I?m going to do it my way? attitude up front, or dives a configuration that is outside basic DIR principles. He?s a diver who disregards preservation of the cave while diving or has no buddy awareness whatsoever. I guess what I?m saying is that a stroke, in my opinion, is one who knowingly, willfully, and intentionally shuns prudent cave diving protocol. In my opinion, ignorance and inexperience does not directly translate into ?strokedom?. But they must have a basic level of cave training, a willingness to learn, and are making an effort to improve. A stroke is one who still dives today the way he did when he first got certified.
This is one of those ?fluid? topics where you just don?t know when you?ve said enough and gotten your point across to the reader. But maybe this will give you something to think about.