Woody, you NEVER sound like a jerk! you sound like someone who is passionate about something he loves! and not only that you can tell you genuinely care for people and want them to understand the dangers if they try to cave dive without proper equipment and training!!
I have zero experience with diving, horses are more my thing, but I was nodding along with Woody. Any sport with some level of danger has points where those with more experience are going to tell newbies, or those with the wrong experience for this activity, "no." I've done it with new equestrians. My dad's done it in adventure racing. It's not because you want to be mean, it's because you don't want them getting hurt.
Not a diver, would never do it, but mad props to guys like you who call out the reality of these channels that inadvertently promote horrible safety habits. In self regulated industries like this (I'm a climber, so we are much the same) it's essential to have dudes like this out there. Thanks for your efforts to keep people safe.
Even as open water certified and not diving for years and would need a refresher or 4 before I'd open water dive again, I agree with you. These divers are doing something dangerous and SHOULD be called out. We are gonna see the original divers on the news one day. As a search for recovery.
@@jacobygulsten1103 I like watching cave diving and mountaineering videos 😆 and airplane crashes..has a theme, my bf thinks I'm morbid but I think its more about humans being pressed to their max capabilities and critical thinking. The technique in this video scares me as an educated onlooker. Cheers✌
vväter häs tiFF and v§ö -:- and caves. still häve my teen fascinatiön knife. lämpce löng göne v??v if dive behind wires if knöt sölid steal. kinda Fäke bvt häl secüre. möl€?? vv if dive in a phööL vv. nö wouldnt fill ma garden with a multi persön pööl use a löpe -.- (didnt get it as teen in my uncles garden häl neithörr dydd he v?v tängey örpp witnäß just unö -:-
I find that divers and cavers are very similar. Having to rely on gear with your life is a very extreme experience. You can trust the gear, but you have to check it and upkeep it. If something breaks or is worn out it can kill you. Doesn't matter if you go up or down. I did some roped in tree climbing in the PNW and when I started I was terrified that my gear would fail. Next thing I know I'm using my line to swing into other trees, set up and new line in that tree unhooking switching to that line and I was totally comfortable. Same exact thing with diving. Now I'll tell you I've never done any cave diving. But I have been 120feet down and that's pretty sketchy. You just need to take care of your gear. Double triple check everything before getting in the water. And don't freak out while you're doing it. Stay calm, know what you're doing and trust your gear. So yeah. Diving and climbing are very similar. I would almost compare cave diving to free soloing.
Y’all are too hard on yourselves. I’m part of the (normally) quiet 90%+ that rarely comments on videos. You never sound elitist. The people cave diving without the training and experience have an extreme lack of hubris. Saying as much is just fact and making these videos to educate the public is a service.
Same here - I’m also not a diver (and never will be!) but love this channels content. Sometimes ignorance can be a good thing to accomplish some life task - cave diving is not one of those things. Where an activity centres around such a high degree of risk management - and the stakes don’t get much higher than your life - everything should be up for discussion, educating and criticism.
I’m not a diver, but my step dad was a cave diver and a rescue diver. These videos have helped me immensely understand and relate to his excitement. Thank you!!!!
It's like Woody can't help but be an instructor even during dive talk like he'll ask Gus questions that he knows the answer to because he wants to hear him answer it and then gives the reassuring nod of yes that's exactly right. It's so funny to watch. I love these guys
@@l3ftie578as much as I’d trust them to teach me how to dive, this channel has taught me that if there is one person you want to be your dive instructor/buddy and one person only, it would be Ed Sorenson 😀
I've taken a cavern class in Wes Skiles, and at the end the instructors took us about 20 yards into the cave with a cave instructor both ahead and behind us. This section had no possibility of a silt up. One thing that struck me is that without the outside light, it's extreamly easy to get disoriented and lose the line even if it's right next to you, especially while you are turning the dive. The cave looks totally different swimming in the other direction.
Yes! Exactly why people used to blaze trails when exploring woods - without those patches of stripped bark you'd easily get lost trying to retrace your steps.
@@williamchamberlain2263true true, I go hiking alot and one place I go to almost every weekend there’s been times where I’ll turn around to walk back to my truck and after hours of walking I’ll end up right where I started. Once you start making a bunch of turns it’s very easy to forget what direction your going. And that’s just in land if your under water way different
Just to clarify a minor point, gold line in Peacock (P1) does actually come out to the mouth of the cave, unlike most other caves where the line starts far enough back to not be visible to open water divers. In some parts of this video they are in the cavern zone of P1 (they still don't belong there). However, in other parts they are most definitely beyond daylight, the sign, and in the cave zone of P1. I'm a cave instructor and based on their skill level I would most likely not be able to get them through a cavern course (first level of cave training) without having them practice some remedial open water skills before coming back another day to continue training. The dangling hoses and gauges alone would force me to call the dive while they were still in open water. Their buoyancy control and finning technique is bad even for open water standards. It is extremely dangerous for them to be in the cave zone of these caves. So many things that could go wrong. They don't know enough to recognize the risks until it's too late and they certainly don't know how to deal with issues that do arise. Unfortunately, cave diving is not an activity in which you can learn through trial and error. Your first error could very well get you killed. I hope they seek training or stop doing this before they have a "bad dive."
I don't understand why divers do this. Granted, I've only been diving for a few months so I'm not really at home in the water quite yet but I went to check out a cavern a few weeks ago and it looked spooky AF to me. I don't even think that there was a cave there, it was just a small hole but it was enough for me to think "stay away from there". The reason why I'm so spooked about caves is that even in open water diving - if my mind wanders and I don't look back for a while, when I turn around I don't recognize anything. Luckily as an OWD all I need to do is to surface and I can get my bearings again. Imagine swimming in a cave for two minutes, you turn around and there are 2 or 3 ways to go and you have no idea where you came from. The thought alone gives me claustrophobia and anxiety.
@@electrictroy2010 good, glad it's removed because that shows they understand how bad it is! They probably got word of this video & I hope they took the time to watch & listen!
My dad was a cave diver in the 60s. The rules and techniques explained in these videos were learned through tragedy and close calls. I think some divers figure if they did it back then, I can learn on my own also. Unfortunately, that approach leads to the same hard-learned lessons of the past. The same causes of death and traumatic close calls. And, sometimes, the death of rescuers as well.
The dangling gear was the most concerning thing straight away. Even someone who knows nothing about cave diving can see that dangling lines are liable to get caught on a rock and disconnect something very important. Shouldn’t it also be a thing for open water diving? You can still get caught on a rock or something there too.
It SHOULD be a thing for OW divers too. I've lost count of the dollars I've given away to various OW certified friends in terms of cave line, bungee, and bolt snaps out of my spare parts box in order to secure their gauges, second stages, etc. that were freely swinging around when they set their equipment up.
Thanks for addressing the question "What's wrong with going in a little ways inside the cave if I can follow the line?" And thanks also for critiquing the issues with the gear setup. I never thought about how streamlined cave diving equipment should be before that.
Hey gus and Woody, I just wanted to thank you guys for the great content as always. Today was my last open water dive test and I passed. I am now officially a certified beginner open water scuba diver, its all thanks to you guys for inspiring me to dive again.
That was the best thing I've ever heard you say Woody. "If you kind of have the equipment you're kind of going to die." Gave me a good chuckle in the morning I know it is very true. I'm just glad you guys are here explaining some of this stuff for people who think that they can do it without training. Which by all means you could but as you said you could die.
Even without any training, I was horrified the moment I saw that hose and knew someone would go in a cave with it routed that far away from their body. If I were the medical examiner pronouncing their cause of death, I would be sorely tempted to list it as suicide rather than death by misadventure. It's that obviously getting on your hands and knees to beg for tragedy to occur.
I dove Crystal River back in 1986. Things had to change or people would have killed all of the manatee. I’m a retired commercial diver. I’ve dove my share of caves and cenotes in Mexico and hung up my wetsuit a few years ago. You guys are what the community needs. Keep up the good work fellas.
I've only ever seen manatee in zoos, and even then they hypnotize me. Seeing them in their natural habitat sounds like a dream, and I'd probably have to clasp my hands behind my back to keep from reaching out. And then "if they wanted those rules to be obeyed there'd be three armed cops down here" guys like these come in and are all over the place ... oh boy.
Completely agree... People don't think before they do stuff because they underestimate the danger of things. Reminds me of the Y Mountain tragedy... 5 or 6 people went into a dry cave and then 4 or 5 of them swam through an underwater tunnel to get to a secret chamber. After being there for a bit, they tried to swim back out and the leader of the line out got disoriented and/or stuck. Well 4 of them ended up drowning in what was basically a 15 foot underwater tube. Nothing special... just underestimated the danger involved.
@sudo mode Oh my goodness I totally remember hearing about that. They were university kids, if memory serves, who did it on a whim sometime after midnight because they'd heard a rumor about some hidden cave which led to an underground grotto. None of them had any sort of caving experience which set the scene for tragedy. Throw water into that unknown environment and the risk level gets totally amped up.
@@doctoronishispsychosislab1474 I'm not sure you meant to put this here in Dive Talk, but interesting and relevant story about why it's important to do things properly when you're doing something that could be fatal if you mess up.
@@doctoronishispsychosislab1474 So your dad was the one that didnt follow proper procedure? Man thats trageic I guess your a lil disappointed with your dad. I hope he learned his lesson and follows proper procedure next time.
You guys can NEVER, NEVER say that this sport is dangerous enough. People need to know that this is not for everyone and that people with less experience, should stay in low experience spot until they get enough to explore harder cave with someone who’s an expert. People take death for granted, until it happens to them. Great video guys, keep it up!
I am not a diver but I do enjoy Dive Talks channel! I’m a total lookie loo ! But Based solely on what I’ve learned through their commentary, it’s easy to see why cave diving is so dangerous (especially for experienced open water divers)! It appears the confidence & experience open water divers have lure them into caves & before they know it, they wake up dead! I can also tell that Gus & Woody are almost apologetic w/ their critics because they don’t want to come across as saying cave diving is only safe when it’s them!! But it’s impossible to watch one of their videos w/out them hammering their main point in almost every video! Which I interpret as “anyone can learn to cave dive but it’s not the same sport as open water diving!! If you have 20 years of experience diving, and want to enter a cave, DON’T even consider going in 10 feet into a cave until you’re fully certified to do so! As their channel grows &!that awareness gets out there more & more, lives will be saved. I wouldn’t be surprised if lives were already saved due to some ego driven risk taker stumbling on a dive talk video & deciding to get certified before some trip into a cave they had planned !
There’s a strong difference between aligning yourself with safety standards and being disrespectful. I love dive talk and you both are adamant on safety. I haven’t ever seen either of you be disrespectful. The education and experience is what makes you a professional and as a professional you should educate others on safety. Angry people are better then dead people. Woody, Gus you two are amazing and please keep up the work that you do!
You can tell these guys are old school that have been doing this for a long time untrained. If you check out his buddies channel has got a really old video of him cave diving form what looks like the early 70's. This goes to show no matter how long you have been diving, there is always room for getting trained and learning the newest procedures. You can't say I don't need training, I've been doing cave diving since the beginning. There's always room to learn from someone's techniques and take something you can use that may very well save your life or someone else. Great Video Guys!
No it doesn't sound elitist. We're watching you for your expert opinion. That's what you're giving. You're teaching us & for free. I appreciate it so much and I don't dive, but you're getting me very siked about possibly attempting it. It's like they are purposely making an everything not to do in cave diving.
I agree 100%. I've been watching these guys for a few months now and they're amazing! I'm doing my checkout dives with my sister in 3 days and definitely recommend SCUBA, we started out with a "Try SCUBA" and got certified afterwards. The father of one of the guys in our class actually took a course from Woody, he spoke very highly of him!
@@cnunley238 That's sounds so exciting. Good luck to you two. I'm just a little bit afraid of the water even though I swim well enough. Had a near drowning experience at beach as a child and as an adult still can't shake it. I live vicariously through all you brave people that attempt it. It looks wonderful...
You guys are so clear headed and well rounded with your commentary. Don't be unfair to yourselves like that ever again guys. You literally save lives with your videos. Keep it up
I stumbled across this channel about a month ago and I'm addicted. I love the amount of knowledge and confidence the both of you have. I want to learn open water dive, cave diving, and I had NO idea how much training goes into each type of dive. Love the content, love you guys, keep up the good work!
First and foremost do a discover scuba program. Just to test yourself about breathing below surface. Relative inexpensive and a check and balance before you spend money !
I’m a low-thrill individual who doesn’t need to push radical boundaries in my life. I enjoy terra firma, and small adventures like exploring an antique shop or browsing a bookstore make me happy. I’m scared of water because I can’t swim, and I’m also claustrophobic, so cave diving is the stuff of nightmares for me. So why am I on a diving channel? It’s for the same reason I watch mountaineering videos: I’m endlessly fascinated by the chutzpah and skill it takes to cave dive or ascend Mount Everest. Mad props to the people who do it, but as long as I live, I’ll never understand the desire to live on the edge. But I also totally understand and appreciate the sanity you bring to a risky activity like this. I don’t think you sound elitist at all; you’re simply trying to save lives.
I believe everyone should learn how to swim or very least to float. You can practice floating in really shallow water like 3ft / 1m. It could save your life someday. I started teaching my son at 18 months because children drown more often than adults. See at 17, my family and I survived hurricane Katrina. We lived on the outskirts of New Orleans and our farm was destroyed by the flooding. So many people could've lived if they had learned to swim. I remember seeing the bodies floating down streets and it's something you don't forget.
I don't dive, but I really think u guys r right to keep pushing for people to not do this stuff without being certified, it is dangerous & who better for it to come from than people who know better than most! I love what u guys r doing! I love ur channel!
Woody, you do not sound elitist, you're drumming safety into people which is what you and Gus do best. Safety first always. I bet lives have been saved through watching this channel, keep up the good work.
Diving in a cave untrained is life threatening, I know a friend who did and he immediately regretted his decision when he nearly got lost due to a huge silt out
Woody do not ever call yourself a jerk, you and Gus are geniuses when it comes to safety, training and your concerns for your fellow divers and your profession. Life is all about preparation, soooo...........be prepared in everything you do.
Being concerned about proper technique and especially safety is not elitist. This is literally life or death safety concerns. It's not like "oh you better wear some eye protection while sawing a 2x4". This is critical life or death type of safety concerns. So I think the worry about coming off as elitist or gatekeepy is not an issue. I know usually these days "gatekeeping" is seen as a negative or "problematic behavior" but in this scenario gatekeeping is necessary and is potentially saving lives.
Growing up near Blue Springs, Orange City FL, there were times during the 80s-90s when it seemed a diver or two would die sometimes on a monthly basis. Probably why I never sought SCUBA certification. Too deadly. After watching these videos, I have a better understanding of how those deaths happened and how every one of them was likely a preventable death.
This is the first video I have see of yours and I have never done any sort of underwater venturing other than surface snorkeling. Ive got to say from other things I have seen around this topic- this was incredibly well done. I really like that you assumed nothing until it was blatantly obvious about things that are not right. You also explained it in a manor that focused on preservation of life not shaming people- I really appreciate content like this!
Good info fellas! BTW - did you notice those guys deleted their video? It's good to call this stuff out in order to maintain safety amongst the community.
Typical uploaded publicly for everyone to see and when called out that they aren't trained and risking their lives and others they delete it... If they didn't want people to watch it they can upload it unlisted or private. The start of that 3rd video made my heart drop. They are so so so lucky they didn't silt it could of easily died that day. if it was me id leave it uploaded and comment on it explaining how I know it was stupid I was wrong and now doing the correct training for cave diving thank you for watching
Non diver here, but I don't think it's elitist to talk about how dangerous this is. You are telling it how it is. Safety should always be number one and divers pushing into caves untrained is what leads to near misses or deaths. This then gives cave diving a bad reputation. Humble and honest as always.
Woody, you don't sound like you're being elitist or a jerk in the least bit. It's clear that you care greatly for the safety of those who share your passion for cave diving, especially those who don't realise the danger they're putting themselves in, so it's a blessing that you're here putting out videos which will help inform and educate those same people. Good job :-)
Recommending that people receive proper training from qualified instructors to prevent their own deaths is not an eliteist comment. In my opinion, it just means you care about what happens to other divers. You encourage people to become better divers and you both should be proud of what you do. Thank you for the amazing content as always!
I'm glad you guys are willing to address this stuff rather than keeping your thoughts to yourselves. You never sound elitist; you sound like people who have knowledge and want to share it. You sound like people who just want others to be safe. Thanks for another awesome video! Also, Woody should bring back his alligator hat with the waggly tail. I love it! I want to find one for myself, tbh
Love the content guys. As a non diver to me you guys don't some like elitists you sound like professional divers watching extremely dangerous behavior that would otherwise seem benign to the average person
I must say you guys are never sounding like your gatekeepers or elitists. I came across your videos from watching cave diving disasters where the most experienced cave divers died from this incredibly dangerous sport. I think your doing a great service to people who may not understand how dangerous cave diving is. Love your videos
Take aways from binging Dive talk videos : Don't dive into a cave if you are not cave certified , you actually can't just resurface instantly , there is so much unexplored earth , things can turn from great to terrible in less than a minute . Love the content
I'd go further: great to terrible in a split second if you don't have the right setup. e.g. If you don't have backup lights and your light goes out, you're blind in the blink of an eye and very likely doomed as a result. Edit: Another example might be a cave-in (I expect they can happen underwater just as easily as in a dry cave?). It only takes a split second for a boulder above you to drop on you or behind you and seal you in. I presume cave divers need to be assessing that risk all the time (looking for signs of cracks, slabbing, recent falls, etc)
I rarely comment on videos, but I really just wanted to say that you guys NEVER sound elitist at all! The people who are not trained divers need to know what to do and what not to do when cave diving or just diving in general! As you both say, the rules of diving (cave diving, non-cave divers, etc) have been written in blood. Y'all are amazing and very humble. Much love ❤❤
Hi guys! Advanced Open Water from Spain here, I just wanted to tell you that I really love your videos and that you have inspired me to continue diving and to take the cave diving course. Thank you for your content!
I am an AOWD student right now and besides flutter kicking, everything you pointed out applies to even an OWD certified diver. These guys are either not even OWD certified or they forgot/ignored all their training in years.
Love these. I even am getting "dive news" on my google news feed now since watching these. Read a story this morning about two divers who died in Florida Thursday morning, and just the story made me go, oh, the guys at Dive talk would have comments about this. Especially since the teens who found one of the men reportedly said they over heard them say something about maybe not having enough air, and potentially a leak, and yet they STILL went into the cave.... Keep doing what you do, and maybe someone will take a moment and go, "What would Woody and Gus say about this" before they go do something that maybe they shouldn't. Keep making content, and I'll keep showing up to watch!
Love y'all!!! So glad your keeping it real and wanting to keep people safe. I am a skydiver not a scuba diver. The importance of safety in any extreme sport is SO important. Woody and Gus! AWESOME JOB 🧘🖤
I started with mr ballen vids and thought cave divers were suicidal.. But after watching you guys I can see that it's only suicidal if you don't follow the rules and/or haven't been certified. Love your enthusiasm and your love of cave diving. There is nothing wrong with being critical as it may save lives.
Aside from the valuable safety/educational information, humor and interesting subject matter; you guys have great production value as well. The lighting, audio and editing is always top notch. I’ve been playing with the idea of creating a channel for awhile, but I want to do it right and I’ve realized it’s not as easy as it looks. If I ever go for it, I’ll consider Dive Talk an inspiration. Much respect 👊🏼
Hello Gus & Woody I've never done diving and I don't really tend to either but I have watched most of your vids & im now understanding how diving goes & you guys explain it in a very good way that I can understand. Please keep up with the vids much love from the UK
I really appreciate this channel so much! I used to think cave diving was one of the most ill-advised things anyone could ever do (and I still don't think I'd ever do it!!!) but listening to you guys talk about how to do it SAFELY, and how the VAST majority of accidents can be traced back to breaking one of the 5 rules, etc., has given me so much respect for this sport (sport? pastime? whatever you'd call it lol). I really enjoy listening to these videos as well. Your dynamic is very entertaining and I appreciate the way you educate about equipment and terms while keeping it fun, but also being respectful and somber when the occasion calls for it. I never ever would've guessed that a channel abut cave diving would become one of my favorite youtube channels, but here we are! Thank you for what you do!!!
I want to formally apologize. When I first found your channel, it was when you reacted to AWP Doug’s Emergency Ascent. I knew nothing about diving, so when I saw your reaction to it, I was upset because I thought they were doing everything perfectly, and you two were trolls/elitists. I put my bias aside though, and watched your other videos, and I’m so glad I did. I’ve learned so much from you two, and I now understand you say the things you do to help protect and inform the lives of others and those who watch your videos. Anyways, great video! I apologize again for my hardcore bias when I first discovered you two.
Hi! Brand new viewer, your channel is SO cool. Just wanted to chime in, as someone whose only experience with diving is through UA-cam and Reddit, you NEVER sound elitist. Someone who has never heard of cave diving may think you’re gatekeeping, but anyone even at my level of experience (again, which is none) knows that diving, especially cave diving is an activity nobody has any business doing halfway. I watched a video just last night of some guys exploring a cave and my heart was in my throat with how careless they were being. It’s literally life or death so what you guys are doing is purely educational and beneficial!
I love Gus and Woody's "Divers React" because you can tell the information comes from a genuine love for diving, compassion for fellow humans, and respect for the wonders of nature.
Very curious to know, if you were on a dive and passed these people in the cave, would you try to signal them to leave? What do you do as a proficient cave diver seeing someone who obviously shouldn't be there? How do you even communicate that underwater? I find your videos fascinating. Thank you for the content you create.
I an advanced OW for twenty five years and would never cave dive but you guys need to keep telling people the truth about cave diving! Do not do it unless trained! Grew up near Morrison and Vortex in NW FL and remember all of the deaths over the years always by OW divers venturing into the springs. Keep up the great videos!
First of all I want to say that I love y’all’s videos! I’m glad that you tell ppl about the dangers involved because a mistake underwater can be fatal, as many of your videos have shown. Keep up the great work and I look forward to your next video. Sending love from Texas! ❤️
You are my new fav channel and I'm one of those subscribers that are here for you guys personality, friendship, dynamic and teachings about something I didn't care about a week ago and probably won't ever do out of fear but I like getting random knoweledge about things it's all about the teachers making you passionate about something.
You guys are awesome, don’t pay any energy towards negative commenters or negative critics! Just be yourselves and continue the great work you put out 🎉 I thoroughly enjoy listening and learning from you guys
great video again guys, you are far from elitist, you are providing insane amounts of information and helping the new people of the diving world, thank you!
Took a small break from UA-cam, I come back to see y’all killing it with the subs and views! Not many deserve it more than y’all do! I had hoped this would happen, but knew it was inevitable with the type of amazing content and top notch quality y’all provide. Keep killin it!
2 divers were lost yesterday at Buford Spring in Chasskawitzka,open water divers not properly trained decided to go back down low on air,and leaking regulator!
Another non-diver who loves the channel. Nothing elitist about focusing on technical details and technique and passing the knowledge on. It’s when you think that stuff doesn’t matter that all the problems start, in any technical field. Keep up the great work guys!
My instructor for open water always told us to stop using our hands, it doesn't help at all and just burns more air. It takes a while to break the habit of swimming under water and let the fins do all the work but it does make a difference.
As someone who lap swims for exercise, not using my hands to swim was SO HARD at first. Now I finally rewired my brain so that I can swim happily with my arms crossed but it was a struggle to get there for a minute. Now if I notice myself flapping my hands I cringe! I will say you eliminate this habit a lot faster if you dive quarries or other swampy water that sits quickly.
Great content! Even though I am no cave diver, just advance open water, I would like to add that what they are doing is not just dangerous BUT wreck-less to the extreme. This is how people die! I am always amazed about the lack of danger awareness people have.
As someone who isn't a diver or cave diver I always appreciate you guys explaining the techniques required to be as safe as possible. If actual divers refuse to learn or expand on their techniques then it makes sense it can be deadly. Everyone who participates in ANY hobby has to continue to practice and completely reset old habits and techniques for newer ones. Especially for people who partake in more dangerous hobbies, rock climbing, diving, paragliding ect. It's always good to go back to the basics and re learn and even completely stop certain habits that they do. Just my input as an artist. I always find new tutorials or techniques that improve my art drastically when I practice them and put them to use as well as always re-practicing the basics, like anatomy drawings and sketches. This is the same for other hobbies as well.
I have absolutely no diving experience and to be honest it's never really even something that occurred to me, but this podcast is super interesting.. cool niche to explore. best of luck to you guys.
The work you guys do is really important to us! This was great for showing us why getting certified is so important, they looked like they had fun but just go get certified so you don't have an unnecessary accident. Proper training and techniques are essential.
Love the content and information. Never found any fascination with cave diving until you appeared in my feed. Because of you guys, I find the rules and regulations written in blood to better divers experiences as fascinating as the caves views when youre down there
I really love you guys' videos! I started watching Dive Talk this month because I saw one of your reactions to Mr Ballen in my UA-cam Recommendations and was hooked! Diving and the ocean have always been terrifying to me, something I was like "no way, never in a million years would I go scuba diving", but you two have really made me interested in learning to dive! Explaining the dangers and errors that people make actually makes me feel a lot safer knowing what could go wrong and how to avoid it. The love and passion you two have for diving is infectious! I really hope I can get lessons someday. Thank you for your continued content! Love you guys & the channel!
I am not a diver but I find your channel very interesting. I have a lot of respect for your spirit of adventure and the courage to complete your dives.
Your guys humility is amazing. I don’t think you sound elitist at all. You are professional divers who know that peoples life’s are on the line. You can never overstate the steps that must be taken before cave diving.
Hey, guys, I'm new to your channel and love your show. Thank you for all the long hours you putting in to brings us current and factual information. I have been diving since 1994, but cave diving did not interest me back then. Now I'm considering getting cave certified since I have recently moved to Florida, I hear this is the place to be for cave divers. Thanks again. Have a excellent evening.
I've been diving for 30 years and y'all are great! Enjoy the real talk! Watching this video made my stomach hurt! I'm going to have my youth group of new divers watch this as a teaching moment and to emphasize the IMPORTANCE of proper training and certifications! Thank you!
These guys have really sparked an interest in learning to cave dive, not by acting like underwater cowboys but the very opposite, by preaching good sense and safety. Which is exactly how good military training works
Woodys complete and utter bewilderedness over the hose and Gus laughing on the first video had my stomach hurting from laughing. I must have rewound it 20 times
You can dive manatee springs state park, there's a little roped off area in the main spring and then two other area, the second one that they went into the first video is catfish hotel. There's been a cave in there and is actually very dangerous as going from catfish hotel to the main spring head is a very tight restriction causing a very fast current where it's easy for you to get stuck.
I am 57 and finally went and got my open water cert. I enjoy your videos very much. I have learned a lot from them. Really enjoy hearing you point out easy preventative measures. I live in Alaska and have taken my dry suit and nitrox certs here. I am hooked, and a lot of my new addiction is your fault. After many more dives (many many more dives) I hope to cave dive in Florida. If and when that day comes I hope you guys are still teaching. Keep doing what you are doing as alot of us appreciateit. Thanks
I love how these two play off eachother. Asking eachother questions knowing what the other will say, always with interesting insights. I love applying my own knowledge of diving to the videos and having it affirmed and expanded on by these two gents.
Love the videos as always. I'd like to make a suggestion/request: whenever you have videos with multiple different videos, can you use youtube's timestamp system to make navigating the video easier?
Woody, you just sound cautious. As a trained cave diver you know how many small things that can go wrong and cause death. A non cave diver hasn’t been trained in those details. Nothing elitist about that in my opinion. 😘😘😘
As a safety professional and a recreational diver with aspirations of becoming cave certified, the featured videos INFURIATE me, particularly in light of the recent events at Buford. They give all of us a bad name, with consequences far beyond what most people will even realize. It hurts more than just these divers.
"There's no 'kind of' in cave diving." "If you 'kind of' have something going on with cave diving then you're 'kind of' gonna die." Man, Woody's quotes are next level. Such a treasure.
It's been a while since I have had a chance to catch up on the videos. Absolutely love the videos, commentaries, criticism, and I don't want to use the word education as people still need the classes, skills and experience but your stuff is educational.
I've only recently found you guys, and one thing I can say is you're deffo not elitists, I have done my master divers course, and you guys motivate me to go get my other qualifications, but to also never exceed my limits, not to be tempted by caves etc, and to do things safety and correctly You guys are just trying to ensure that everyone who watches these videos are as safe as possible and that's nothing but respectable 🙏
Manatees are definitely a species not designed for modern times, they are far too slow to move out of the way of any moderately quick boat. They have no natural fear of humans. But they are definitely a species that we need to protected.
Hi Guys, glad to see you again. Unfortunately, seems like that's what they did as Gus mentioned at 18:50. I think, they should criminalised or big penalty with fine for all sorts of diving. I mean, if something happens and you need emergency services + if someone die, that have to be expensive, trauma of the family. I believe that could help to prevent the tragedy and saved lots of money.
Four weeks ago I randomly stumbled across one of your guys videos..great content and from someone who has nothing to do with cave diving such great details and info making me want to get into diving day by day
Don't worry about sounding elitist. I have no idea about diving, only watched a dozens of videos about dying in underwater caves, read some comments and immediately reacted the same way and saw most of the mistakes.
I’d love to see a video where you get footage at the cavern, intro, apprentice, and full level to show how much better people get as they progress through training. I’ve got footage at the Cavern level i though was amazing at the time. Watching it now as full/CCR/DPV, it’s extremely cringe worthy.
Woody, you NEVER sound like a jerk! you sound like someone who is passionate about something he loves! and not only that you can tell you genuinely care for people and want them to understand the dangers if they try to cave dive without proper equipment and training!!
Yeah, Woody is Good ppl
Woodys the shit!! Gus as well
Just trying to look out for others, educate and be passionate about something! Love these guys :)
I have zero experience with diving, horses are more my thing, but I was nodding along with Woody. Any sport with some level of danger has points where those with more experience are going to tell newbies, or those with the wrong experience for this activity, "no." I've done it with new equestrians. My dad's done it in adventure racing. It's not because you want to be mean, it's because you don't want them getting hurt.
well said!
Not a diver, would never do it, but mad props to guys like you who call out the reality of these channels that inadvertently promote horrible safety habits. In self regulated industries like this (I'm a climber, so we are much the same) it's essential to have dudes like this out there. Thanks for your efforts to keep people safe.
Even as open water certified and not diving for years and would need a refresher or 4 before I'd open water dive again, I agree with you. These divers are doing something dangerous and SHOULD be called out.
We are gonna see the original divers on the news one day. As a search for recovery.
If someone told me to go here I now know to go the opposite direction no matter how many people say it.
@@jacobygulsten1103 I like watching cave diving and mountaineering videos 😆 and airplane crashes..has a theme, my bf thinks I'm morbid but I think its more about humans being pressed to their max capabilities and critical thinking. The technique in this video scares me as an educated onlooker. Cheers✌
vväter häs tiFF and v§ö -:-
and caves. still häve my teen fascinatiön knife. lämpce löng göne v??v
if dive behind wires if knöt sölid steal. kinda Fäke bvt häl secüre. möl€?? vv
if dive in a phööL vv. nö wouldnt fill ma garden with a multi persön pööl use a löpe -.- (didnt get it as teen in my uncles garden häl neithörr dydd he v?v tängey örpp witnäß just unö -:-
I find that divers and cavers are very similar. Having to rely on gear with your life is a very extreme experience. You can trust the gear, but you have to check it and upkeep it. If something breaks or is worn out it can kill you. Doesn't matter if you go up or down. I did some roped in tree climbing in the PNW and when I started I was terrified that my gear would fail. Next thing I know I'm using my line to swing into other trees, set up and new line in that tree unhooking switching to that line and I was totally comfortable. Same exact thing with diving. Now I'll tell you I've never done any cave diving. But I have been 120feet down and that's pretty sketchy. You just need to take care of your gear. Double triple check everything before getting in the water. And don't freak out while you're doing it. Stay calm, know what you're doing and trust your gear. So yeah. Diving and climbing are very similar. I would almost compare cave diving to free soloing.
Y’all are too hard on yourselves. I’m part of the (normally) quiet 90%+ that rarely comments on videos. You never sound elitist. The people cave diving without the training and experience have an extreme lack of hubris. Saying as much is just fact and making these videos to educate the public is a service.
People cave diving without the training are FULL of hubris.
@@timeforanap4268 too much focus on spellcheck, not enough on word check.
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Same here - I’m also not a diver (and never will be!) but love this channels content. Sometimes ignorance can be a good thing to accomplish some life task - cave diving is not one of those things. Where an activity centres around such a high degree of risk management - and the stakes don’t get much higher than your life - everything should be up for discussion, educating and criticism.
"lack of hubris"? I don't think you know what 'hubris' means, buddy.
I’m not a diver, but my step dad was a cave diver and a rescue diver.
These videos have helped me immensely understand and relate to his excitement.
Thank you!!!!
It's like Woody can't help but be an instructor even during dive talk like he'll ask Gus questions that he knows the answer to because he wants to hear him answer it and then gives the reassuring nod of yes that's exactly right. It's so funny to watch. I love these guys
let the man dive
Its great to watch for me gives me a comfort for some reason 😂 their both brilliant together
@@Flutterbyebutterfly I think I would feel safer diving with them than anyone, and I’m so scared of the water lmfao
@@Flutterbyebutterfly I think I would feel safer diving with them than anyone, and I’m so scared of the water lmfao
@@l3ftie578as much as I’d trust them to teach me how to dive, this channel has taught me that if there is one person you want to be your dive instructor/buddy and one person only, it would be Ed Sorenson 😀
I've taken a cavern class in Wes Skiles, and at the end the instructors took us about 20 yards into the cave with a cave instructor both ahead and behind us. This section had no possibility of a silt up. One thing that struck me is that without the outside light, it's extreamly easy to get disoriented and lose the line even if it's right next to you, especially while you are turning the dive. The cave looks totally different swimming in the other direction.
Easy to see why Woody & Gus carry multiple lights!
Yes! Exactly why people used to blaze trails when exploring woods - without those patches of stripped bark you'd easily get lost trying to retrace your steps.
@@williamchamberlain2263true true, I go hiking alot and one place I go to almost every weekend there’s been times where I’ll turn around to walk back to my truck and after hours of walking I’ll end up right where I started. Once you start making a bunch of turns it’s very easy to forget what direction your going. And that’s just in land if your under water way different
Just to clarify a minor point, gold line in Peacock (P1) does actually come out to the mouth of the cave, unlike most other caves where the line starts far enough back to not be visible to open water divers. In some parts of this video they are in the cavern zone of P1 (they still don't belong there). However, in other parts they are most definitely beyond daylight, the sign, and in the cave zone of P1.
I'm a cave instructor and based on their skill level I would most likely not be able to get them through a cavern course (first level of cave training) without having them practice some remedial open water skills before coming back another day to continue training. The dangling hoses and gauges alone would force me to call the dive while they were still in open water. Their buoyancy control and finning technique is bad even for open water standards. It is extremely dangerous for them to be in the cave zone of these caves. So many things that could go wrong. They don't know enough to recognize the risks until it's too late and they certainly don't know how to deal with issues that do arise. Unfortunately, cave diving is not an activity in which you can learn through trial and error. Your first error could very well get you killed. I hope they seek training or stop doing this before they have a "bad dive."
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Not an instructor for cave but qualified cave diver, you are so correct.
I don't understand why divers do this. Granted, I've only been diving for a few months so I'm not really at home in the water quite yet but I went to check out a cavern a few weeks ago and it looked spooky AF to me. I don't even think that there was a cave there, it was just a small hole but it was enough for me to think "stay away from there".
The reason why I'm so spooked about caves is that even in open water diving - if my mind wanders and I don't look back for a while, when I turn around I don't recognize anything. Luckily as an OWD all I need to do is to surface and I can get my bearings again. Imagine swimming in a cave for two minutes, you turn around and there are 2 or 3 ways to go and you have no idea where you came from. The thought alone gives me claustrophobia and anxiety.
@@electrictroy2010 good, glad it's removed because that shows they understand how bad it is! They probably got word of this video & I hope they took the time to watch & listen!
My dad was a cave diver in the 60s. The rules and techniques explained in these videos were learned through tragedy and close calls.
I think some divers figure if they did it back then, I can learn on my own also. Unfortunately, that approach leads to the same hard-learned lessons of the past. The same causes of death and traumatic close calls. And, sometimes, the death of rescuers as well.
The dangling gear was the most concerning thing straight away. Even someone who knows nothing about cave diving can see that dangling lines are liable to get caught on a rock and disconnect something very important. Shouldn’t it also be a thing for open water diving? You can still get caught on a rock or something there too.
In SSI at least, not letting your gear dangle is a part of the open water certification.
It SHOULD be a thing for OW divers too. I've lost count of the dollars I've given away to various OW certified friends in terms of cave line, bungee, and bolt snaps out of my spare parts box in order to secure their gauges, second stages, etc. that were freely swinging around when they set their equipment up.
Thanks for addressing the question "What's wrong with going in a little ways inside the cave if I can follow the line?" And thanks also for critiquing the issues with the gear setup. I never thought about how streamlined cave diving equipment should be before that.
Hey gus and Woody, I just wanted to thank you guys for the great content as always. Today was my last open water dive test and I passed. I am now officially a certified beginner open water scuba diver, its all thanks to you guys for inspiring me to dive again.
Congrats!!!
That was the best thing I've ever heard you say Woody.
"If you kind of have the equipment you're kind of going to die."
Gave me a good chuckle in the morning I know it is very true. I'm just glad you guys are here explaining some of this stuff for people who think that they can do it without training. Which by all means you could but as you said you could die.
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@@electrictroy2010 Agreed. Or if it's posted somewhere else.
@@electrictroy2010 dude how many times did you make this comment? Holy crap
Or phrased as "If you kind of have the equipment, you're kind of going to survive.".
Even without any training, I was horrified the moment I saw that hose and knew someone would go in a cave with it routed that far away from their body. If I were the medical examiner pronouncing their cause of death, I would be sorely tempted to list it as suicide rather than death by misadventure. It's that obviously getting on your hands and knees to beg for tragedy to occur.
I dove Crystal River back in 1986. Things had to change or people would have killed all of the manatee. I’m a retired commercial diver. I’ve dove my share of caves and cenotes in Mexico and hung up my wetsuit a few years ago. You guys are what the community needs. Keep up the good work fellas.
I've only ever seen manatee in zoos, and even then they hypnotize me. Seeing them in their natural habitat sounds like a dream, and I'd probably have to clasp my hands behind my back to keep from reaching out.
And then "if they wanted those rules to be obeyed there'd be three armed cops down here" guys like these come in and are all over the place ... oh boy.
What kind of things would you do as a commercial diver I always wanted to be an under water welder I heard they make a lot of money
Completely agree... People don't think before they do stuff because they underestimate the danger of things. Reminds me of the Y Mountain tragedy... 5 or 6 people went into a dry cave and then 4 or 5 of them swam through an underwater tunnel to get to a secret chamber. After being there for a bit, they tried to swim back out and the leader of the line out got disoriented and/or stuck. Well 4 of them ended up drowning in what was basically a 15 foot underwater tube. Nothing special... just underestimated the danger involved.
@sudo mode Oh my goodness I totally remember hearing about that. They were university kids, if memory serves, who did it on a whim sometime after midnight because they'd heard a rumor about some hidden cave which led to an underground grotto. None of them had any sort of caving experience which set the scene for tragedy. Throw water into that unknown environment and the risk level gets totally amped up.
@@doctoronishispsychosislab1474 I'm not sure you meant to put this here in Dive Talk, but interesting and relevant story about why it's important to do things properly when you're doing something that could be fatal if you mess up.
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@@electrictroy2010 all our dive talk peeps went to tell them they're gonna die 😂
@@doctoronishispsychosislab1474 So your dad was the one that didnt follow proper procedure? Man thats trageic I guess your a lil disappointed with your dad. I hope he learned his lesson and follows proper procedure next time.
You guys can NEVER, NEVER say that this sport is dangerous enough. People need to know that this is not for everyone and that people with less experience, should stay in low experience spot until they get enough to explore harder cave with someone who’s an expert. People take death for granted, until it happens to them. Great video guys, keep it up!
This video is a great example as to how/why people die in caves.
Great work bringing awareness on this dangerous issue👏
I am not a diver but I do enjoy Dive Talks channel! I’m a total lookie loo ! But Based solely on what I’ve learned through their commentary, it’s easy to see why cave diving is so dangerous (especially for experienced open water divers)!
It appears the confidence & experience open water divers have lure them into caves & before they know it, they wake up dead! I can also tell that Gus & Woody are almost apologetic w/ their critics because they don’t want to come across as saying cave diving is only safe when it’s them!! But it’s impossible to watch one of their videos w/out them hammering their main point in almost every video! Which I interpret as “anyone can learn to cave dive but it’s not the same sport as open water diving!! If you have 20 years of experience diving, and want to enter a cave, DON’T even consider going in 10 feet into a cave until you’re fully certified to do so! As their channel grows &!that awareness gets out there more & more, lives will be saved. I wouldn’t be surprised if lives were already saved due to some ego driven risk taker stumbling on a dive talk video & deciding to get certified before some trip into a cave they had planned !
@@dwmueller76 good points you make👍🏼
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Amen
im a beginner and do cave dives for the first time easy
There’s a strong difference between aligning yourself with safety standards and being disrespectful. I love dive talk and you both are adamant on safety. I haven’t ever seen either of you be disrespectful. The education and experience is what makes you a professional and as a professional you should educate others on safety. Angry people are better then dead people. Woody, Gus you two are amazing and please keep up the work that you do!
You can tell these guys are old school that have been doing this for a long time untrained. If you check out his buddies channel has got a really old video of him cave diving form what looks like the early 70's. This goes to show no matter how long you have been diving, there is always room for getting trained and learning the newest procedures. You can't say I don't need training, I've been doing cave diving since the beginning. There's always room to learn from someone's techniques and take something you can use that may very well save your life or someone else. Great Video Guys!
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@@electrictroy2010 ua-cam.com/video/kIIWrepuwik/v-deo.html
@@electrictroy2010 Check out the Jackson Blue Dive. Single Tank Cave Dive
I think I’d feel pretty safe diving with Gus & Woody. It’s the quality of character, care, training & social awareness.
No it doesn't sound elitist. We're watching you for your expert opinion. That's what you're giving. You're teaching us & for free. I appreciate it so much and I don't dive, but you're getting me very siked about possibly attempting it. It's like they are purposely making an everything not to do in cave diving.
I agree 100%. I've been watching these guys for a few months now and they're amazing! I'm doing my checkout dives with my sister in 3 days and definitely recommend SCUBA, we started out with a "Try SCUBA" and got certified afterwards. The father of one of the guys in our class actually took a course from Woody, he spoke very highly of him!
@@cnunley238 That's sounds so exciting. Good luck to you two. I'm just a little bit afraid of the water even though I swim well enough. Had a near drowning experience at beach as a child and as an adult still can't shake it. I live vicariously through all you brave people that attempt it. It looks wonderful...
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Everyone who thinks these guys are elitist in anyway are the ones who end up dead while diving.
You guys are so clear headed and well rounded with your commentary. Don't be unfair to yourselves like that ever again guys. You literally save lives with your videos. Keep it up
I stumbled across this channel about a month ago and I'm addicted. I love the amount of knowledge and confidence the both of you have. I want to learn open water dive, cave diving, and I had NO idea how much training goes into each type of dive. Love the content, love you guys, keep up the good work!
First and foremost do a discover scuba program. Just to test yourself about breathing below surface. Relative inexpensive and a check and balance before you spend money !
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I’m a low-thrill individual who doesn’t need to push radical boundaries in my life. I enjoy terra firma, and small adventures like exploring an antique shop or browsing a bookstore make me happy. I’m scared of water because I can’t swim, and I’m also claustrophobic, so cave diving is the stuff of nightmares for me. So why am I on a diving channel? It’s for the same reason I watch mountaineering videos: I’m endlessly fascinated by the chutzpah and skill it takes to cave dive or ascend Mount Everest. Mad props to the people who do it, but as long as I live, I’ll never understand the desire to live on the edge. But I also totally understand and appreciate the sanity you bring to a risky activity like this. I don’t think you sound elitist at all; you’re simply trying to save lives.
Same!
I'm a non-diver and not planning to learn it but I highly enjoy listening to people who know their stuff :D
@@artfoex your name🤭
@@kathyinwonderlandl.a.8934 jealous?
Me too, me too ☺ also plane crash investigations! See you in the comment sections 😆
I believe everyone should learn how to swim or very least to float. You can practice floating in really shallow water like 3ft / 1m. It could save your life someday.
I started teaching my son at 18 months because children drown more often than adults. See at 17, my family and I survived hurricane Katrina. We lived on the outskirts of New Orleans and our farm was destroyed by the flooding. So many people could've lived if they had learned to swim. I remember seeing the bodies floating down streets and it's something you don't forget.
I don't dive, but I really think u guys r right to keep pushing for people to not do this stuff without being certified, it is dangerous & who better for it to come from than people who know better than most! I love what u guys r doing! I love ur channel!
Woody, you do not sound elitist, you're drumming safety into people which is what you and Gus do best. Safety first always. I bet lives have been saved through watching this channel, keep up the good work.
Diving in a cave untrained is life threatening, I know a friend who did and he immediately regretted his decision when he nearly got lost due to a huge silt out
Woody do not ever call yourself a jerk, you and Gus are geniuses when it comes to safety, training and your concerns for your fellow divers and your profession. Life is all about preparation, soooo...........be prepared in everything you do.
Being concerned about proper technique and especially safety is not elitist. This is literally life or death safety concerns. It's not like "oh you better wear some eye protection while sawing a 2x4". This is critical life or death type of safety concerns. So I think the worry about coming off as elitist or gatekeepy is not an issue. I know usually these days "gatekeeping" is seen as a negative or "problematic behavior" but in this scenario gatekeeping is necessary and is potentially saving lives.
All jokes aside always wear eye protection when operating power tools people
Growing up near Blue Springs, Orange City FL, there were times during the 80s-90s when it seemed a diver or two would die sometimes on a monthly basis. Probably why I never sought SCUBA certification. Too deadly.
After watching these videos, I have a better understanding of how those deaths happened and how every one of them was likely a preventable death.
I do like that the two of you are firm but still doing your best to remain as polite as possible.
This is the first video I have see of yours and I have never done any sort of underwater venturing other than surface snorkeling. Ive got to say from other things I have seen around this topic- this was incredibly well done. I really like that you assumed nothing until it was blatantly obvious about things that are not right. You also explained it in a manor that focused on preservation of life not shaming people- I really appreciate content like this!
Doing my checkout dives tomorrow and Sunday! Can't wait to officially be a diver. Thanks for the inspiration and awesome content.
Good luck, hope it goes well.
@@JXZ2 Thank you!
Awesome get after it and welcome to the diving world
@@reglouis2010 Thank you!
Have fun man, it’s a blast!
Good info fellas! BTW - did you notice those guys deleted their video? It's good to call this stuff out in order to maintain safety amongst the community.
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@@electrictroy2010 bump
Typical uploaded publicly for everyone to see and when called out that they aren't trained and risking their lives and others they delete it... If they didn't want people to watch it they can upload it unlisted or private. The start of that 3rd video made my heart drop. They are so so so lucky they didn't silt it could of easily died that day.
if it was me id leave it uploaded and comment on it explaining how I know it was stupid I was wrong and now doing the correct training for cave diving thank you for watching
@@Dimorac they didn't delete it the name is written in the video you can see it in the file name they are watching
@@EmManson the video is not the one they linked but you can find it by searching it
Non diver here, but I don't think it's elitist to talk about how dangerous this is. You are telling it how it is. Safety should always be number one and divers pushing into caves untrained is what leads to near misses or deaths. This then gives cave diving a bad reputation.
Humble and honest as always.
Woody, you don't sound like you're being elitist or a jerk in the least bit. It's clear that you care greatly for the safety of those who share your passion for cave diving, especially those who don't realise the danger they're putting themselves in, so it's a blessing that you're here putting out videos which will help inform and educate those same people. Good job :-)
Recommending that people receive proper training from qualified instructors to prevent their own deaths is not an eliteist comment. In my opinion, it just means you care about what happens to other divers. You encourage people to become better divers and you both should be proud of what you do. Thank you for the amazing content as always!
I'm glad you guys are willing to address this stuff rather than keeping your thoughts to yourselves. You never sound elitist; you sound like people who have knowledge and want to share it. You sound like people who just want others to be safe. Thanks for another awesome video!
Also, Woody should bring back his alligator hat with the waggly tail. I love it! I want to find one for myself, tbh
Love the content guys. As a non diver to me you guys don't some like elitists you sound like professional divers watching extremely dangerous behavior that would otherwise seem benign to the average person
I must say you guys are never sounding like your gatekeepers or elitists. I came across your videos from watching cave diving disasters where the most experienced cave divers died from this incredibly dangerous sport. I think your doing a great service to people who may not understand how dangerous cave diving is. Love your videos
Take aways from binging Dive talk videos : Don't dive into a cave if you are not cave certified , you actually can't just resurface instantly , there is so much unexplored earth , things can turn from great to terrible in less than a minute .
Love the content
What I learned: Diving is cool, but watching diving while on solid ground is just a little more comfortable.
I'd go further: great to terrible in a split second if you don't have the right setup. e.g. If you don't have backup lights and your light goes out, you're blind in the blink of an eye and very likely doomed as a result.
Edit: Another example might be a cave-in (I expect they can happen underwater just as easily as in a dry cave?). It only takes a split second for a boulder above you to drop on you or behind you and seal you in. I presume cave divers need to be assessing that risk all the time (looking for signs of cracks, slabbing, recent falls, etc)
I rarely comment on videos, but I really just wanted to say that you guys NEVER sound elitist at all! The people who are not trained divers need to know what to do and what not to do when cave diving or just diving in general! As you both say, the rules of diving (cave diving, non-cave divers, etc) have been written in blood.
Y'all are amazing and very humble. Much love ❤❤
Hi guys! Advanced Open Water from Spain here, I just wanted to tell you that I really love your videos and that you have inspired me to continue diving and to take the cave diving course.
Thank you for your content!
I am an AOWD student right now and besides flutter kicking, everything you pointed out applies to even an OWD certified diver. These guys are either not even OWD certified or they forgot/ignored all their training in years.
its not your best work but ill give it to you, that was a 4/10 joke but I laughed.@@carlholland3819
Love these. I even am getting "dive news" on my google news feed now since watching these. Read a story this morning about two divers who died in Florida Thursday morning, and just the story made me go, oh, the guys at Dive talk would have comments about this. Especially since the teens who found one of the men reportedly said they over heard them say something about maybe not having enough air, and potentially a leak, and yet they STILL went into the cave.... Keep doing what you do, and maybe someone will take a moment and go, "What would Woody and Gus say about this" before they go do something that maybe they shouldn't. Keep making content, and I'll keep showing up to watch!
Love y'all!!! So glad your keeping it real and wanting to keep people safe. I am a skydiver not a scuba diver. The importance of safety in any extreme sport is SO important. Woody and Gus! AWESOME JOB 🧘🖤
I started with mr ballen vids and thought cave divers were suicidal.. But after watching you guys I can see that it's only suicidal if you don't follow the rules and/or haven't been certified. Love your enthusiasm and your love of cave diving. There is nothing wrong with being critical as it may save lives.
Aside from the valuable safety/educational information, humor and interesting subject matter; you guys have great production value as well. The lighting, audio and editing is always top notch. I’ve been playing with the idea of creating a channel for awhile, but I want to do it right and I’ve realized it’s not as easy as it looks. If I ever go for it, I’ll consider Dive Talk an inspiration. Much respect 👊🏼
Hello Gus & Woody I've never done diving and I don't really tend to either but I have watched most of your vids & im now understanding how diving goes & you guys explain it in a very good way that I can understand. Please keep up with the vids much love from the UK
I really appreciate this channel so much! I used to think cave diving was one of the most ill-advised things anyone could ever do (and I still don't think I'd ever do it!!!) but listening to you guys talk about how to do it SAFELY, and how the VAST majority of accidents can be traced back to breaking one of the 5 rules, etc., has given me so much respect for this sport (sport? pastime? whatever you'd call it lol). I really enjoy listening to these videos as well. Your dynamic is very entertaining and I appreciate the way you educate about equipment and terms while keeping it fun, but also being respectful and somber when the occasion calls for it. I never ever would've guessed that a channel abut cave diving would become one of my favorite youtube channels, but here we are! Thank you for what you do!!!
I want to formally apologize. When I first found your channel, it was when you reacted to AWP Doug’s Emergency Ascent. I knew nothing about diving, so when I saw your reaction to it, I was upset because I thought they were doing everything perfectly, and you two were trolls/elitists.
I put my bias aside though, and watched your other videos, and I’m so glad I did. I’ve learned so much from you two, and I now understand you say the things you do to help protect and inform the lives of others and those who watch your videos.
Anyways, great video! I apologize again for my hardcore bias when I first discovered you two.
They were definitely stating the facts so many things wrong with that dive but hey it was great content and exposure for the u tube channel.
They’re not just endangering themselves, they are endangering anyone asked to go out to try and save them or to retrieve their bodies.
Hi guys! I just finished scrolling thru all of your videos trying to find one I hadn’t seen because I was having Dive Talk withdrawal!! Morning all!!
Hi! Brand new viewer, your channel is SO cool. Just wanted to chime in, as someone whose only experience with diving is through UA-cam and Reddit, you NEVER sound elitist. Someone who has never heard of cave diving may think you’re gatekeeping, but anyone even at my level of experience (again, which is none) knows that diving, especially cave diving is an activity nobody has any business doing halfway. I watched a video just last night of some guys exploring a cave and my heart was in my throat with how careless they were being. It’s literally life or death so what you guys are doing is purely educational and beneficial!
I love Gus and Woody's "Divers React" because you can tell the information comes from a genuine love for diving, compassion for fellow humans, and respect for the wonders of nature.
We can discover the wonders of nature 🎶
Very curious to know, if you were on a dive and passed these people in the cave, would you try to signal them to leave? What do you do as a proficient cave diver seeing someone who obviously shouldn't be there? How do you even communicate that underwater?
I find your videos fascinating. Thank you for the content you create.
Not sure who's saying you guys are being rude, both very polite and not condescending. Love the explanations!
“Sorry, not sorry.” That yalls perspective and that’s an awesome thing. Keep up that great work as I really enjoy your material.
I an advanced OW for twenty five years and would never cave dive but you guys need to keep telling people the truth about cave diving! Do not do it unless trained! Grew up near Morrison and Vortex in NW FL and remember all of the deaths over the years always by OW divers venturing into the springs. Keep up the great videos!
First of all I want to say that I love y’all’s videos! I’m glad that you tell ppl about the dangers involved because a mistake underwater can be fatal, as many of your videos have shown. Keep up the great work and I look forward to your next video.
Sending love from Texas! ❤️
You are my new fav channel and I'm one of those subscribers that are here for you guys personality, friendship, dynamic and teachings about something I didn't care about a week ago and probably won't ever do out of fear but I like getting random knoweledge about things it's all about the teachers making you passionate about something.
You guys are awesome, don’t pay any energy towards negative commenters or negative critics! Just be yourselves and continue the great work you put out 🎉 I thoroughly enjoy listening and learning from you guys
great video again guys, you are far from elitist, you are providing insane amounts of information and helping the new people of the diving world, thank you!
Took a small break from UA-cam, I come back to see y’all killing it with the subs and views! Not many deserve it more than y’all do! I had hoped this would happen, but knew it was inevitable with the type of amazing content and top notch quality y’all provide. Keep killin it!
2 divers were lost yesterday at Buford Spring in Chasskawitzka,open water divers not properly trained decided to go back down low on air,and leaking regulator!
Another non-diver who loves the channel. Nothing elitist about focusing on technical details and technique and passing the knowledge on. It’s when you think that stuff doesn’t matter that all the problems start, in any technical field. Keep up the great work guys!
My instructor for open water always told us to stop using our hands, it doesn't help at all and just burns more air. It takes a while to break the habit of swimming under water and let the fins do all the work but it does make a difference.
As someone who lap swims for exercise, not using my hands to swim was SO HARD at first. Now I finally rewired my brain so that I can swim happily with my arms crossed but it was a struggle to get there for a minute. Now if I notice myself flapping my hands I cringe! I will say you eliminate this habit a lot faster if you dive quarries or other swampy water that sits quickly.
Great content! Even though I am no cave diver, just advance open water, I would like to add that what they are doing is not just dangerous BUT wreck-less to the extreme. This is how people die! I am always amazed about the lack of danger awareness people have.
As someone who isn't a diver or cave diver I always appreciate you guys explaining the techniques required to be as safe as possible.
If actual divers refuse to learn or expand on their techniques then it makes sense it can be deadly.
Everyone who participates in ANY hobby has to continue to practice and completely reset old habits and techniques for newer ones. Especially for people who partake in more dangerous hobbies, rock climbing, diving, paragliding ect. It's always good to go back to the basics and re learn and even completely stop certain habits that they do.
Just my input as an artist. I always find new tutorials or techniques that improve my art drastically when I practice them and put them to use as well as always re-practicing the basics, like anatomy drawings and sketches. This is the same for other hobbies as well.
I have absolutely no diving experience and to be honest it's never really even something that occurred to me, but this podcast is super interesting.. cool niche to explore. best of luck to you guys.
Your criticism is valuable. You guys never sound like jerks. We appreciate your content. Keep it up. 🙂
The work you guys do is really important to us! This was great for showing us why getting certified is so important, they looked like they had fun but just go get certified so you don't have an unnecessary accident. Proper training and techniques are essential.
Love the content and information. Never found any fascination with cave diving until you appeared in my feed. Because of you guys, I find the rules and regulations written in blood to better divers experiences as fascinating as the caves views when youre down there
I really love you guys' videos! I started watching Dive Talk this month because I saw one of your reactions to Mr Ballen in my UA-cam Recommendations and was hooked! Diving and the ocean have always been terrifying to me, something I was like "no way, never in a million years would I go scuba diving", but you two have really made me interested in learning to dive! Explaining the dangers and errors that people make actually makes me feel a lot safer knowing what could go wrong and how to avoid it. The love and passion you two have for diving is infectious! I really hope I can get lessons someday. Thank you for your continued content! Love you guys & the channel!
I am not a diver but I find your channel very interesting. I have a lot of respect for your spirit of adventure and the courage to complete your dives.
Your guys humility is amazing. I don’t think you sound elitist at all. You are professional divers who know that peoples life’s are on the line. You can never overstate the steps that must be taken before cave diving.
This is like wearing a scalf and not securing the long end, then going on a rollercoaster on a windy day.
Hey, guys, I'm new to your channel and love your show. Thank you for all the long hours you putting in to brings us current and factual information. I have been diving since 1994, but cave diving did not interest me back then. Now I'm considering getting cave certified since I have recently moved to Florida, I hear this is the place to be for cave divers. Thanks again. Have a excellent evening.
What better than some Dive Talk on an early Friday morning!
I've been diving for 30 years and y'all are great! Enjoy the real talk! Watching this video made my stomach hurt! I'm going to have my youth group of new divers watch this as a teaching moment and to emphasize the IMPORTANCE of proper training and certifications! Thank you!
These guys have really sparked an interest in learning to cave dive, not by acting like underwater cowboys but the very opposite, by preaching good sense and safety. Which is exactly how good military training works
Woodys complete and utter bewilderedness over the hose and Gus laughing on the first video had my stomach hurting from laughing. I must have rewound it 20 times
You can dive manatee springs state park, there's a little roped off area in the main spring and then two other area, the second one that they went into the first video is catfish hotel. There's been a cave in there and is actually very dangerous as going from catfish hotel to the main spring head is a very tight restriction causing a very fast current where it's easy for you to get stuck.
Yikes! I wouldn't have thought of that about the current.
There are no boats in the Springs any of them they obviously never been there!
I am 57 and finally went and got my open water cert. I enjoy your videos very much. I have learned a lot from them. Really enjoy hearing you point out easy preventative measures.
I live in Alaska and have taken my dry suit and nitrox certs here. I am hooked, and a lot of my new addiction is your fault. After many more dives (many many more dives) I hope to cave dive in Florida.
If and when that day comes I hope you guys are still teaching. Keep doing what you are doing as alot of us appreciateit. Thanks
I love you guys! I hope Josh and Ken will be receptive to your advice. I fear for them.
I love how these two play off eachother. Asking eachother questions knowing what the other will say, always with interesting insights. I love applying my own knowledge of diving to the videos and having it affirmed and expanded on by these two gents.
Love the videos as always. I'd like to make a suggestion/request: whenever you have videos with multiple different videos, can you use youtube's timestamp system to make navigating the video easier?
Just got my first ever youtube merch today from Dive Talk. Now to enjoy my tea in my new mug and watch one of my fav channels.
Woody, you just sound cautious. As a trained cave diver you know how many small things that can go wrong and cause death. A non cave diver hasn’t been trained in those details. Nothing elitist about that in my opinion. 😘😘😘
As a safety professional and a recreational diver with aspirations of becoming cave certified, the featured videos INFURIATE me, particularly in light of the recent events at Buford. They give all of us a bad name, with consequences far beyond what most people will even realize. It hurts more than just these divers.
"There's no 'kind of' in cave diving."
"If you 'kind of' have something going on with cave diving then you're 'kind of' gonna die."
Man, Woody's quotes are next level. Such a treasure.
Perfect timing! Dive talk n Bed zzz
It's been a while since I have had a chance to catch up on the videos. Absolutely love the videos, commentaries, criticism, and I don't want to use the word education as people still need the classes, skills and experience but your stuff is educational.
None of this sounds elitist. It all sounds like a matter of safety.
I've only recently found you guys, and one thing I can say is you're deffo not elitists, I have done my master divers course, and you guys motivate me to go get my other qualifications, but to also never exceed my limits, not to be tempted by caves etc, and to do things safety and correctly
You guys are just trying to ensure that everyone who watches these videos are as safe as possible and that's nothing but respectable 🙏
Manatees are definitely a species not designed for modern times, they are far too slow to move out of the way of any moderately quick boat. They have no natural fear of humans. But they are definitely a species that we need to protected.
Thank you guys for the content you bring, I wish more divers would watch your channel.
Hi Guys, glad to see you again. Unfortunately, seems like that's what they did as Gus mentioned at 18:50. I think, they should criminalised or big penalty with fine for all sorts of diving. I mean, if something happens and you need emergency services + if someone die, that have to be expensive, trauma of the family. I believe that could help to prevent the tragedy and saved lots of money.
Four weeks ago I randomly stumbled across one of your guys videos..great content and from someone who has nothing to do with cave diving such great details and info making me want to get into diving day by day
Don't worry about sounding elitist. I have no idea about diving, only watched a dozens of videos about dying in underwater caves, read some comments and immediately reacted the same way and saw most of the mistakes.
Long time rec diver new to your channel! I’m hooked and loving it!! Don’t change a thing. Soo educational and entertaining.. perfect mix!! 🙂👍
I’d love to see a video where you get footage at the cavern, intro, apprentice, and full level to show how much better people get as they progress through training.
I’ve got footage at the Cavern level i though was amazing at the time. Watching it now as full/CCR/DPV, it’s extremely cringe worthy.