What is tec diving?

[JeffG]

Did your definition not say overhead environment is technical?
Kal

If you hold your slate over your head...Is it an Overhead?

 

[Blackwood]

Surely you are aware of the risks of breathing
O2 or any gas below it's MOD.
Kal

Of course.

And I wasn't suggesting breathing past MOD (hence the "last 20, or 70, or xxx feet") statement.

I think that most divers, including those with no training beyond air, are aware of oxygen toxicity.

 

[highflowdiver]

How big is a station wagon from end to end?

 

[Blackwood]

How big is a station wagon from end to end?

Oh.
*smacks head*
It's an actual ambulance. LOL. I was thinking it was the name of a swimthrough or something.

 

[highflowdiver]

If you hold your slate over your head...Is it an Overhead?

It's over my head!
Kal

 

[Blackwood]

It's over my head!
Kal

Careful. That's WAY too easily quoted out of context.

 

[FritzCat66]

I had a practical situation recently that might help the OP understand the differences in perspective between tec and rec:

I dive pretty much within open water, recreational limits (only exceptions being an occasional swim-thru on a wreck or a cavern dive in one of the springs here in Florida). However, I have a buddy who is a trained technical diver. We often dive together on boats out of South Florida, and we both enjoy underwater photography. Even though he may be wearing doubles or other tech gear on those reef dives with me, he's essentially still doing a recreational dive: open water (no overhead), less than 130' depth (usually 40'-90' in fact), and no decompression.

So I mentioned to him that I might be getting a group together to dive the Oriskany (which, for anyone who doesn't already know, is an aircraft carrier sunk off Pensacola as an artifical reef), would he be interested?

He thought about it for a bit, hesitantly, instead of just responding, "Sure!", so I asked him why. He said, "Well, you guys are going to be diving it as a recreational dive, but I was kinda hoping to do it as a tech dive."

What did he mean by that? He meant that, while we recreational divers would be diving mostly just the "island" part of the wreck that sits above the flight deck (since the flight deck is at 145' and therefore just beyond recreational depth limits) with very little penetration inside the ship, he was interested in seeing the deeper parts of the carrier, perhaps probing around inside the structure, but almost certainly spending enough time and at enough depth to require a decompression plan before ascending, most likely requiring a change of gas mix, extra cylinders, etc. and all the other factors that go into a deco dive. To do all that, keep in mind he's had to complete a lot more training, and has extra/different gear to deal with.

So we both want to dive the Oriskany. And while he could dive it within recreational limits like me, if he's going to go through the trouble and expense of travelling there to dive it, he would rather make it a more challenging technical dive.

In the end, hopefully we will both get to dive the Oriskany, me with my recreational buddies, he with his tech pals. But we will bring back different perspectives on the trip. And although I am not particularly interested in going through the extra training, purchasing the extra gear, or taking the added risks of technical diving like he has done, I am still fascinated by his experiences as a technical diver, I still learn a lot from him, and conversely he still enjoys just diving and photographing the reefs with me as well.

So there you have a good scenario to dramatize the differences between the tec and rec diving.

>*< Fritz

 

[muddiver]

Let's try this - Recreational diving is defined as: No dives deeper than 130 feet, no dives with overhead inviornments and no planned decompression dives. Tech diving would be every other diving not fitting into this description.

I would propose that as the definition of "Open Water SCUBA Diving" within the realm Recreational Diving.

I find defining those activities that are not "Recreational" and thus not "Technical" in nature to work better.

Example:

In the United States (and possably elseware) Commercial Diving is the use of life support equipment to work underwater to perform construction, salvage, surveying or any work for compensation. Thus Tech diving is not commercial diving because the diver(s) are doing it for recreation or fun. If you are getting paid to Tech dive and you are not following the OSHA rules, you could be in for a big supprise (in the US).

Scientific Diving is an OSHA exempted diving industry that uses open circuit SCUBA diving and many technical diving techniques. Is it Tech diving, no because the divers are under the supervision of a diving control board and are also exempted from OSHA regulation to do ONLY activities that are being performed to advance science. (see OSHA Reg. 29 CFR 1910.401(a)(2)(iv) and 29 CFR Part 1910, Subpart T, Appendix B).

Here I disagree with Ming Tz, Public Safety diving is defined by OSHA and exempted because it is "29 CFR 1910.401(a)(2)(ii)." Diving solely for search, rescue, or related public-safety purposes by or under the control of a government agency. Many Public Safety divers are paid professionals that may use Tech diving techniques, but what they do is not recreational.

Military diving. Well, they pretty much do what they want and I think the title defines the catagory alone.

Last is Open Circuit SCUBA diving for recreation as defiend by Louma and similarly by most SCUBA instruction agencies that it is within the No Decompression range, no deeper than 130'. "29 CFR 1910.401(a)(2)(i). Diving for instructional purposes by persons using only open-circuit, compressed air, self-contained underwater- breathing apparatus (SCUBA) within the no-decompression limits." SCUBA Instructors are also exempted from our work regulations even though they are paid to dive which is the definition of Commercial Diving.

Anything that does not fall within these catagories is pretty much Tech Diving by my theory of elemination and is outside the limits of mainstream recreational Open Circuit SCUBA diving.

Oh, and by the way, all of you teaching rebreathers, deep diving, any mix other than air are all in violation of the Federal OSHA regulations if you get paid to do so (see the above excerpt). I would like to see someone explain to me how a GUE instructor falls within the definition in 29 CFR 1910 for recreational instructor.

 

[Meng_Tze]

......
Here I disagree with Ming Tz, Public Safety diving is defined by OSHA and exempted because it is "29 CFR 1910.401(a)(2)(ii)." Diving solely for search, rescue, or related public-safety purposes by or under the control of a government agency. Many Public Safety divers are paid professionals that may use Tech diving techniques, but what they do is not recreational.

...

Huh? Not sure what you are referring to in relation to my posts? My take was on the activity and circumstances, not under which direction or governing body they are conducted

 

[mkutyna]

Technical diving is a dive that requires more than one
gas and a regulator switch to complete the dive.

You can go deep or in a cave but neither is required
to do a tech dive and just doing them does not make
a tech dive.
Kal

According to this definition, me and a buddy did a tech dive earlier this year. We swapped gear underwater which changed which gas we were breathing (I was breathing his and he was breathing mine) and we swapped regs at the same time.

Awesome. I'm a tech diver now!!!