Deep Diving on Air
- Thread starter Charlie59
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... does this train wreck specialty come with a card?
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
dumpsterDiver
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I already provided a link to the training agency that trains divers to 240 on air...I assume you can get a card from them, if you really want a card?
VooDooGasMan
Contributor
Dale that's a good point that a diver should be able to dive any kind of gear. Deep Air Diving is more of person that can handle any problem of different kind of gear that they are wearing and the buoyancy it takes to dive them, for reasons of traveling to different areas and changing the gear your diving at home.
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I wasn't referring to deep air diving ... I was referring to the inevitable outcome of all the deep air threads we've had on the board lately ... hence the term "train wreck specialty".
Perhaps a Drunk Divers forum wouldn't be a bad idea ... it'd give the three or four people who insist on promoting this type of diving a sandbox to play in ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
Yes you can, but we need to differentiate between an agency that provides extensive training for equipment and skills needed such dives, including decompression gases used, and people saying "just dive deeper on air--you'll be fine."
BTW, there was a thread in the TDI forum on their extended range/deep air course, and it is clearly going away. The TDI representatives in the thread pretty much agreed that it is a relic, and they admit that it is rare for anyone to take the class any more.
VooDooGasMan
Contributor
Charlie when you started this thread you were curious on how many people push the limits of diving with air on a regular basis. So far in four days on here do you feel there are a lot of divers that do. Most divers do and if they did not, they would not have training classes for divers that need help in learning how to dive deep.
Your Buddy that took you is a seasoned diver and from your post you have progressed in your diving a bit deeper and many divers have done the same and will continue to do so. Lets see what you think in a year also after more trips that you go on.
Your Buddy that took you is a seasoned diver and from your post you have progressed in your diving a bit deeper and many divers have done the same and will continue to do so. Lets see what you think in a year also after more trips that you go on.
Don't know if they still issue these, but here's what one looks like
Rick
Hey! I have one of those, too. Somewhere. And I have the next one, as well--for IANTD *Advanced* Deep Air Diver. Received it c. 1996. The training manual has air tables which use the two deco gases EAN32 and EAN80, iirc. I believe the training was for a max depth of 220 fsw.
My first 200 footer was during my certification trip (or shortly thereafter) on the "Daniel J. Morrell" in Lake Huron. Don't remember much about the dive. However, I do remember going all the way to the bottom and, trying for maximum depth, placing my forearm on the rocky bottom of Lake Huron. I was so impaired, though, that I didn't comprehend that the business end of my air-integrated computer (Cochran Nemesis Nitrox II) was up near my tank valve, and that sticking my wrist display unit on the bottom did nothing for me at all! (My instructor surfaced showing a max depth that was a couple of feet deeper than mine. He had lain on his back on the bottom! He was an extremely experienced deep air diver and evidently was not nearly as impaired as the rest of us.)
One of my next 200 footers took place off Isle Royale in Lake Superior. There was a spare prop bolted to the deck of this particular shipwreck. (Sorry, can't recall which one.) We were told ahead of time that we would be asked later about this prop. Although I "studied" the prop at depth, when we surfaced I absolutely could not recall how many blades this spare prop had! Was it three? Or four? Maybe three. No, I'm sure: It was four, damn it!
These are funny anecdotes. I've got a couple of truly scary ones, too, that I won't bore you with.
I no longer attempt these types of cold, dark, freshwater deep air dives. Not since c. 2000. I'm much older now, with young kids.
Safe Diving,
Ronald
So you make the judgment that most divers do deep bounce dives based on the fact that a couple of people gave you some level of verbal support on this thread? And, as I have said before, agencies that train divers on deep air (only two mentioned so far, and one of them pretty much doesn't do it any more) are teaching something very, very different from what you advocate.
No agency in the world either teaches or advocates deep air bounce dives as you describe them. The purpose of their training, in fact, is to keep people from foolishly doing the kind of diving you advocate.
But I could be wrong, so let's make it clear. Would all those people that do deep air bounce dives such a VDGM advocates, that strong majority he says exists, please click the like button on his post above so that we can get a sense of how big a group you are.
I don’t believe that “advocate” is a fair description of VooDooGasMan’s posts. Nor are the number of “Likes” a valid measure since a comparatively small number of Scubaboard members will see your request.
I have refrained from responding to this thread until now, but I see and perform bounce/no-D dives on air much deeper than 130' all the time on a single. It was not uncommon in my circle from early 1960s through today. Of course we knew how to read a table and understood diving physics and physiology by graduation. We also knew enough to slowly work our way deeper and manage challenging conditions. For some reason, modern diver training demands a new merit badge for learning to tie a new pair of shoes.
This is the Advanced Scuba Discussions forum and this subject qualifies. Given that deep bounce dives have not been unusual or especially noteworthy since the 1950s, it is unfounded to say they can’t be done safely. There is some risk and a minimum level of education and experience required just like all other forms of advanced diving.
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