Advanced Or Tec.

[daylight]

I have learned a bunch and enjoyed this thread.

Since I've departed on this path, the main difference is once again "the cost of doing business".

DSAO

 

[algulfdiver]

Just got my new issue of Advanced Diver Magazine , A great issue (10) This is a good Mag. Exspecialy for deep wreck and also a good bit of cave stuff. You can get one at Books -A- Million. Or check the web site out.www.AdvancedDiverMagazine.com :mean: :mean:

 

[Walter]

Technical diving is a poor term at best. It tries to encompass way too many things and is has too many different definitions.
Am I a technical diver? That depends on who's definition you use.

Does it matter if I'm a technical diver? Not that I can see.

I dive differently depending on the situation and with whom I'm diving. What difference could it possibly make if one dive is technical and another isn't?

There is a legitimate reason to make distinctions in different types of dives since they require different training. Cave diving is different from Search & Recovery which is different from Wreck which is different from Spearfishing which is different from Photography. They all require different training. What training does "technical diving" require? That depends on what type of technical diving to which you are referring. Technical diving is a useless distinction that IMHO we should all stop using. The only purpose I can see is to inflate egos.

DSSW,

WWW™

 

[Lost Yooper]

Diving requires a vocabulary in order to communicate to others. The phrase, technical diving, has a general meaning that most divers recognize as being highly skilled diving that requires much of what has been written above (overhead, multigas, ceiling types of diving). If people's ego's are such that they get out of control based on a simple phrase, then they have more to worry about than what they call themselves.
The phrase itself, is fine IMO, and can communicate the type of diving it's supposed to. I don't have a particular problem with it -- of course, the severity of my ego seems to vary form person to person and day to day, I guess

Take care.

Mike

 

[Walter]

Of course diving, as everything else, requires a vocabulary. Adding meaningless terms to that vocabulary is not helpful. When you tell me you are going to make a technical dive you have told me you are going to make a dive. You have actually imparted no other information. Tell me you're making a trimix deep dive and I know what you are talking about, the same goes for cave, wreck penetration, ice etc. Saying technical could mean any of those or others. They are all different and require different skills. The term is meaninless because it means too many things. To make matters worse there are different definations for the term. Additionally, there's no reason to have the term in the first place because there's already a term for each type of diving that people call technical. OTOH, I know you and others will continue to use it as if it actually meant something.

DSSW,

WWW™

 

[Lost Yooper]

OK, so when someone tells me they are doing a basic recreational dive, do I have to ask them if they are going wreck diving, nitrox diving, drift diving, night diving, hunting, taking pictures, etc...? The phrase, technical diving, has a meaning that encompasses different types of advanced dives. There is a difference between recreational diving and technical diving, and that's why the phrases exist.
If I tell someone I do technical dives, most would automatically assume overhead or deco diving (ceiling diving). If someone tells me they are a recreational diver, I can assume they aren't dealing with significant ceilings. Having the two phrases is simply a matter of separating two distinct types of diving -- overhead/ceiling and OW. I would argee that technical diving includes many different dives, skills, and equipment requirements (as can recreational), but the underlying definition is the same -- a ceiling of some sort is involved. Sure the phrase covers broadly (like recreational diving), but it certainly has a distinct meaning/definition that is generally understood in the diving community (or at least I thought so).

I didn't realize the phrase was so offensive .

Mike

PS. Just for the record, I consider all of my dives recreational -- just to confuse things a bit more.

 

[Walter]

Not offensive, merely meaningless. Recreational diving is all diving done for fun - not work. It is pretty much meaningless too. Depending on who you talk to technical diving doesn't have to involve a ceiling, I've seen definations where technical diving means the diver uses more than one breathing mix, others which include all rebreather diving, others include solo, others include any depth over 130 ft then you get into definations where some combination of these and other definations are used. People who consider themselves technical divers can't even agree on the defination of the term.

You don't have to ask anything about any dive.

DSSW,

WWW™

 

[Lost Yooper]

This is the first time I've taken part in a discussion where the meaning of the phrase was in significant dispute. I didn't realize there was an ongoing debate within the technical diving world as to it's meaning . Of course, if there's something to argue about, the tech world is the place for it.
I wouldn't personally consider solo, rebreather, or anything else as "technical" unless it involved a ceiling. I certainly didn't single handedly declare that my definition was, in fact, THE definition. To each their own definition, I guess. I'm stickin' with mine as it seems to be the most popular.

Cool...another debate I can jump into once in while!

Mike