Deep Diving on Air

[IXΘYΣ]

I don't believe I'd admit to having that card.
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Don't know if they still issue these, but here's what one looks like

Rick

 

[Rick Murchison]

Hmmm.... well.... yeah.... you could be right...
:cool2:
Rick

I don't believe I'd admit to having that card.
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[Bombay High]

Charlie glad you pointed that out, its the same as when the new diver wants to go to over 100' and get narced the anxiety is now a bit controlled. Now this is where it is to the divers that make it there and then they learn how to have more time and get there sac down. Glad you have given more info on your dive, and have many safe dives for learning on each dive.

Little bit off topic, but I would have imagined, by reading your screen name that you would be less of a deep air fan and more in favour of helium ?

 

[Centrals]

I was also certified in Deep Air(IANTD) in 1997.
Given the cost of He in Philippines, US$0.06 per FREE litre.
A 20/20 mix in a twin set(11L) will cost US$52.00 for He alone. Most dive operator will charge another US$45-50 for the dive. And O2 is US$0.01 per FREE litre. So even a baby trimix dive to 60m for 20-25mins will cost at least US$100.00. And if you do not have a diving buddy or if the operator insist that a dive guide must be accompanied your adventure. Then there would be additional US$52.00 for yourself/team.

 

[TSandM]

Those costs aren't very far off what we pay here in Seattle. A 25/25 fill in my double 85s runs me around $40 (I get a good discount due to a membership plan). Charter fees here run around $85 for a two tank day, so $40 to $45 per dive. I'm not sure what my O2 runs me, but I think it's around $10 for a full 40.

If I don't think the dive is worth the cost, I don't do the dive.

 

[drbill]

A few years ago I did a lot of deep dives on air to a max depth of 200 ft. I spent some time acclimating myself to deeper and deeper depths to determine my reaction to narcosis as depth increased. I would never just decide on the spur of the moment to do such a dive. I also made sure I had redundant air as I did all my dives solo, not wishing to put another diver at risk.

 

[Culcuhain]

Ever dive with anyone you love? That's an easy statement to ribbit back in a rescue class, but it doesn't always hold up in reality.
YMMV.

I dive with my wife all the time.
#1. We wouldn't be doing a 300 foot dive on air without redundancy.
#2. If I don't have the air to go down there and get her and get back to the surface alive, what's the point in going after her if she is at 400ft?
#3. I wouldn't let my buddy get that far away from me.
#4. It is an easy statement to ribbit back. That is how we are trained. Follow your training. Just like in the military. Go against it and you are on your own.
#5. In this instance if the one person didn't go down to 400ft to get the other diver, he would be ok the other diver would be ok and we have only lost one diver. Instead we have a dead diver, a paralyzed diver, and one we think is going to recover. Cost to benefit? Never become the 2nd casualty. I can live with that.

 

[VooDooGasMan]

Grover glad you have posted, cause you have a wealth of info from the years past on this subject that has made members realize Deep air is about.

Bombay actually nitrox was the voodoogas, then somewhere the term went to the helium, as it was a commercial diving gas that the sport divers picked up, My avatar pic is one for trimix in my profile.

Now as the price for diving has come up that is the big factor in the warm water that divers go to dive. So centrals has said his baby dive to 60m is a $100 and now you have it. Your not going to spend that much time there yet you have went and seen it yourself for a short time.

Cost is a huge factor on vacation and so is time and the benefit of diving Deep Air and Bounce Diving is the option that has been there before nitrox and trimix came about.

Some places that have deep wrecks want it done on mixed gasses, the $2500 trip is now $5000 a fella from Canadia told me at lunch after a dive this past thursday, so I looked at his wife and said WOW that 10 grand for you two to go diving, she said yes its a dream. I am sure this couple can afford it but there not going to spend it.


So many reasons why Deep AIR will always be a way of diving.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

During a recent dive trip I had the opportunity to dive to a depth below the recreational limit. The person who took me has had experience diving to 225 ft and below on air. The dive itself was uneventful and nothing special except for the thrill of going deep. Narcosis was not that much more intense than at 135 ft. While I don't advocate diving to below 180 ft on air(I would not have done it without someone experienced) I am curious how many people push the limits of diving with air on a regular basis. I saw several people diving below the rec dive limit on this trip, something I have not seem much of in the past.

It is always interesting to see the posts on SB. I do understand the concern that some have about diving below the rec limits and I do not advocate making it a habit, however, I do think that many people do dive below the limits (drop dives of less than 3 minutes below 150 feet). I was only trying to gauge how often people ventured out of their comfort zone and went deep on air.

The issue that I have with not exploring or discussing diving deeper is that people are afraid to dive to 130 feet, and in an emergency would be afraid to go deeper. From what I have read on the "internets", diving air to 165 feet on air is reasonable with the right education and a trained individual. The French have levels of diving that sets a limit on diving of 165 feet on air. The world's record on air is in excess of 450 ft, but that is crazy.

While I am in favor of having respect for the dangers of deep diving, I am not a fan of fear in diving. In the past I would feel anxious about my diving to 130 ft, now I think that anxiety will be much less since I have seen what it is like below that level. I again would not promote the activity but suspect that there are many divers who dive down to 200 ft on air and not infrequently.

So I'm interested in "our" ambiguous discussions regarding diving below the "rec dive limit" partly because when I spent 6 weeks diving Key Largo the spring of '01 there were divers exceeding the published "rec dive limit" weekly; from PADI "5-Star" Boats.

I made the Bibb dive pictured below just a couple weeks after becoming a PADI EANx Specialty Instructor (and Wreck Specialty Instructor). We followed our training with regards to PPO2; my tank was an LP 95 with 28%, my buddy Adam (pictured; one of the MSDT's involved in my Instructor training) started the dive with 107 cf of 28% and he was also an EANx and Wreck Specialty Instructor. After I took the Goliath pic I turned around to find a TDI Nitrox "class" waiting their turn; something like 7 divers, including their Instructor, all on 32%. My computer registered 137' when I was taking that pic.

A couple weeks later, after accepting Hyper Dick's invitation to "cross-over" to IANTD, I could have followed my "new" training and made that dive on 32%. At that time it seemed to me that the last number in "all" the recommended "rec dive limit" mantras was still considered a recommendation; not the hard "rec dive limit" it seems to be today.

[c]

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Since then I have been to 146' and 138' on air, for a total of less than 2 minutes below 132' on air. I now have a dive site across the street where possible interesting outcrops between 130' and 150' are visible to me when cruising at ~110' deep. I am contemplating taking a quick closer look at one or two of these hard bottom spots, and since it is really only a few feet deeper than I have already dived my trepidation is minor, but having like minded and more experienced divers to converse with about this kind of activity would seem to be prudent.

 

[Reef_Haven]

So, have you taken a deco procedures course; or do you just intend to rely on your computer to get you back to the surface safely?
secondly, would you have felt safer doing your 137' dive on air or on 32% and why?