Definition of technical diving

[SDAnderson]

As a general rule, any diving that requires specialized training, equipment or experience not covered by Open Water classes should be considered technical. Certainly, the following should be on the list:

• Anything involving an overhead environment - either actual (wrecks, caves, ice) or virtual (decompression.)
• Anything involving breathing gas other than air. Arguable in today's community if recreational EAN mixes (no more than EAN40) should be included in this, but EAN definitely requires special training, special methods and, if you're partial pressure blending, special equipment.
• Anything involving water temperatures below 40F. Cold itself can kill and causes equipment failures.

 

[gj62]

To avoid the hunt, as I recall the most well-received definition was that a Tek dive occurs whenever there is a hard overhead - this includes any dive with mandatory deco or penetration (be it wreck or cave).

Specifically, simply using the equipment you list - Doubles, nitrox mix, lift bags , reels would not define a tek dive.

 

[Diver0001]

As a general rule, any diving that requires specialized training, equipment or experience not covered by Open Water classes should be considered technical. Certainly, the following should be on the list:

• Anything involving an overhead environment - either actual (wrecks, caves, ice) or virtual (decompression.)
• Anything involving breathing gas other than air. Arguable in today's community if recreational EAN mixes (no more than EAN40) should be included in this, but EAN definitely requires special training, special methods and, if you're partial pressure blending, special equipment.
• Anything involving water temperatures below 40F. Cold itself can kill and causes equipment failures.

wedivebc is asking about a definition for the charter of the dive club he belongs to so while what you say about Nitrox may be true from a certain point of view I think they would regret closing that door to themselves.

In fact, I don't think a charter should make any reference at all to equipment or procedures. You don't want to block yourself from following trends or adopting best practices as they change and develop.

Look at it this way..... Aside from staying within the NDL's, setting a depth limit and forbidding overheads what else wouldn't you want a recreational diver to do?

R..

 

[IndigoBlue]

...In my mind you go over the line from rec to tek when you dive outside of the normal recreational boundaries (within NDL's and not deeper than 40 meters) or when you enter any kind of overhead such as a cave, the inside of a wreck and so forth...

That is my definition as well:

1) any diving other than NDL or
2) any diving without immediate access to the surface or
3) any diving deeper than 130 ft

So with this short sentence, you then encompass within your technical definition:

a) deco diving
b) deep diving
c) ice diving
d) cave diving
e) shipwreck penetration

Its really not written in stone anywhere, its just an expression that evolved, like technical climbing.

 

[wedivebc]

wedivebc is asking about a definition for the charter of the dive club he belongs to so while what you say about Nitrox may be true from a certain point of view I think they would regret closing that door to themselves.

In fact, I don't think a charter should make any reference at all to equipment or procedures. You don't want to block yourself from following trends or adopting best practices as they change and develop.

Look at it this way..... Aside from staying within the NDL's, setting a depth limit and forbidding overheads what else wouldn't you want a recreational diver to do?

R..

Thank you very much for pointing that out Diver0001. Our club is about to adopt a set of regulations that will exclude all rebreather diving and solo diving even for properly trained and equipped divers. It is my hope to approach them with something more concrete than "technical diving is not permitted within the club"

 

[roakey]

Our club is about to adopt a set of regulations that will exclude all rebreather diving and solo diving even for properly trained and equipped divers.

"Properly trained solo diving" is an oxymoron in my opinion...

But aside form that, rather than trying to get fancy, I'd either phrase it inclusively:

"Our club engages in open circuit, non-overhead team diving within the no decompression limits*"

Or exclusionary:

"Our club does not allow rebreather, overhead, solo or decompression diving"

Keep it simple.

Roak

*Yes, even "recreational" diving is deco diving, but let's not go there for this, ok?

 

[fldivenut]

"Our club engages in open circuit, non-overhead team diving within the no decompression limits*"

*Yes, even "recreational" diving is deco diving, but let's not go there for this, ok?

If you change the "within .. nodeco" to "which does not require mandatory decompression stops." you have taken away the rec deco thing. However you still have the depth limit to deal with, I assume that you are limiting your selfs to 130ft as well.

--A

 

[wedivebc]

If you change the "within .. nodeco" to "which does not require mandatory decompression stops." you have taken away the rec deco thing.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by that

However you still have the depth limit to deal with, I assume that you are limiting your selfs to 130ft as well.

--A

I would be happy if our club allowed us to perform dives that would be considered entry level tech such as the TDI deco procedures dives.
The problem right now is our rules are regulated my a military panel who see ship's divers require 6 weeks of training and are limited to 50fsw depth where the civilian divers (mostly out of shape by their standards) are venturing where only the elite clearance divers are allowed to go.
130ft limit would be fine with me but should the general definition of tech diver preclude :
dual tanks, 50% stage bottle, lift bag, reel. Some inland clubs practice ice diving on a regular basis, why isn't that tech diving, it is certainly overhead?

cheers,

 

[roakey]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by that

When you get down to it, all dives are deco dives. That's why we have a maximum ascent rate. fldivenut makes a good suggestion, instead of sayig "no decompression diving" say "no decompression stop diving" or something along those lines.

Roak

 

[fldivenut]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by that

Yes technically all diving is decompression diving but it becomes technical when you have to do mandatory stops, as opposed to optional safety stops. That wording is more accurate than "recreational" since the large agencies are now talking about "recreational technical" diving as well, so the word recreational does not carry the same limits as it did before.

I would be happy if our club allowed us to perform dives that would be considered entry level tech such as the TDI deco procedures dives.
The problem right now is our rules are regulated my a military panel who see ship's divers require 6 weeks of training and are limited to 50fsw depth where the civilian divers (mostly out of shape by their standards) are venturing where only the elite clearance divers are allowed to go.
130ft limit would be fine with me but should the general definition of tech diver preclude :

The difference with a Navy ship diver and a recreational scuba diver is that they are commercial divers and thus are trained to preform work tasks when diving. I see no problem with that and so should not your military panel if they where so informed.

The gear you use has nothing to do with technical or not. I dive doubles sometimes on regular diving, always have a lift bag and reel with me (for lift of objects and safety surface marker reason, not for deco) and sometimes I have an extra bottle with me, considered a pony though but what's the difference, I usually have 40% in it to which is higher O2 than I have in my main tank.

If you are getting in to deco diving such as in TDI Deco Procs you are doing technical diving. The only thing to use as limits then is depth and gas mixes such as trimix etc.

--A