Happy to always dive advanced within recreational limits, forever ? [Poll]

[JamesBon92007]

Other.

If I wanted to do a dive and it was going to be a deco dive then I'd probably do it, assuming everything was set up in advance to my satisfaction. Otherwise I'm perfectly fine with drifting along the reefs, looking at all the pretty fishes.

 

[seeker242]

I voted "Yes, as soon as possible" but that's not really accurate. I'm 100% sure I will take technical training, but it does not need to be "as soon as possible". I'm in no rush!

 

[caruso]

In my opinion, there's so much wrong with this (at least for me), I don't know where to start. My responses are in Blue

Thank you for clarifying that your "3 hour dive" includes mandatory decompression stops of about an hour "which is nothing because you sleep". So your 3 hours becomes 2 hours of diving plus 1 hour "sleeping on the line" vs my 1.5 hours of no stop diving separated by an hour in the sun. Do you really fall asleep on the line like you said or is that sarcasm? Because if you fall asleep you can easily not wake up and DROWN.

I'd rather hang on a sunny dive boat with my buddies for an hour than sleep on a line in the middle of the ocean.


Nothing else in your response merits further comment. There isn't really all that much to gain using technical scuba gear on a dive like the SG, at least not for the reasons you provide in your post and in your response to mine, other than your questionable statement that you don't get cold after spending up to 4 HOURS at depth in water temperatures that on the SG average in the high 70s.

 

[stuartv]

Thank you for clarifying that your "3 hour dive" includes mandatory decompression stops of about an hour "which is nothing because you sleep". So your 3 hours becomes 2 hours of diving plus 1 hour "sleeping on the line" vs my 1.5 hours of no stop diving separated by an hour in the sun. Do you really fall asleep on the line like you said or is that sarcasm? Because if you fall asleep you can easily not wake up and DROWN.

Nothing else in your response merits further comment. There isn't really all that much to gain using technical scuba gear on a dive like the SG, at least not for the reasons you provide in your post and in your response to mine.

Let's just be clear about one thing. All your various comments that included statements that boiled down to "it's not worth it" are totally subjective and are read (by me, anyway) as "not worth it TO YOU."

The investment in the training and equipment is totally worth it to many folks, even if you don't take advantage to use ALL the capabilities available to you once you've done it. You don't have to dive deeper or longer to appreciate what you get out of basic technical training.

Personally, taking Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures was a pretty good investment for me, in time and money. But, it was the BEST THING I ever did for my Recreational/Sport/NDL diving. It totally freed me from the pressure of The Wall (i.e. an NDL). I used to always feel pressure (from myself) to maximize every dive. I.e. get the most bottom time possible. That was because I had the limit of the NDL, which I would not exceed (until I had the right training). Since I had that wall, I wanted to take advantage and use every minute right up to it.

Once I was trained for deco, that wall and the pressure I put on myself because of it, was gone. My recreational NDL diving is SO much more relaxing and stress-free for me now - because I can look at NDLs as simply an advisory, instead of a limit.

Plus, once I got the basic equipment (i.e. doubles and the related reg set), I started using that pretty much all the time - even for shallow, recreational shore dives. All that surplus gas plus the redundancy of the regulator setup is like my security blanket now. All of it together makes my diving so much more "relaxed" and low-stress now. Not that it wasn't fun and relaxing and low-stress before. Now, it's just even better. Now, I don't sweat trying to squeeze out every minute of bottom time that I can. I enjoy the dive for what it is and come up when I feel like it. If I still have NDL left, no big deal. If I got a few minutes into deco, also no big deal.

Bottom line: I feel like I am a better and safer diver, even on NDL dives, since I got tech training. That made it worth it, to me.

 

[caruso]

Let's just be clear about one thing. All your various comments that included statements that boiled down to "it's not worth it" are totally subjective and are read (by me, anyway) as "not worth it TO YOU."

To be clear my comments about Tech Diving not being worth it (to me) were in regard to the post about the "3 hour dive" on the Spiegel Grove which after breaking it down was really a 2 hour dive plus 1 hour of mandatory deco vs my 1.5 hours of non deco time.

 

[doctormike]

Let's just be clear about one thing. All your various comments that included statements that boiled down to "it's not worth it" are totally subjective and are read (by me, anyway) as "not worth it TO YOU."

The investment in the training and equipment is totally worth it to many folks, even if you don't take advantage to use ALL the capabilities available to you once you've done it. You don't have to dive deeper or longer to appreciate what you get out of basic technical training.

Personally, taking Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures was a pretty good investment for me, in time and money. But, it was the BEST THING I ever did for my Recreational/Sport/NDL diving. It totally freed me from the pressure of The Wall (i.e. an NDL). I used to always feel pressure (from myself) to maximize every dive. I.e. get the most bottom time possible. That was because I had the limit of the NDL, which I would not exceed (until I had the right training). Since I had that wall, I wanted to take advantage and use every minute right up to it.

Once I was trained for deco, that wall and the pressure I put on myself because of it, was gone. My recreational NDL diving is SO much more relaxing and stress-free for me now - because I can look at NDLs as simply an advisory, instead of a limit.

Plus, once I got the basic equipment (i.e. doubles and the related reg set), I started using that pretty much all the time - even for shallow, recreational shore dives. All that surplus gas plus the redundancy of the regulator setup is like my security blanket now. All of it together makes my diving so much more "relaxed" and low-stress now. Not that it wasn't fun and relaxing and low-stress before. Now, it's just even better. Now, I don't sweat trying to squeeze out every minute of bottom time that I can. I enjoy the dive for what it is and come up when I feel like it. If I still have NDL left, no big deal. If I got a few minutes into deco, also no big deal.

Bottom line: I feel like I am a better and safer diver, even on NDL dives, since I got tech training. That made it worth it, to me.

This is perfect, Stuart. Really sums it up. I totally agree with you!

And of course, it's sort of silly that we are arguing about a poll. If you like tech diving, it's not like someone is going to come along with sufficient debating skills and facts to convince you that you don't. That's the whole point of a poll, to see what people prefer.

Now if the OP had said "I think that tech diving is a waste of time and money for the following reasons...", THEN we would have grounds for a throw down!

 

[TMHeimer]

This is perfect, Stuart. Really sums it up. I totally agree with you!

And of course, it's sort of silly that we are arguing about a poll. If you like tech diving, it's not like someone is going to come along with sufficient debating skills and facts to convince you that you don't. That's the whole point of a poll, to see what people prefer.

Now if the OP had said "I think that tech diving is a waste of time and money for the following reasons...", THEN we would have grounds for a throw down!

Exactly. People dive for many different reasons. Many "just" want to look at the fishes, some spear them, others like wrecks, photography. One piece of PADI literature says that at some point you have to modify your diving to include another goal--or you may lose interest. Maybe, maybe not.

 

[Rred]

What is called "technical" today didn't exist when I was certified. It was just a matter of being more advanced and complicated diving. EAN didn't exist, we were just taught that we could dive any gas mixture--as long as we knew the numbers to follow and the issues (like O2 tox) it might involve.

So on the one hand, I don't recognize "technical diving" any more than "diving on weeknights" "diving below 74 degrees" or any other aspect of diving.

I dive for fun. I want huge safety margins. Tell me the Lost Treasure of the Mayas is in the back of this cave down at 150 feet...OK, I might break some rules.

 

[Superlyte27]

I agree with most everything you said. BUT, that part is bold is, to ME, a very (VERY) jaded view of things.

My current limit is that I'm not going to drive 8 hours to do 1 dive. But, if it's a decent dive site and I can get in 2 dives, then I'm in.

Stuartv, I'm smack dab in the middle of the state of Florida. 4 hours from the keys 5 hours from Indian. The rule might not work for everyone

 

[KenGordon]

Thank you for clarifying that your "3 hour dive" includes mandatory decompression stops of about an hour "which is nothing because you sleep". So your 3 hours becomes 2 hours of diving plus 1 hour "sleeping on the line" vs my 1.5 hours of no stop diving separated by an hour in the sun. Do you really fall asleep on the line like you said or is that sarcasm? Because if you fall asleep you can easily not wake up and DROWN.

I'd rather hang on a sunny dive boat with my buddies for an hour than sleep on a line in the middle of the ocean.


Nothing else in your response merits further comment. There isn't really all that much to gain using technical scuba gear on a dive like the SG, at least not for the reasons you provide in your post and in your response to mine, other than your questionable statement that you don't get cold after spending up to 4 HOURS at depth in water temperatures that on the SG average in the high 70s.

He might have picked a poor example, but the point is good.

Where I live conditions are such that you don’t do two dives on the same wreck the same day. Usually the tide intervenes so that you’d need to wait 4 or 5 hours for the second one. The logistics are not good. If you want a long bottom you need a single long dive.

Then there are wrecks which are just a bit on the deep side. Even if the site is sloping (alike many Norwegian wrecks) your 60m dive is not going to be without some stops. You will neeed plenty of gas and some accelerated deco really.

I don’t think much of the ‘technical’ label. Dives are dives and some might be longer or deeper and so might need different kit. Getting all ‘this’ vs ‘other’ about it is unhelpful.

Learn to dive, take the kit you need for the dive, have the plan you need for the dive. A bit complicated? Learn how to do it and, when appropriate, deal with the extra complication. Not every dive needs to be complicated, but if it is genuinely tricky trying to wing it to fit with some arbitrary definition of ‘recreational’ seems like a mistake to me.

A 39m dive is not simpler than a 41m one.