History of the agencies

[p_kos]

While I have a PSAI CCR card, their market share in the USA is basically single digits at most. That seems to be more a reflection of TDI, IANTD, PADI and a few other agency's much more aggressive instructor recruitment efforts than anything to do with gases. I suspect the agency menu in most locations is similar and an artifact of their marketing and outreach efforts more than availability of XYZ gases or lack thereof.

You may be right, I’m just speculating. However, regardless of how any of us feel about it, there has been a renewed interest in deep air diving, secondary to the ridiculous cost and increasing unavailability of helium, and they’re the only ones who would actually certify people for it. On another note, PSAI is probably the fastest and cheapest way to get relatively deep trimix certification, for better or worse. A recreational/sport diver can take just two courses (Advanced Nirtox and Trimix Fundamentals) and be certified to 200ft on normoxic trimix down to 18% O2 (the horror!).

 

[rjack321]

On another note, PSAI is probably the fastest and cheapest way to get relatively deep trimix certification, for better or worse. A recreational/sport diver can take just two courses (Advanced Nirtox and Trimix Fundamentals) and be certified to 200ft on normoxic trimix down to 18% O2 (the horror!).

I had no idea. And that's easier than getting to 200ft on air with PSAI through their "narcosis management" course series!

 

[John C. Ratliff]

I was certified LA County in 1963 by Roy France. But I started diving in 1959...no certification available at that time in Salem, Oregon. So I have seen a lot of the progression of diving instructional agencies. In 1973, I attended the NAUI ITC and became a NAUI instructor (#2710, I believe). These technical diving courses were initiated in the 1990s, but prior to that there was a lot of deep diving going on using air and decompressing on oxygen. I helped as a volunteer diver at the Warm Mineral Springs Underwater Archaeological Project, run by Sonny Cockrell and Larry Murphy in 1975. We had a bank of oxygen cylinders set up for decompressing the deep divers. Enclosed is my dive log for one of my deepest dives, to 210 feet in Warm Mineral Springs with Larry Murphy. I had been diving with them for over a month, and Larry wanted me to see the bottom of the springs (I had been a technician and safety diver for the time there). As you can see, we decompressed on oxygen, beginning at about 40 feet.

SeaRat

 

[Akimbo]

As you can see, we decompressed on oxygen, beginning at about 40 feet.

That was the norm for US Navy Decompression Using Oxygen tables — using Mark V heavy gear. The biggest problem with an OxTox hit was beating your head to a bloody pulp inside the copper hat until they could switch you to air and raise you up 10'/3m or so. It took a while to purge the O2 out of 300' of umbilical. Those tables were never intended for Scuba divers or divers without communications to the diving supervisor.

Communications is very important to monitor for lesser (than convulsion) OxTox symptoms. The dive super would ask about vision changes, listen for excessive belching (precursor to nausea), skin irritations, etc.

---

Many divers might find this thread enlightening:

Info Oxygen Toxicity Limits & Symptoms

 

[Kay Dee]

cool link happy Diver...thanks
My minor brush with fame.... On one of my early trimix training dives down to 224 ft in 40-fathom grotto, I spotted Hal Watts diving solo checking my instructor and me out. He never interacted or said anything except I seem to remember waving and him waving back.... but still a little brush with fame in my log book

And guess what, I bet Hal was diving AIR (on the bottom)!

What great guy / instructor! Got a funny - well funny to all 'cept Hal I'd assume - story, just briefly here; my wife accidently knocked out one of Hals top front teeth (at the surface) before / after one of her deep air training dives back in '93, and poor (well, not so poor as in $) ole Hal had to go out that Saturday night for an / his annivesary diiner. And he looked really odd with that one tooth gap. Talk about scramble to find an emergency dental appointment. And did the rest of his staff relentlessly wind him up about it too!

@bradlw, if I may ask, who was your instructor, Elton or Marty, or?.....and when.

 

[Kay Dee]

I guess I'm curious about the whole evolution of both recreational and technical and the relatively new blending of the two.....

You, well everyone, should read this book then, even if you were part of those daze!

Technically Speaking: Talks on Technical Diving Volume 1: Genesis and Exodus 2023 by Simon Pridmore

 

[Kay Dee]

PSAI was the first agency to offer “technical diving”, founded in 1962 (although it went through some name changes along the way).

Yep, 300ft ocean dive course on air, after passing the 240ft air dive course in 40 Fathom Grotto.

 

[Kay Dee]

As you can see, we decompressed on oxygen, beginning at about 40 feet.

I have an Abalone Diver friend (well once was back in the glory days) who used to dive for hours, yes hours at 30ft or so on SSo2 collecting Abs. Imagine what he was thinking when years later I was teaching him his nitrox course and telling him that 45mins @ 6m / 20ft / 1.6ppo2 was the limit for using o2.

 

[Superlyte27]

PSAI was the first agency to offer “technical diving”, founded in 1962 (although it went through some name changes along the way).

And totally disregarded as a training agency for quite some time as the founder kept getting people killed.

 

[Kay Dee]

And totally disregarded as a training agency for quite some time as the founder kept getting people killed.

BS re now bolded. Some people got themselves killed, the founder (Hal Watts) / PSA didnt kill anybody. Without what Hal / PSA taught some people, even more people would have killed themselves (doing what they were going to do anyway). And some folks got so 'scared' on their Grotto dive, or their 300ft ocean dive, they never deep aired again. Besides, not like you needed a cert to do "stupid deep" air dives!