How much fun do technical divers have?

[Kingpatzer]

Trace,

great post!

. . . as if this passion was somehow meant to demean others who aren't diving or interested in diving at the technical level.

It is sometimes used to precisely that effect, and yes I recognize that is a very small minority of people who do that. Which doesn't help what is often a real divide between technical divers and recreational divers.

Such passion may be misunderstood.

No doubt.

Many . . . view their gear in an almost holy way. The equipment isn't just stuff or a tool, but an extension of the individual. There is a certain ritualistic pleasure in gearing up, in modifying gear, and in cleaning and caring for it.

I'm a musician. When I teach my students the note names of the guitar strings, I give them a mnemonic (E)ventually (A)ll (D)edicated (G)uitarists (B)uy (E)quipment. I certainly get that sentiment.

Sometimes, those who think that dealing with equipment isn't part of the fun, also don't understand the process by which a mountain gets climbed.

It is also true that sometimes those who think dealing with the equipment is part of the fun think less of those who just use the gear to enjoy the view.

 

[TSandM]

There is a certain ritualistic pleasure in gearing up, in modifying gear, and in cleaning and caring for it.

This is certainly true for me in cave diving. I love the process of gearing up, and getting in the water, and running through the dive plan and the gear check. It's almost like a meditation, getting me in the right mindset for the proposed dive.

 

[mafiajoe]

How much fun do technical divers have?

To me it's just diving.Always on twins.I don't like diving single whatever the depth.
I almost invariabily dive pretty deep anyway.Past 60m. on long N2 exposure I use helium.On bounce even deeper dives no helium.Am I a technical diver?Don't know,but I have a lot of fun.
I don't like guided(i.e.dive centers) dives tho,it subtracts from the fun,but sometimes it's inevitable.

 

[mafiajoe]

Here's some pics from #1 - All photos were taken by Curt Bowen of RebreatherWorld.com

Sorry to hijack the thread but it's just for one second.I like the scenary depicted in those pics.I think I've seen one of them on ADM but I can't remember the depth.Is it possible to dive that site within a depth of 100m. and on an OC?

 

[miketsp]

Technical divers don't have FUN.

They get satisfaction - and the sensation of satisfaction is much better than fun because it stays with you for a lot longer.

Knowing that you did it right, can do it right and will continue to do it right whatever adversity throws at you (and definitely with small letters and not capital letters )

 

[DCBC]

If I had to pick one, it would be spending the night in Jules' Undersea Lodge with my girlfriend. It was the best combination of having a very unique experience, spending a romantic night together, taking a specialty course together, making 2 dives in our doubles together, doing a solo dive and taking pictures of her through the windows, playing with some marine life, being in saturation, calling friends and family from the sea floor, becoming part of the history of the habitat, eating, dining and sleeping underwater then waking to dive the next day. While the experience is open to all levels of divers, including uncertified divers (resort courses available) being trained technical divers gave us much greater appreciation for the technology involved and having our doubles allowed us less surface support and longer dive times. We emerged as PADI Underwater Habitat Specialty Divers - Woo-Hoo! The course was actually informative and partly taught by a new marine scientist who was passionate about the coolness of living underwater.

Trace, that sounds like fun. I never got a PADI Underwater Habitat Specialty Divers card, but at least I got paid. Although spending 28 days with a bunch of other guys isn't the same thing as you spending an evening with your girlfriend!

 

[Rhone Man]

Attacking the work that goes into technical diving is one way that it is sold as being less fun than what is currently marketed as recreational diving at many dive centers. Technical divers are often put down by others for the passion that they have for equipment, gases, training and the like, as if this passion was somehow meant to demean others who aren't diving or interested in diving at the technical level.

Technical divers don't have FUN. ... They get satisfaction - and the sensation of satisfaction is much better than fun because it stays with you for a lot longer.

I have always thought of tec diving as akin to mountaineering. There is a lot more satisfaction that comes from taking on the challenge.

I think Bret Gilliam said it well in one of the TDI manuals. "Technical diving isn't fun despite the challenges; it is fun because of the challenges."

I am one of only two divers who do any kind of technical diving in the BVI (and I only do it occasionally), but it is kind of nice to be able to go where the others just can't go.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

Spare Air: Diver's Salvation

Who says technical divers can't have fun???

 

[brockbr]

Sorry to hijack the thread but it's just for one second.I like the scenary depicted in those pics.I think I've seen one of them on ADM but I can't remember the depth.Is it possible to dive that site within a depth of 100m. and on an OC?

Those pictures were taken at 3 different blue holes in Cay Sal Bank, Bahamas. And you're correct, 2 of them appear in the latest edition of ADM.

One of those dives was 250' (first pic), one was 400+ (I was finishing my deco on the hang bar), and one was 500+ (me and my teammate returning from 530' - Silver Sides blue hole).

To answer your question - Sure, no problem doing a 100m dive there on OC. The deco is extremely pleasant due to a warm water temp of 87* and no current to speak of.

 

[drbill]

Thanks, Trace for starting this thread. It has been both interesting and enlightening to read what some of our tech divers enjoy while underwater.

I am one of those who has failed to see the fun in tech diving. I've done many dives that are well beyond recreational, and involved training and techniques I don't normally employ in every day dives. However, my primary purpose has always been to get to where the critters I want to film are. I get great satisfaction from finding what I seek, but even more satisfaction in sharing it via my videos for divers who may never see some of the marine life I film.

I have many friends who are avid tech divers, and enjoy the gear and drills as much as the diving itself and what they see. For a number of them, the gear, skills and drills are very necessary as they will be undertaking dives I most likely would never consider.

Perhaps my favorite dive was a shallow non-tech one. I submerged in our local dive park with my HP120 and pony bottle. During the course of my dive, I noticed many changes in the lighting which caused me to film and re-film certain subjects a number of times to take advantage of these changes. The dive ended 2 hr 46 min later when I surfaced, only to find a big storm had passed through, the dive park was empty and all my dive gear had blown across the parking lot! The changing moods underwater were due to the passage of that storm and it was wonderful.