Information on Wreck Diving

[KenGordon]

Start shallower? I guess we are lucky, we have wrecks from sticking out the water to deeper than a deep thing and none made it to the telly. This means people generally work up gradually, discover what interests them and train accordingly. Sounds like you should be skipping all the twinset stuff and get a rebreather.

 

[RyanT]

Sounds like you should be skipping all the twinset stuff and get a rebreather.

I'm going to disagree with Ken here, BUT, let me make a full disclosure, so you can take my comment with a grain of salt...I've never dived a rebreather! One of the things you gain with OC is a substantially reduced upfront cost and a lower level of complexity. CCR certainly has its place, particularly with deeper and more complex technical dives. Lots of folks also really like them even for more recreational type dives. For me, I just wasn't willing to invest 10k upfront and relearn a number of aspects of diving (e.g. buoyancy), but of course different strokes!

 

[KenGordon]

How long a dive do you get with a twinset at 70ish metres? These depths are where a rebreather will really help. Try planning the dive with a twinset and see how much bottom time you get before you hit your gas limit, it is likely to 20 'minutes or less on twin 12s. Now you could go bigger but then you'll need another twinset or dive something silly all the time. Not yet having done the training you'll be spending the money on the final target, rather than something you'll need to learn again. This especially true if doing for an/DP then trimix then advanced trimix. The cost of the unit vs the cost of the dives, getting there, time off work, training, and all the other stuff (stages, gas etc) may not be a big deal.

You do have to pay attention though.

Meanwhile I suggest having a good think about motivation, why these wrecks?

 

[Blakec1980]

I don't intend to start with those two dives Ken, those are just the two motivating me to want to go further with my training. As far as a rebreather goes, sure I'd love to buy one, but that's out of the ballpark for a single father of two, On a civil servant salary. Not much room for toys like that in the budget (I think I paid what a rebreather costs for my Honda).

To answer why these wrecks, have you read the history on them? It's fascinating! Not only do you get to witness a piece of history that only a small percentage of people get to see, but you're also seeing what the greats of our sport discovered. Two pcs of history in one, so I ask, who the hell wouldn't be motivated?

 

[Kevrumbo]

A historically significant wreck worth diving on is one that tells an epic story:

Battle of Sunda Strait - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 'Nightmare' Night USS Houston Went Down - USNI News
Captain Albert Rooks USS Houston
Captain Hector Waller HMAS Perth

The allure and fun of wreck diving is not just merely researching the history for academic sake, but actually diving down yourself and vicariously reliving the history as you would imagine how it might've actually happened. . .

The most meaningful and sobering for me are the diveable Pacific WWII Wrecks sunk-in-action, Allied or Imperial Japanese, and seeing evidence of the suffering, sacrifice, and incredible battle damage inflicted on both Ship & Crew.

 

[KenGordon]

I don't intend to start with those two dives Ken, those are just the two motivating me to want to go further with my training. As far as a rebreather goes, sure I'd love to buy one, but that's out of the ballpark for a single father of two, On a civil servant salary. Not much room for toys like that in the budget (I think I paid what a rebreather costs for my Honda).

To answer why these wrecks, have you read the history on them? It's fascinating! Not only do you get to witness a piece of history that only a small percentage of people get to see, but you're also seeing what the greats of our sport discovered. Two pcs of history in one, so I ask, who the hell wouldn't be motivated?

Wrecks tend not to be mundane events. Very often a lot of people have died. Acts of war, mistakes and bad luck leading to death. They are all interesting in their own way. However you have quoted a couple which are quite famous, and relatively deep.

I am trying to politely put something along the lines of goals are all very well but stay real.

 

[doctormike]

I don't intend to start with those two dives Ken, those are just the two motivating me to want to go further with my training. As far as a rebreather goes, sure I'd love to buy one, but that's out of the ballpark for a single father of two, On a civil servant salary. Not much room for toys like that in the budget (I think I paid what a rebreather costs for my Honda).

Not to be discouraging, but technical diving - especially with the goals that you have mentioned - is not cheap on open circuit either. When you find yourself trying to justify a $1400 flashlight, you will realize that!

Seriously, I'm not pushing a rebreather, but if you are really want to do technical wreck diving right, budget for it. And Double AL 80s are common in warm water wreck diving or in caves, but most people who dive in a dry suit appreciate the extra weight that a set of steel doubles puts where it is best situated, rather than loading up a weight belt.

To answer why these wrecks, have you read the history on them? It's fascinating! Not only do you get to witness a piece of history that only a small percentage of people get to see, but you're also seeing what the greats of our sport discovered. Two pcs of history in one, so I ask, who the hell wouldn't be motivated?

I'm totally with you here. And we are in an unusual position, we may be the last generation to dive historically significant wrecks. They are deteriorating quickly, and new wrecks are generally purposefully sunk artificial reefs. Although it's probably a good thing that we no longer have huge armed clashes between navies, or navigational errors to provide us with a lot of "real" wrecks.

I did my tech training with John Chatterton, and it sounds like you might enjoy doing that too. In addition to the great teaching, he's a very entertaining speaker, and he has a LOT of stories about wreck diving! It looks like he has some space in one of his classes next month - he also gives a combined deco and wreck class, but the next one is apparently full.

 

[RyanT]

How long a dive do you get with a twinset at 70ish metres? These depths are where a rebreather will really help. Try planning the dive with a twinset and see how much bottom time you get before you hit your gas limit, it is likely to 20 'minutes or less on twin 12s.

I have zero doubts about the potential benefits of a CCR at 70m! For me, I'm not particularly fond of really deep dives or long hangs so OC works great for me.

 

[mockney]

@devon Diver, fantastic advise in both your replies . I am pretty much around the same stage deciding on what Tec route to take as there are a few wreck around Sydney that are just out of reach from recreational diving.

I'm a keen wreck diver so I want to be able to explore the ones closest to home. I have some good advise to move forward with. I was actually thinking of doing the PADI tec40 course to start with but that hasn't even been mentioned so maybe not the best idea.

 

[DevonDiver]

I was actually thinking of doing the PADI tec40 course to start with but that hasn't even been mentioned so maybe not the best idea.

Tec40-45 is equivalent to AN/DP.

With anything tech, it's the instructor, not the agency that matters. Obviously.... the larger the agency, the thinner the density of top-tier instructors. Select cautiously and be prepared to interview, get references and Google....