Mark of the Tech Diver!

[Scott L]

Every region or area has its complexities which can be rather routine for locals or alien for alot of folks. Wreck diving in Palm Beach County is almost always accomplished as a drift dive slpashing in considerably up-current of the wreck drifting into the site, hanging onto &/or entering then shooting a bag at the pre-agreed location to begin completing deep stops and deco while drifting for miles sometimes, all the while hoping the boat is still above and capable of picking you up. Ask most of us about drysuits, well.....

 

[liuk3]

I read the original post and chuckled. I just thought it was tongue and cheek. I agree with the OP regarding the amount of negativity surrounding this. Who cares how you classify yourself? I'd rather just get in the water and do the dives I can do rather than worry about what kind of diver you call me.

 

[David_57]

I read the original post and chuckled. I just thought it was tongue and cheek. I agree with the OP regarding the amount of negativity surrounding this. Who cares how you classify yourself? I'd rather just get in the water and do the dives I can do rather than worry about what kind of diver you call me.

Agreed see post number 26, I just took affence to one of the OP's paragraphs in post number 54 regarding dive conditions and training.

 

[wedivebc]

I have been reading through this thread but still don't get it. Technical diving is rapidly becoming an obsolete term. Lets look at some of the aspects of diving that used to define what we called technical diving:
Decompression diving; it has been commonly accepted that all dives are decompression dives and that although some dives require longer periods of off-gassing time they should all be treated as decompression dives

Equipment; lots of people use backplate / wings, long hoses but just because they carry that equipment does not a technical diver make

Training; yes there is extra training involved in technical diving but nowadays what used to be intensive and demanding (almost militaristic) training has been now broken down into little bite-sized, sanitized mini courses so even to get to actual deco level you will now go though fundies/essentials/intro plus a rec mixed gas course or two, then a deco course just to go to where a PADI AOW diver can go.

Gases; nitrox used to be the big bugaboo of the recreational mainstream and the defining mark of the tech diver. Nowadays who doesn't dive nitrox. In parts of the US the same trend is happening to trimix. This trend will not catch on world wide due to the insane prices some people have to pay who don't live in countries blessed with large helium reserves but what was once considered the benchmark of technical diving at its most extreme is now rec triox, adv rec triox, normoxic trimix, trimix, expedition level trimix...

Rebreathers; once reserved for the most extreme facets of technical diving rebreathers are becoming more and more mainstream with some very recreational level units hitting the market that simplify training requirements and are so much lighter and simpler to use tha expedition level rebreathers. It won't be long before some OW classes will be taught using CCR.

I was recently diving with a guy who was diving large steel doubles using nitrox 32% and we were diving on a wreck (no penetration) and he wanted to keep his depth above 80ft because he wasn't deco trained and wanted to have a decent dive within his (ratio deco) NDL. He had taken a GUE fundies course and he identified himself as a technical diver. It made me wonder what really is a technical diver these days.

 

[Rhone Man]

Is this the part you found offensive? It needs a referent.

From what I have read (and I have never dived there) UK diving is marked by cold water (maybe even a bit colder than the PNW, but not a lot), rough water (which we generally don't have, but Monterey certainly does, along with the cold), currents (which we certainly do have), and low viz (in which we specialize!) But if you're comparing UK diving with Florida or Hawaii, maybe it is more challenging. The US is a big place to compare anything to.

For my money, the most challenging aspect of British diving is the frekkin' tides!

But getting back to the OP, in Europe the distinction between tec and rec is much more gradual. BSAC apply a depth limit of 150' for certified divers. And decompression procedures are taught as part of what be roughly equivalent to the AOW course. In such an environment a sliding scale makes much more sense than a black/white divide (assuming a black/white divide ever makes sense...).

I think it is also fair to note (in my opinion anyhow) there is a lot more routine deep diving in Europe. I read an article on diving in the former Yugloslavia and they rattle of wrecks at depths of 20m, 30m, 40m, 50m like there is no practical difference between them.

 

[TSandM]

I have no idea what's required to dive a rebreather in England, but I will agree that the requirements to do so in the US are absolutely minimal, and there are people diving them who have no business doing so.

 

[David_57]

I have no idea what's required to dive a rebreather in England, but I will agree that the requirements to do so in the US are absolutely minimal, and there are people diving them who have no business doing so.

Good for I am not going to get into a debate about this as it seems obvious to me you have no idea what you are talking about. Suggest you check with any reputable rebreather manufacturer try and purchase one with zero training, and while you are at it check the course curriculum for say TDI to become certified for a rebreather.

But to be honest this is only one part of his post to which I took offence, If you want to accept the fact that he is insinuating the pre dive cert requirements to dive a rebreather, training and diving is more difficult in the UK when compared to North America to each his own I guess, By the way I am born and raised in Exeter, Devon, UK so no animosity againt the UK here.

 

[lamont]

Technical is recreational, they're doing it for recreation. Even though the level is higher it's still recreation.

Unless you are a commercial/proffesional or military diver, you are a recreational diver plain and simple.
I know "technical" divers like to separate themselves from regular "recreational" divers to elevate themselves out of mediocrity, but face it you're just recreational divers like everyone else, just at a higher level.

What if you're doing PhD-level research inside cave systems on paleoclimatology? Is that still recreational diving?

 

[David_57]

Seems obvious to me recreational diving.

 

[lamont]

Seems obvious to me recreational diving.

sounds like goal oriented scientific diving to me...