Member introductions

[chrisch]

Thanks for letting me on your forum.

Name: Chris​

Started Diving: 1992​

Years Tec Diving: 4​

Number of Deco Dives: 20 ish IIRC​

Tec Instructor: No​

Trimix Diver: Yes, but rarely use the stuff these days​

Rebreather: No.​

Cave: I do a week's trip to France most years - the wife is very much into it but I go for the wine and cheese. If anyone wants more info on France let me know - happy to help.

Other comments: I've always been fascinated by the technical side of diving and particularly the idea of breathing something that isn't air - counter-intuitive really. I'm looking forward to having some interesting discussions on here as the main forum has become too boring and childish - I rarely visit it any more. There used to be some really good stuff on SB - let's get that going again!​

 

[NAM001]

First certiified 1968-69
stopped diving from 72-93 for naval service submarines.
restarted diving again in 2003
Years tech diving 3 some of thoose were very foolinsh ones, mostly pushing the ndl envelope.
No of deco dives ~20 or so
Trimix. Yes received first legit training certification july of 2012 iantd art
Rebreathers. No
Caves. so -so i have completed cavern and will go back to finish intro later trop storm debbie really made things tough to train in. not afraid of caves but have a very healthy respect for them and associated unknowns.
Misc: I am not a dir hardliner, and i hate the hardliner ego's, though i accept the concepts as needed. I guess you could say i dress appropriately and always willing to take on new concepts if/when justified.
I am sure there will be a lot of reading to do for some time. For some time i have been equiped to do pretty much anything at home except hydro's. Tech is i guess a natural progression.

 

[leebutler]

Deco diving: 4yrs
Caves: working on it
No. of deco dives: not counting, a few hundred i guess
No. cave dives: non yet
Tec instructor? yep
Trimix? saving my pesos, its on the list
Rebreathers? no
Other comments: Its sidemount or no-mount

 

[Eff]

Name: Christopher
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Started Diving: 2009
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Years Tec Diving: 0.5
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Number of Deco Dives: ~20 mild, 3 hard (subject to increase rapidly...)
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Tec Instructor: No
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Trimix Diver: Coming soon
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Rebreather: used rEvo 2x; familiarization courses only - full cert in the future if I get one.
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Cave: Want to do Cavern in the future, full Cave ... maybe.

What I'm up to: Mainly dive wrecks off New Jersey; for survey/salvage/video documentary work with a local research team in coordination with the NJ Maritime Museum.

Current top certs: Advanced Nitrox, Stage Decompression Procedures, and Wreck Survey / Penetration / Nav

Working on: Rescue, Trimix, then after that... maybe DM?

Gear: Standard backplate DIR-ish setup. Am not a "hardliner." In the future may try sidemount.
I also do some hardhat diving. Kirby Morgan Superlight.

Long term: Looking to get into underwater/marine archeology.

Other things: Currently active duty Air Force, assigned to the KC-10A. I do go diving when I have downtime while overseas (which isn't too often), and I keep the diving very conservative for obvious reasons.
​

 

[Bentley Hamm]

Name: Bentley Hamm
Age: 40
Started Tech Diving: 1996
My certifications are;
TDI Advaned Nitrox Diver #213688
TDI Deco Procedures Diver #213691
TDI Trimix Diver #228916
IANTD Cave Diver #70590

I prefer caves to anything else, but enjoy pretty well anything...even poor viz skills dives in the lakes around home, which is western Canada.
Primarily dive BM, but I'm transitioning into SM.
Not an instructor, my career doesn't really allow for scheduling, I'm more of an impromptu.

 

[gekodivebali]

Hi to everyone here.

Name: Cedric

Location: Padangbai, Bali, Indonesia
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Started Diving: 1995
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Years Tec Diving: 4
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Number of Deco Dives: 300+. Half of those monkey diving (side mount). Many more deco dives alla CMAS before learning Tec diving (this was before I knew any better!).
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Tec Instructor: PADI Tec Deep, Sidemount and Gas Blender
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Trimix Diver: No, as I've chosen to bypass OC Trimix and go straight to CC.
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Rebreather: TDI Mod 2. 60 hrs since last year. Purchased a second hand Evo as I needed to see how practical rebreather diving in Bali is. Sofnolime is very expensive here and there is almost no support/other CCR divers... and very little time to dive the breather :-(
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Cave: Never say never! Interest in cave diving stems from the chance of acquiring new skills and refining existing ones rather than the attraction of the cave.

Other comments: Operating a dive centre in Padangbai that caters for technical divers (pure O2, equipment rental, no trimix). Have a look here if interested.
​

 

[red_barbarian]

Hi to everyone here.

Name: Larry

Location: Colorado and East Asia
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Started Diving: 2000
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Years Tec Diving: 8
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Number of Deco Dives: 100+
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Tec Instructor: No
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Trimix Diver: yes OC and CCR
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Rebreather: TDI Mod 3 on a Meg
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Cave: Not yet, too many friends that do it to say no forever

Other comments: Most of my diving is done on wrecks in the Asian side of the Pacific.
​

 

[ssstefano]

Hello Everyone,
Name: Scott
Location: Milledgeville, GA
Certified O/W: 1991
O/W Instructor: 1994
Started Cavern Diving with my OWSI in 1991 and finished Full Cave in 2003. NSS-CDS Full Cave and IANTD Technical Cave Diver
Trimix: No - my mentor had an accident teaching Trimix and sort of cooled my jets for it so to speak.
Rebreather: Not yet.
Tec Instructor: No- reserve my tec diving for myself. Get enough of the O/W Certifications to keep me engaged in teaching. I love that, but when I go to the caves. etc... that is my time to learn, push and have fun!
In the process of making the transition to sidemount myself. Seems like many are doing this very thing. The last time I was humbled as much was the first time I put on double in Orange Grove in Luraville, Fl. It took some getting used to, but I got it. The sidemount so far has been an adventure. Never want to enter a cave in doubles again...didn't say never, just never want! ;-) Looking to get some good advice on Sidemount!

Thanks for letting me be part of this forum

 

[kensuf]

Hi.

Name: Ken
First deco dive: 1982, 150' in Honduras.
Trimix: Yes, cert #72 (TDI, 1996)
Cave: Yes, nss-cds / nacd (1994)
Instructor: Yes (NAUI, OW->trimix and cave 1)
ciao.

 

[victorzamora]

Years tec diving: Cavern/Intro Jan 2013, started Tec 40 June 2012
No of deco dives: 4
Tec instructor? No
Trimix? No
Rebreathers? No
Caves? Full Cave, and I can't get enough.
Other comments: I'm Full Cave and looking to go at least AN/DP. Caves are currently my primary interest, but I'm really pushing Deco on thirds in caves in Marianna. I'd also like to at least do some limited deco on rec-depth wrecks, to open the doors to one big dive instead of two small dives on a Rec charter. I'll consider Trimix when it becomes the path to a dive I want to do, but I find that Tech training without a goal is risky, and is a waste. My cave training was fantastic, IMHO, but my deco training is severely lacking. I'm diving Sidemount in an Edd-ed SMS100 and trained in Cave with Cave Adventurers through Edd Sorenson and Michal Turek.