Poll: Is it Tec, Tek, or Tech diving?
- Thread starter SaltyWombat
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Oooh, proprietary algorivms ;-)
I was thinking about a Sports Diver's limitations. Basically 35m but with 15mins deco and probably with a pony.
50m/165' for 26mins really should be considered as a technical dive. Sure, years ago we used to dive to 50m on air, but nowadays... trimix and rich deco gasses! (Or do 26mins plus over an hour of deco with no redundancy...)
[QUOTE="Wibble, post: 9429349, member: 521632"
50m/165' for 26mins really should be considered as a technical dive. Sure, years ago we used to dive to 50m on air, but nowadays... trimix and rich deco gasses! (Or do 26mins plus over an hour of deco with no redundancy...)[/QUOTE]
After 26 min there are mandatory stops at 9m for 3 min then 18 min at 6m.
50m/165' for 26mins really should be considered as a technical dive. Sure, years ago we used to dive to 50m on air, but nowadays... trimix and rich deco gasses! (Or do 26mins plus over an hour of deco with no redundancy...)[/QUOTE]
After 26 min there are mandatory stops at 9m for 3 min then 18 min at 6m.
If you sort out the various definitions, you find one common thread. In the diving done by the vast majority of divers, which some call sport diving and others call recreational diving, the surface is available in case of emergency (except, obviously, if the emergency is something like an entanglement). In technical diving, the diver plans to be in a situation where the surface will not be available, either because there is something physically between the diver and the surface (hard ceiling) or the risk of decompression sickness is too great (soft ceiling). Consequently, technical divers must have equipment and training that will allow them to do such dives successfully, including especially solving problems that occur at depth.
A lot of the diving that we call technical is associated with that difference. Cave diving is obviously technical for that reason, as is deep decompression diving. Rebreather diving is really only technical if it is used on dives that would also be technical with open circuit, but since that is what probably 95% or more of rebreather divers do, it is generally considered technical in itself.
The gray area involves overhead environments near an escape path to the surface, as in swim-throughs. The general thinking is that if you can easily get to a location that allows access to the surface, then you are not doing technical diving. I dive in Southeast Florida each winter, where there are many wrecks that open water divers swim through all the time because they are not going to get lost inside and they are never far from an exit.
A lot of the diving that we call technical is associated with that difference. Cave diving is obviously technical for that reason, as is deep decompression diving. Rebreather diving is really only technical if it is used on dives that would also be technical with open circuit, but since that is what probably 95% or more of rebreather divers do, it is generally considered technical in itself.
The gray area involves overhead environments near an escape path to the surface, as in swim-throughs. The general thinking is that if you can easily get to a location that allows access to the surface, then you are not doing technical diving. I dive in Southeast Florida each winter, where there are many wrecks that open water divers swim through all the time because they are not going to get lost inside and they are never far from an exit.
Another gray area between recreational and technical diving involves the differences in diving depths and times and their relation to decompression practices.
As some may know, I published an article a couple years ago on current thinking about ascent strategies in decompression diving. I tried to do the same thing for NDL diving, but I could not find enough definitive research to support any conclusions. I asked some experts for help, but they refused, saying that there is not enough definitive research to support any conclusions. The research I did before quitting the project clearly told me there is very much a difference between what we commonly call NDL, sport, or recreational dives and what we call decompression dives. With NDL dive, once you begin an ascent from depth, your ascent rate does not seem to matter, provided you are not going too fast to off-gas or so slow you violate NDLs. With decompression diving, the rate at which you ascend, including deco stops, very much matters.
The problem is that there is no bright line between the two. That is why we have a gray area. You can see the beginning of the gray area in the old PADI tables. The optional safety stops are recommended for most dives, but once you get to the deeper dives and/or closer to the NDLs, those optional safety stops become mandatory, creating an oxymoron that has befuddled divers for decades. You can also see it in the discussion a few posts above this about the decompression stops that are a part of BSAC training.
Summary: We call dives that absolutely allow the diver to go right to the surface sport, or recreational, or NDL dives (or whatever you prefer). We call dives that demand decompression stops before surfacing technical diving. In between, there is a gray area where we have mandatory optional safety stops or what some people call "lite deco." People who are comfortable with gray areas aren't bothered by this. Others want the gray areas eliminated so that all diving fits into one category or another.
As some may know, I published an article a couple years ago on current thinking about ascent strategies in decompression diving. I tried to do the same thing for NDL diving, but I could not find enough definitive research to support any conclusions. I asked some experts for help, but they refused, saying that there is not enough definitive research to support any conclusions. The research I did before quitting the project clearly told me there is very much a difference between what we commonly call NDL, sport, or recreational dives and what we call decompression dives. With NDL dive, once you begin an ascent from depth, your ascent rate does not seem to matter, provided you are not going too fast to off-gas or so slow you violate NDLs. With decompression diving, the rate at which you ascend, including deco stops, very much matters.
The problem is that there is no bright line between the two. That is why we have a gray area. You can see the beginning of the gray area in the old PADI tables. The optional safety stops are recommended for most dives, but once you get to the deeper dives and/or closer to the NDLs, those optional safety stops become mandatory, creating an oxymoron that has befuddled divers for decades. You can also see it in the discussion a few posts above this about the decompression stops that are a part of BSAC training.
Summary: We call dives that absolutely allow the diver to go right to the surface sport, or recreational, or NDL dives (or whatever you prefer). We call dives that demand decompression stops before surfacing technical diving. In between, there is a gray area where we have mandatory optional safety stops or what some people call "lite deco." People who are comfortable with gray areas aren't bothered by this. Others want the gray areas eliminated so that all diving fits into one category or another.
Try reading what I wrote 3 sentences earlier than the one you quoted:What I bolded in your post above is an oxymoron. Did you really mean this?
"...but once you get to the deeper dives and/or closer to the NDLs, those optional safety stops become mandatory, creating an oxymoron that has befuddled divers for decades."
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