Recreational "deep diver" Specialty + Deco?

[sarita75]

Care to try and help me settle a debate? I am trying to find out if any of the certifying agencies teach deco procedures during their deep diver specialties.

As it is my understanding, they provide instruction on descending to 130' (the outer limits for "safe" recreational diving) and teach you how to recognize narcosis, etc. But they do NOT teach decompression diving. Am I wrong?

Would love to hear re: all agencies. Thanks!!!

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I don't believe any agencies teach deco procedures in their recreational deep diver courses. By definition decompression diving is not recreational sport diving, it's recreational technical diving. It's an entirely different level of complexity and requires a much higher degree of diving proficiency. As most will suggest, take the deep specialty if you like, but get alot more experience before you consider moving into deco diving. Then, and only then, take a decompression procedures course, often taught in conjunction with advanced nitrox, from a good instructor. Oh, and if you don't have recreational nitrox, absolutely take that as well.

 

[sarita75]

This is what my thoughts were. But we've (myself and someone else) have been going around and around on this question. Me always sticking to my guns that recreational deep diving does not include deco.

To add to the mix of questions though, do they teach a varigated "deco" procedure perhaps when descending to rec limits of 130' feet - say - stopping at 70, 50 or something else besides the normal "safety" stop?!!

 

[shoredivr]

Perhaps someone from BSAC can comment, I thought that decompression procedures were introduced in their equivalent to AOW.

Taught along the lines of "if you have to do deco for some s*** hits the fan reason, here's how you do it" rather than "let's do planned deco on every dive".

Here's the BSAC page on advanced diving standards http://www.bsac.com/comediving/advdiver.html

maybe more training than AOW

 

[sarita75]

BSAC training, at least in my understanding of it, is not really comparable to SSI/PADI/etc., is it? I have heard that the training is MUCH more rigorous than the more standard agencies. Perhaps I am wrong. But if they are more rigorous, I have no doubt that their AOW certification process would be much more rigorous as well (since the starting platform is much more stringent).

 

[Divin'Papaw]

This is what my thoughts were. But we've (myself and someone else) have been going around and around on this question. Me always sticking to my guns that recreational deep diving does not include deco.

To add to the mix of questions though, do they teach a varigated "deco" procedure perhaps when descending to rec limits of 130' feet - say - stopping at 70, 50 or something else besides the normal "safety" stop?!!

In both my deep and wreck specialty courses we did deep stops at 1/2 max depth on dives below 80', but those aren't decompression stops. The idea in recreational sport diving is to stay within the NDL so that in theory, you can safely ascend directly to the surface. Now in reality, when you are getting into the deeper range of sport diving, the level of risk goes up and you must be very careful about ascent rates, dive profiles and DCS contributing factors compared to warm, 40' reef dives. These are all topics covered in the deep speciality, but that really isn't decompression procedures.

 

[sarita75]

Awesome. I just called the other person in the debate and mentioned what had been written thus far. What's being said is directly inline with what I was thinking, but the other part of this debate (not on the 'board) has a friend who seems to think that she is going to be learning deco procedures during her deep diver specialty. She's going to be disappointed.

 

[MurkyRockDiver]

Padi does not do deco training in their Deep Spec course. Just what you stated , recognize narcosis etc... and to 130 feet.
We did safety stops with bottles hung from a line but not Deco.

 

[sharkattack]

Nitrox, Adv Nitrox, Deco Procedures, and a Triox/Trimix recomended. TDI offers all these courses.

 

[Blackwood]

In both my deep and wreck specialty courses we did deep stops at 1/2 max depth on dives below 80', but those aren't decompression stops.

They most certainly are decompression stops. That's the point. You may be "NDL" diving, and you may not be switching gasses, but you still have to decompress. Deep stops aid in the process.