Tech Mania

[TSandM]

Serghio, I wholeheartedly second the recommendation for the GUE Fundamentals class. Take it in a single tank. It will show you the difference in standards between recreational and technical diving, and give you a whole raft of skills you can practice in your current equipment to ready yourself for technical diving.

 

[Simon-]

Today we went on the wreck "Luana", Pula Croatia, 45 m on Nitrox 27%, visibility 15m, it was gorgeous!

I would say that this sentance alone would suggest you are not yet ready for tec diving.

Why?

1. You are certified to Deep - Maximum depth 40m (absolute maximum for recreational diving with PADI), yet you decided to ignore that fact.

2. You dived to 45m on 27% EANx. The MOD for that mix whilst maintaining a PPO2 of 1.4% is 42m. Your gas planning is not yet good enough. The better mix would have been 25%.

I am not saying to you "don't do tec" but I am saying, don't do it yet. You are not ready yet.

 

[Sergio Longhi]

The first step is to assess why you want to dive tech.

Once you've answered that, then you can assess the pros and cons of different agencies in helping you towards that goal.

Doing tech, for tech's sake? Just go with the cheapest and quickest.

Oh irony, I love it, and I mean it
I don't mean to be able to say "I'm a tech", oh no.
A bunch of people propose me to do the instructor course, a prestige one, I could be Divemaster with 500 bucks, but I don't give a D. about it, I want to learn for myself.

I know exactly that scuba diving it's about safety first and fun second.
I don't mean rush to go to see the Andrea Doria tomorrow, I never asked to do something I cannot and I never will, but go to see fish sometime seems boring to me.
I had tech instructor watch at my "skills" (let's leave the commas, for the sake of irony) and they told me I was ready to go to 40-50 meters to see wrecks (no penetration of course, I'm virgin ).

The point is that I feel more safe with a tech configuration than a recreational one, I know that trimix would be better and that is what I want to learn.
They offer me a carry a stage bottle to go in the future to the next places because the recreational configuration is quite under-leveled, I didn't ask for something and didn't they tell me "no you are asking too much".
I agree that I should dive more, (I'm doing at least couple dives a week), I agree that safety come first, but only looking at fishes is so boring.

 

[Sergio Longhi]

I would say that this sentance alone would suggest you are not yet ready for tec diving.

Why?

1. You are certified to Deep - Maximum depth 40m (absolute maximum for recreational diving with PADI), yet you decided to ignore that fact.

2. You dived to 45m on 27% EANx. The MOD for that mix whilst maintaining a PPO2 of 1.4% is 42m. Your gas planning is not yet good enough. The better mix would have been 25%.

I am not saying to you "don't do tec" but I am saying, don't do it yet. You are not ready yet.

Hey..... I know exactly, the bottom of the wreck is 45, I went up to 40 (medium) with a little point to 43.7 for some seconds, I set my computer to 27% ppo max 1.45, max depth 43.7 and that's what I did. Anyway we know very well that it's not for a +/-0.01 that you may die.
I asked for a little bit more oxygen because I don't want be narc, and I chose to stay on the top of the wreck instead fo go deeper, all the instructors agreed.
This is not a recreational dive? Oh really? That's my point, what should I do? I would like to learn to go past the recreational dive.

 

[Sergio Longhi]

Serghio, I wholeheartedly second the recommendation for the GUE Fundamentals class. Take it in a single tank. It will show you the difference in standards between recreational and technical diving, and give you a whole raft of skills you can practice in your current equipment to ready yourself for technical diving.

Thank you very such Sand, I read carefully every single post in this thread, this is why I'm here, if I didn't answer is pretty much because I basically agree
Thanks again. I found some GUE guy in Trieste too : UWFrontiers

 

[TSandM]

I know my Fundamentals instructor, Steve White (who unfortunately no longer teaches) had a part-time home in Trieste. If you would like, I can write to him and see what he would recommend.

 

[ianr33]

I asked for a little bit more oxygen because I don't want be narc,

Could you explain how oxygen reduces narcosis please? (especially an extra 2%)

 

[Sergio Longhi]

Could you explain how oxygen reduces narcosis please? (especially an extra 2%)

If you add oxygen you must take out some nitrogen if you want to stay in to the 100% (irony mode on).
Nitrogen is know to be more narcotic than oxygen, less nitrogen you have, the better it should be.

1% or 2% of course doesn't mean anything, but doesn't mean anything also on the safety side, I just choose to be less narc and less safe.

Why? Last couple of dives, 2 in a row on a day, both deep > 30 m, I went pretty bad narc on the second dive, 37 m, that was a mistake that could be dangerous, lose lucidity, I can say (not on my defense) I did it on purpose to find my limits.

 

[Sergio Longhi]

I know my Fundamentals instructor, Steve White (who unfortunately no longer teaches) had a part-time home in Trieste. If you would like, I can write to him and see what he would recommend.

Thank you SO MUCH!
I will pass you my data on a PM.

 

[ianr33]

If you add oxygen you must take out some nitrogen if you want to stay in to the 100% (irony mode on).
Nitrogen is know to be more narcotic than oxygen, less nitrogen you have, the better it should be.

1% or 2% of course doesn't mean anything, but doesn't mean anything also on the safety side, I just choose to be less narc and less safe.

Why? Last couple of dives, 2 in a row on a day, both deep > 30 m, I went pretty bad narc on the second dive, 37 m, that was a mistake that could be dangerous, lose lucidity, I can say (not on my defense) I did it on purpose to find my limits.

Oxygen is NOT known to be less narcotic than nitrogen.

Lipid solubility would suggest it should be more narcotic,but as it gets metabolized in the body it may be less narcotic. Bottom line is nobody really knows for sure. I think you are deluding yourself if you think you can reduce narcosis at ~40m by upping the O2 slightly.

I would strongly argue that diving a pO2 above 1.4 makes you less safe. In practice it should be fine for a short duration but why risk it?