Technical Diving?

[limeyx]

Standard Def is
1. Diving in an overhead environment (decompression, wreck, cave.)
2. Using more than one breathing gas.

...

So if I dive a tank with 32% and then switch to my pony with air in it, I'm a tech diver? Cool.

 

[loosebits]

Does anyone else think this is pointless? Unless I'm going for my Tech Diving merit badge (three more cave dives and I get to glue it on my drysuit), why do we even need to bother defining it? I'm doing the diving I'm doing; you can call it recreational, technical or the new and improved low cal version, tech lite.

Regardless, any dive will kill you; its just a matter of the experience/training needed to reliably end the dive with a reg in your mouth. We all have (or should have) the experience and training to do that in the environments we dive in.

 

[texdiveguy]

Does anyone else think this is pointless? ...... I'm doing the diving I'm doing; you can call it recreational, technical or the new and improved low cal version, tech lite.

I am with you on this one.

 

[FIXXERVI6]

Does anyone else think this is pointless? Unless I'm going for my Tech Diving merit badge (three more cave dives and I get to glue it on my drysuit), why do we even need to bother defining it? I'm doing the diving I'm doing; you can call it recreational, technical or the new and improved low cal version, tech lite.

Regardless, any dive will kill you; its just a matter of the experience/training needed to reliably end the dive with a reg in your mouth. We all have (or should have) the experience and training to do that in the environments we dive in.

I asked for a definition because I've been seeing a lot of people stating "lets go do a tech dive" or "I was out at Travis doing some light tech diving" and such, so therefore I asked for a definition to see what people are considering "tech diving" or "tech lite". With the term popping up all over the place, it has to mean something, and I'm not sure what kind of diving people are putting that label on.

I'm not trying to start a fight or slam people or say its stupid, its just something I've never encountered before and I find it rather odd, I never signed up for any classes to become a "tech" diver or to do "tech" dives, and with all of the dives I do that qualify to some peoples definition as I've seen posted in this thread of tech diving, I never onces have said "I do tech dives here and there" or "I'm going to travis to do a couple tech dives" I've always thought of it as hey I'm going diving, this is what the plan is, you in or not? and then I went and did "a dive".

I dunno if some shops are starting to cause the term to get used a lot or what, but its like overnight (boom) I see "tech dive" all over the place, and it makes me step back and go "huh? what the heck are they talking about", maybe agencys are causing this label to get used?

 

[loosebits]

My guess (I get the feeling I've heard this somewhere, don't remember) is that it got started by the people diving beyond what PADI, NAUI, YMCA, etc were teaching in the late 60's/early 70's. They didn't like the instructors pointing them out to their students as an example of what not to do so they decided to call it something different. This way they could say, "No, we're not breaking the rules; we're technical diving. We're allowed to do this."

Of course sometime in the last 15 years, it's become a popular idea with mainstram divers just as all the other extreme sports that you see on 7-Up commercials have become popular with the general public (not implying that it is an extreme sport - what ever that means- it just seems to be labeled that way). Of course I am fortunate as I probably wouldn't have known there were flooded caves or that it was even feasible to dive in them without the broadening use of the term.

 

[amascuba]

It's more likely the certifying agencies trying to keep recreational and technical diving separate. Example: PADI DSAT, SSI TechXR, NAUI Tech, etc. I'm with you though. I just go diving.

 

[loosebits]

I really do believe the term was coined prior to there being any certification beyond 130', non-overhead. How else would all of these technical agencies with the word "technical" in their name have agreed to all use that term?

 

[Crazyduck]

Naw, you just slamming 11% more nitrogen into your brain!
While exposure to oxygen is important to track, jumping gases can be dangerous too.
Nitrogen is not your friend.

Stop pulling my LP hose…
Andrew

So if I dive a tank with 32% and then switch to my pony with air in it, I'm a tech diver? Cool.

 

[Crazyduck]

I just dive with friends and over time we just keep evolving in the process.
Rand has a really good point- your gear needs to suit the dive.
Bailout should be address by all divers below 100ft.
Not saying what you should do… just it should be covered.

Unfortunately, we have recently seen an evolution of tools/toys and it has allowed the affluent divers to buy mixed gas computers, HID lights, high end scooters, and rebreathers. Now, divers can easily outpace their personal experience compared to their gear.

Andrew

 

[Black Jack]

Actually the only reason I mentioned the technical aspect of the diving was because I specifically need to log more dives at deeper depths and longer times than a typical recreational dive. I also was planning on practicing skills (shooting a bag, etc.) and the average rec diver might not want to hang out (different goals for the dive) while I was doing this.