The Future of Diving

[durian]

Can you make a prediction about the direction yo think diving is going? Do you think the fascination with it will dwindle amongst the "tourist" type divers, meaning,is it but a fad stage???? Do you think it will become more or less reglated? More commercialized? Do you thnk that greater technological advances will have dramatic effects on the sport?

Do you like what you believe diving is evolving into?

Doyou think the fundamental are unchangeable?

What is your prediction and how does it match up to your hopes?

 

[Gary D.]

Can you make a prediction about the direction yo think diving is going?Down Do you think the fascination with it will dwindle amongst the "tourist" type divers, meaning,is it but a fad stage???? No Do you think it will become more or less reglated? More More commercialized? Yes Do you thnk that greater technological advances will have dramatic effects on the sport? A little, depending on the length of time

Do you like what you believe diving is evolving into? No, it's been dumbed down way to much

Do you think the fundamental are unchangeable?No

What is your prediction and how does it match up to your hopes?No predictions but it needs to get a bit harder to pass a class.

Gary D.

 

[String]

Probably more rabidly commercial for some time to come. Travel abroad is getting cheaper and cheaper and people are going to places never before visited and so on. I can see standards dropping lower and commercialism being hyped up.

Just wait for the 1 day "qualification" that allows you only to dive following a guide for instant holiday gratification.


--

Technology wise i suspect rebreathers (SCR but mainly CCR) to get simpler to use and cheaper and begin to encroach far more on the standard recreational market.

 

[DementialFaith]

I agree that there would be more and more tourist type divers anywhere due to the advancing tec and commercializing of the recreational part of the industry. I wouldn't necessarily say it's a bad thing since it would be easier for more people to understand the deal w/ diving (like getting to see first-hand how the ocean is being effected by our population year after year). Besides, there would always be a group of people dedicating themselves to the physically and mentally more demanding type of diving.

 

[Xanthro]

Way more tourist, and more equipment that "thinks" for the diver.

My guess is you'll have more semi-closed rebreathers that automatically mixed Oxygen/air/helium together to reduce the risk of Tox and DCS. AI computers that tell a diver exactly when to turn back from a dive, dry suits that automatically equalize.

It will get to the point where you can take just about anyone, put the equipment on them, and throw them in the water and they'll be able to dive.

Xanthro

 

[flw]

.

My guess is you'll have more semi-closed rebreathers that automatically mixed Oxygen/air/helium together to reduce the risk of Tox and DCS. AI computers that tell a diver exactly when to turn back from a dive, dry suits that automatically equalize.


Xanthro

Why sccr and not ccr. I have yet to see a scr in use other than on a course, and yet I see ccr's all the time. On liveaboard's in Scotland it is getting to the point where oc becoming less and less - last week there were 10ccr/2oc

 

[Mako Mark]

Just wait for the 1 day "qualification" that allows you only to dive following a guide for instant holiday gratification.
.

It is already here, you can do a Scuba Diver certification in one day.

--

Technology wise i suspect rebreathers (SCR but mainly CCR) to get simpler to use and cheaper and begin to encroach far more on the standard recreational market.

I think there will be a greater variety of equipment types. The recreational dive industry already has

SNUBA,
B.O.B
H.U.B
and that weird little thing that comes in a backpack.

I think there will be a far greater range in the type of people that participate in diving, and there will be a large proportion of the diving industry that see the activity as just another thing you do on vacation.

The more dedicated (real) divers that we saw in the past will bocome more affiliated with tech diving and tech diving concepts through things like DIR etc.

 

[yknot]

Can you make a prediction about the direction yo think diving is going? Do you think the fascination with it will dwindle amongst the "tourist" type divers, meaning,is it but a fad stage???? Do you think it will become more or less reglated? More commercialized? Do you thnk that greater technological advances will have dramatic effects on the sport?

Do you like what you believe diving is evolving into?

Doyou think the fundamental are unchangeable?

What is your prediction and how does it match up to your hopes?

When, at least in the last ten years, has diving not been a fad with tourists? Statistically, 80-90% of all new certs become once a year/while on vacation type divers. A lot of those will drop out completely after 5 years. As such, gear sales are geared towards these new divers. The whole industry operates like a pyramid, needing a constant stream of new divers to train and sell basic equipment to. I don't see this changing. What has diving really evolved into, except that the "main stream" of diving, as represented by DEMA and their member manufacturers along with the big training agencies and LDS', have made an entry into the sport to be easier than ever. Gear is fairly simple to operate and reliable, basic skills are pretty lenient and while some may object to the skills exhibited during open water certs, I haven't seen any evidence that new divers are coming to harm at an alarming rate. I would predict more change in the way gear is sold and marketed as more consumers become comfortable with online buying.

 

[Xanthro]

My guess is you'll have more semi-closed rebreathers that automatically mixed Oxygen/air/helium together to reduce the risk of Tox and DCS. AI computers that tell a diver exactly when to turn back from a dive, dry suits that automatically equalize.

Why sccr and not ccr. I have yet to see a scr in use other than on a course, and yet I see ccr's all the time. On liveaboard's in Scotland it is getting to the point where oc becoming less and less - last week there were 10ccr/2oc

It seems to me that creating a near disposable sccr would be easier than ccr.

CCR is much better for bottom times, and I think will likely be the future for many certifiied divers who dive all the time.

A huge number of divers simply dive on vacation, and can't really handle being down for long periods of time, even if NDL isn't an issue. They simply get too tired.

I don't see these simple sccr as having true CO2 scrubers. It will be a pressurized tank, with mulitple chambers, automatically combining the mixture for the depth.

Maybe using the term semi-closed is not correct, as I don't really see them operating in the same manner as the current technology.

Xanthro

 

[Moogyboy]

For my part, I'm seeing the diving thing coming full circle in a way...it started out as a hardcore, physically demanding activity using military-grade equipment and clad entirely in black. Gradually (and peaking in the '80s) it became more and more consumerish, stylish, anyone-can-do-it, glamourous--remember when hardly any of the (mostly female) models in in those Skin Diver Magazine photos wore wetsuits? Nowadays that's so un-PC.

Where has the scene been going since the early-mid '90s? The fetish for tech- or tech-style diving...a hardcore, physically demanding activity using military-grade equipment and clad entirely in black. Except now we have much more sophisticated toys to play with.

My prediction: there will be an eventual backlash against the hardcore look and nostalgia for the colorful, aggressively fun bikini-wearing good old days; increasing polarization between the die-hard techies & techie wannabes and the well-I-scubaed-a-few-times-on-vacation, resorts-only crowd; each will think it is the keeper of the true faith, scoffing at the other; and around the merry-go-round we will go again.

This from my cynical socioeconopoliticultural perspective.

cheers

Billy S.