What Defines a "Tech" Diver

[Kay Dee]

they don't push their limits/boundaries beyond a safe level.

And there lies the rub. Just what is a safe level? Differs greatly from a newly minted diver to and older greybeard. One persons safe level may be a very risky dive for another. And fair enough.

For instance, I thought it 'safe' (or I would not have done it) to do sub 100m ocean dives both on OC and CCR solo.

EDIT. Solo ' in the water' that is. Surface support available for 'shallow' problems.

 

[kaylee_ann]

And there lies the rub. Just what is a safe level? Differs greatly from a newly minted diver to and older greybeard. One persons safe level may be a very risky dive for another. And fair enough.

i guess i should specify; a safe level for them. they're well aware of their max limit

 

[Kay Dee]

i guess i should specify; a safe level for them. they're well aware of their max limit

Well as Clint Eastwood said "A mans gotta know his limitations". Unfortunately, not everyone does. And finding them can be risky. But where would we, the proverbial 'we' that is, be without someone somewhere taking a risk.

 

[kaylee_ann]

Well as Clint Eastwood said "A mans gotta know his limitations". Unfortunately, not everyone does. And finding them can be risky. But where would we, the proverbial 'we' that is, be without someone somewhere taking a risk.

that's a good point! sometimes you have to learn from experience. a few humbling experiences will do wonders IMO

 

[Angelo Farina]

so if im a recreational diver who identifies as a technical diver does that make me a technical diver?

For me, yes.
It means that you consider yourself capable of doing dives of relevant complexity, which I am not.
And there is no simple way of proofing it.
Definitely a plastic card means very little.
I do not log dives, and most divers better than me, which I know, do not log them, too. So I give little weight also to a dive log.
The only few technical divers I know are either military or commercial divers, and were not trained through agencies.
So I thrust the self evaluation.

 

[tursiops]

so if im a recreational diver who identifies as a technical diver does that make me a technical diver?

You asked in jest, but Angelo took you seriously....

It means that you consider yourself capable of doing dives of relevant complexity

I do not agree....we are caught in a Schrödinger dilemma: You cannot be simultaneously be a recreational and a technical diver. The former means you do NOT have the training, skills, experience, gear, whereas the latter means you DO have all those things.

It would seem therefore that a recreational diver is someone who is NOT capable of "doing dives of relevant complexity" if such dives are meant to have real or virtual overheads, multiple gas needs, etc. That recreational diver might think they are capable of such dives, but is that not where we cross the line into stupidity? It is much easier to define a recreational diver as one who is not capable of technical dives; more training, skills, experience, gear are needed. Simply saying you are a technical diver is not enough; that is how people die. (Certification cards are not mentioned...they are irrelevant, except as weak documentation of training.)

 

[boulderjohn]

so if im a recreational diver who identifies as a technical diver does that make me a technical diver?

Your identity has to be tethered to reality. If I identify as a Tasmanian Devil, that is simply insanity. If you have taken classes and are certified for technical diving, then your identification is reasonable. So what if you have not gotten so certified?

Sure, it is possible to get all the learning on your own and have the same learning and skills as a certified technical diver, but the danger there is in assuming you know more than you actually do. In that case, thinking of yourself as a technical diver can be fatal.

I probably mentioned this many pages ago, but in Cozumel 3 recreationally certified divers planned a dive to 300 feet. That's a tech dive. They were using AL tanks filled with air and had no redundancy or separate deco gases. They obviously thought they were OK. When the one who will never walk again finally admitted what they had done, that admission was full of glaring gaps in knowledge. Specifically, he did not realize the oxygen levels in air were potentially toxic at that depth, and he did not realize how debilitating narcosis could be at that depth.

As I said before, doing a technical dive without proper preparation does not make you a technical diver any more than the time I accidently went into the women's restroom made me a woman.

 

[formernuke]

You cannot be simultaneously be a recreational and a technical diver. the former means you do NOT have the training, skills, experience, gear, whereas the latter means you DO have all those things.

I disagree, if you are a technical diver then you are also a recreational diver. The flip though is not true.

Think of it this way, if you are a commercial truck driver are you not also a car driver? After all you have to have a driver's license to get a CDL license.

Same in diving, you have to have certain recreational certs to get a tech cert, so a tech diver is both.

Also you could say that both the above are "recreational dives" after all we are diving to video, look at, check out, explore as a hobby. So it is recreational.....

 

[formernuke]

Specifically, he did not realize the oxygen levels in air were potentially toxic at that depth,

Wow, just wow. And I thought 130 for 30 minutes on air was stupid.

Oxygen toxic a depth is day one of recreational nitrox.

 

[tursiops]

I disagree, if you are a technical diver then you are also a recreational diver. The flip though is not true.

Think of it this way, if you are a commercial truck driver are you not also a car driver? After all you have to have a driver's license to get a CDL license.

Same in diving, you have to have certain recreational certs to get a tech cert, so a tech diver is both.

Also you could say that both the above are "recreational dives" after all we are diving to video, look at, check out, explore as a hobby. So it is recreational.....

This is why my Venn diagram (actually an Euler diagram...) distinguishes between the diver and the dive. A technical diver can do both recreational and technical dives. But a recreational diver can only (safely) do recreational dives.

The CDL allows you to drive a commercial truck or a car, so the commercial driver can drive either.
The non-CDL driver can only (legally) drive a car.

Driver or diver is describing the person; drive or dive describes the action.