What % of technical divers do we have

[Diver0001]

On the whole, technical diving seems to be on the rise. But how many *active* technical divers are really on the board.

For the purpose of this discussion we'll define a technical diver as anyone with formal training to dive deeper than 40 metres *and* over the NDLs or who have training to dive in hard overheads like ice, cave, wrecks etc. *and* over the NDL's

Futhermore, for purposes of the poll, you're active if you have made at least one such dive in the last 12 months.

Please answer honestly. The poll is anonymous. I'm hoping to generate a discussion about trends and the future of technical diving. To get the ball rolling here's a question:

Will technical diving always be a niche or is it the future of diving?

R..

 

[MSilvia]

I have some training, having been through IANTD Adv. Nitrox, Deco, and Rec. Trimix, but I mostly apply that training when extending recreational depth dives beyond NDL limits. Since I'm practicing necessary skills and building more experience before undertaking dives near the limits of my training, I'd say I'm trained but not actively doing technical dives, although as I said I do sometimes deliberately exceed NDL, so that may not be strictly true.

 

[rigdiver]

Got the training and do the dives. Full Cave and Hypoxic Trimix 10+ yrs ago. CCR for 3 and love it. I "think" probaly less than 1% of all certified divers ever will be true "Technical" divers. Personally I was doing deco on pure O2 25+ yrs ago, but that was before the term "technical diving" had been coined.

Meg and YBOD pilot;
Bill

 

[Adobo]

On the whole, technical diving seems to be on the rise. But how many *active* technical divers are really on the board.

For the purpose of this discussion we'll define a technical diver as anyone with formal training to dive deeper than 40 metres *and* over the NDLs or who have training to dive in hard overheads like ice, cave, wrecks etc. *and* over the NDL's

Futhermore, for purposes of the poll, you're active if you have made at least one such dive in the last 12 months.

Please answer honestly. The poll is anonymous. I'm hoping to generate a discussion about trends and the future of technical diving. To get the ball rolling here's a question:

Will technical diving always be a niche or is it the future of diving?

R..

For the purpose of this discussion, you are considering the following profiles as not technical, correct?
- 30-35 meters on some type of helium mix + over MDL + some type of nitrox deco gas
- cave 1 level dives with no deco obligation
- wreck penetration dives to 30 meters on some type of helium mix with no deco obligation

The above are the kind of dives that I am starting to think about getting training for. So I guess for the purposes of this discussion, I currently have no interest in technical diving.

 

[CrawfishDiver]

should add mixed gases other than nitrox

 

[lamont]

- 30-35 meters on some type of helium mix + over MDL + some type of nitrox deco gas
- cave 1 level dives with no deco obligation
- wreck penetration dives to 30 meters on some type of helium mix with no deco obligation

i would consider all of those dives technical, YMMV.

 

[Nailer99]

I checked "yes, etc", but I consider myself a pretender so far- I took Advanced Eanx and Decompression through TDI in January, and I've made a few such dives since then; and I will be taking Trimix as soon as I recover from the mad gear buying binge I went on prior to those classes. I started diving in order to learn tech- that's been my goal from the start. And from what I can tell, tech is on the rise. The majority of those who dive will not be interested in tech, IMO, but tech diving as a whole is growing.

 

[JRB]

Active Tech diver
Naui intro to tec thru Normoxic Trimix
and Cave certs on the way this month!

 

[sambolino44]

Will technical diving always be a niche or is it the future of diving?

I think the line between what we now call tech and rec will be less distinct in the future. I think as the gear technology progresses, and as more people become financially able to dive, the line between tech and rec will evolve into a gradient. Even more so than it already is. I think there will always be a tech niche, but a lot of the dives we now consider tech will become more common. I just hope that, as diving becomes more popular, we're still able to be self-(vs. government) regulated.

 

[in_cavediver]

I said yes. I do mostly cave dives and I don't pay close attention to whether its in NDL or not. I just plan the dive and do what's needed.

I disagree a bit your definition of 'technical'. While its all scuba diving and one big continumum, I definitely consider a cave dive a technical dive irregardless of the NDL status. Unlike light deco diving, you really do have a physical ceiling above you and a direct ascent just isn't possible. IHMO, this type of diving is on par with the 'blow and go and your dead' type of deep diving.

Oh, and I have Full Cave and Normoxic Trimix training