What's your view of Technical Diving

[RonFrank]

First off, I would NOT consider Nitrox use alone*Tech* diving, rather Rec.

I guess I consider decompression diving or diving with mixed gasses *Tech*, but it's a broad term.

As for the tech side, I have zero interest at this point. I've skied all my life, but am NOT interested in Extreme skiing (defined as, if you fall, you may die). I've never understood the appeal of Everest climbs, base jumping, or a large number of sports where there is a high degree of risk.

My Female cuz is a marine biologist who has dived most of her life (since the early 70's). When we discussed decompression diving, and extreme diving (world depth records) I believe her exact words were... "Pointless Macho BS".

This from a woman who spends time at depths of 3000' in two man submersibles, so she hardly shys away from environments and experiences that most may find uncomfortable.

Ron

I'm not sure about your people, BUT I find it hard to find Female divers who are/ might be interested in Technical diving.

Whenever I try to intro DIRF / Triox / even PADI Nitrox to my Female Friends, their first reaction are " I'm not interested in Tech Diving" or " Tech diving is not suitable for me " , " I'm contented with Recreational diving " and etc ...

The thing is those courses I mentioned above are NOT even Tech Related. I tried to explain that these are not even tech,but they shut me off completely

So I'm wondering why is it that female divers are so put off by technical diving.
What about technical diving that make them :thinkingo

So What's your view

 

[MaxBottomtime]

First off, I would NOT consider Nitrox use alone*Tech* diving, rather Rec.

I guess I consider decompression diving or diving with mixed gasses *Tech*, but it's a broad term.

As for the tech side, I have zero interest at this point. I've skied all my life, but am NOT interested in Extreme skiing (defined as, if you fall, you may die). I've never understood the appeal of Everest climbs, base jumping, or a large number of sports where there is a high degree of risk.

My Female cuz is a marine biologist who has dived most of her life (since the early 70's). When we discussed decompression diving, and extreme diving (world depth records) I believe her exact words were... "Pointless Macho BS".

This from a woman who spends time at depths of 3000' in two man submersibles, so she hardly shys away from environments and experiences that most may find uncomfortable.

Ron

I have family and friends who feel the same way about recreational scuba. Many of the sites I dive(mostly wrecks)are deep enough that decompression is the only option to dive them for more than a minute or two. I always consider the time I have to spend hanging off for deco as payment for the enjoyment of the dive. As far as the OP goes, my GF has more legitimate technical training than I do. She is planning to take GUE's Tech2 later this year.

 

[padiscubapro]

Since the majority of instructors for such couses are male, it's very difficult for a woman to even get her foot in the classroom, that's why there aren't many out there!!

I wouldn't agree, but I would say fitness is a must.. Some areas physical strength may limit some divers both male AND female.. The type of diving in the NE requires a bit more physical strength.. I have one rule for my tech students during training, any gear you get in the water with you must be able to exit with.. taking gear off in the water is usually not an option my conditions.. in other parts of the world this may seem strange.. I know alot of times when I travel they want me to hand up my deco bottles (and if the ladders are bad, I will), personally I find I rather climb up the ladder with all my gear on and worry about my tanks and fins once on board.

 

[miketsp]

I wouldn't agree, but I would say fitness is a must.. Some areas physical strength may limit some divers both male AND female.. The type of diving in the NE requires a bit more physical strength.. I have one rule for my tech students during training, any gear you get in the water with you must be able to exit with.. taking gear off in the water is usually not an option my conditions.. in other parts of the world this may seem strange.. I know alot of times when I travel they want me to hand up my deco bottles (and if the ladders are bad, I will), personally I find I rather climb up the ladder with all my gear on and worry about my tanks and fins once on board.

I don't really see the logic in this.
I dive a lot in bad conditions and if the boat is pounding up and down 3m+, trying to get out of the water fully equipped is just pointless risk taking - much easier to pass to somebody on the platform as it goes whizzing up.
Also the risk of tribonucleation becomes much higher.

 

[chrisch]

My wife and I have recently completed our Trimix course together. It was her first time with twin tanks and she prefers them despite having said she would never use them!!

Perhaps not enough women are encouraged to take part in more advanced diving by partners or by the industry?

I see no logical reason that women cannot be involved in "technical" diving whatsoever and I would encourage all you women readers who are interested to find a good instructor and go for it.

Chris

 

[Mako Mark]

That is diving is supposed to be macho...


Just kidding.., I know plenty of female tech divers and I dont think that physical size or fitness levels really has anything to do with it, a female can pay someone to schlep their gear just as easily as a male can..

 

[SubMariner]

You may be right that I am biased BUT as far as I'm concerned, most of my male diver friends are into tech and all of my female diver friends are not

Which, with all due respect, proves nothing. Except that some of your friends do tech dives and some of them do not.

 

[cturtle5]

Why is it difficult for a woman to get her foot in the classroom? It has been my experience that all you have to do to take a course is sign up and pay. I've never been discriminated against when I've got money in my hand.

 

[cturtle5]

I am interested in certain aspects of tech diving. In my definition, tech diving means anything deeper than 130 feet and any type of cave diving. I guess gas mixes could be considered tech, but since many people use nitrox on recreational dives, I think its more of a specialty than a tech thing.

Deep diving interests me, although I know I have a big learning curve before I get there. There is so much to be explored within recreational diving depth limits, that I want to spend more time exploring those areas first.

Cave diving interests me more, and I see myself getting that certification first. I'm only a half day's drive from lots of cave opportunities in Florida, and there are several places where I can get certified there. I see that happening for me within the next 5 years.

If you are interested in tech diving and there aren't many (any?) women doing that in your region...be a pioneer! Someone has to go first right? Good luck.
Cturtle5

 

[MSilvia]

I guess gas mixes could be considered tech, but since many people use nitrox on recreational dives, I think its more of a specialty than a tech thing.

For nitrox mixes <40%O2 used at recreational depths for non-decompression diving, I agree. There's more to Nitrox than is taught in the PADI enriched air specialty though. For example, using EAN80 for accelerated decompression is beyond the scope of a recreational "specialty" certification.