Good Diving References

[baenglish73]

I'm an avid reader, so it's nothing to read a couple of books on something I'm interested in. I'm usually in the middle of 2 or 3 books on a given day.

I'm an average OW diver with higher aspirations and will do preliminary research before I waste a lot of money on equipment and training. I'd trust a book over the often contradictory internet reading that I do.

My dive book collection is sparse
I read the PADI OW manual for fun last week.
I read JJ's DIR-F book before and after the PADI book.

I just ordered "Diving Physiology in Plain English"

I am interested in a good technical/deep diving summary.
But will consider any suggestions. How is JJ's technical diving manual?

So how about some suggestions?

 

[Green_Manelishi]

Books:

Deeper Into Diving by John Lippman

Technical Diving Encylopedia by IANTD

Deep Diving by Gilliam

and there are many more ... I'd start reading (almost) everything
you can borrow or buy

Now to address a comment made by you re: training.

FWIW ... (good) TRAINING (from a good instructor ... regardless
of agency) IS NEVER A WASTE OF MONEY !!!

Regrettably there is much gear that is a waste of money.
I have lots of stuff for sale .... want to see a list?
I'd suggest borrowing or renting gear that interests you. Use
it on several real dives; that will prove its usefulness and/or
shows its weaknesses. Also, if someone tells you that "item x
is crap" ask them why it is crap. And "because it is" is not a
valid reason.

 

[OneBrightGator]

Anything from airspeedpress.com would make a great reference, might be a little too much if you're a newbie, but it never hurts to study up early.

Ben

 

[JohnVranesevich]

Greetings:

On the advice of others, I recently read the following two books. Seems like every one I mention the titles to has read them. Both very good, and both available from Amazon:

The Last Dive - by Bernie Chowdhury
Deep Descent - by Clive Cussler

 

[baenglish73]

Green_Manelishi once bubbled...
Books:

<snip>

FWIW ... (good) TRAINING (from a good instructor ... regardless
of agency) IS NEVER A WASTE OF MONEY !!!

<snip

I agree with what you say in its context.

I'm evaluating what I'd like to do.
Just waste of money in terms of personal interest, that's all.

 

[baenglish73]

These books weren't what I was looking for, but I enjoyed reading them anyway. Next, I'll go check on some of the Bruce Wienke books.

Well I read "Deep Descent" by Kevin McMurray.

Especially on the earlier dives, I don't know how any of them made it back. All the characters (Gentile, Crowell, Bielinda, et al.) are new to me. These guys had some serious cajones to penetrate that ship on air over 200' down. They were impressive. Did they not know about the dangers, or did they just think they could handle it? Whatever it was, they took the risk and made it back. Kudos.

I really don't understand the prevailing attitude in the book that buddies will get in your way or cause you trouble considering all but the Napolelli (sp?) death were by people who had left their buddy. Gentile, the granddaddy of all Doria divers had a buddy with a safety line before he went anywhere new. What would make anyone else want to strike out alone? I identified with Napolelli because he was portrayed as a cautious diver who did not overly exceed his limits. Bielinda seemed to advocate this training approach and often worked divers up to the Doria. As a historical perspective on deep wreck diving, I recommend this book.

One interesting point in this book is that a panicked diver did in fact grab a regulator out of someone's mouth. That seems to be a big topic on some other threads.

I then read a few chapters of the "IANTD technical diving encyclopedia" last night. Again, the need for a buddy was not stressed. Again, an attitude that buddies will get in your way or cause you trouble was mentioned. Chalk it up to anxiety or fear, but this can't be right for me, personally. I'll keep reading though. I am more interested in the science of diving anyway.

I also read a few chapters in "The Cave Divers" by Burgess. Again, this is a historical perspective. The first few chapters were very entertaining, though it got a little dull talking about diving in the Chicken Itza cenote.

The French kid, Casteret was impressive. Alone with only candles for light, he dove two unknown swimthroughs in Montespan. 99.9999% of the world would have turned back at the first wall. And no, the candles did not work underwater. There was also the Fountain of Vaucluse that Jaques Cousteau and company dove. Dumas would have died without Cousteu, and they both would have died without a good support crew. Burgess tells a good story, and each chapter is a stand-alone for quick reading.

 

[Karl_in_Calif]

The NOAA Diving Manual

 

[SueMermaid]

Karl, play nice!

Whoops. Wrong thread. Nevermind.

 

[flw]

baenglish73 once bubbled...
These books weren't what I was looking for, but I enjoyed reading them anyway. Next, I'll go check on some of the Bruce Wienke books.
<big snips>
I then read a few chapters of the "IANTD technical diving encyclopedia" last night. Again, the need for a buddy was not stressed. Again, an attitude that buddies will get in your way or cause you trouble was mentioned. Chalk it up to anxiety or fear, but this can't be right for me, personally. I'll keep reading though. I am more interested in the science of diving anyway.

.

I think rather than state a buddy isn't required, is that if you are going to do deep penetrations into wrecks or wherever or simply deep wreck dives, then rather than be completely buddy-dependant, it is better to be capable of diving independantly and the aim is self sufficiency - carry enough bail-out etc back up dsmb's/reels etc to get yourself out of trouble.
Some divers then choose to dive alone, some choose to dive in pairs - generally it's more fun in a pair anyway, but in the event of a mishap, look first to yourself, then to your buddy, who should be right next to you by then. When deep or with a significant ceiling above you, an unreliable buddy is worse than being alone.

On the books things, don't know if it is still in print, but 'The Darkness Beckons' by Martin Farr is a sobering read.

 

[Karl_in_Calif]

flw once bubbled...


I think rather than state a buddy isn't required, is that if you are going to do deep penetrations into wrecks or wherever or simply deep wreck dives, then rather than be completely buddy-dependant, it is better to be capable of diving independantly and the aim is self sufficiency - carry enough bail-out etc back up dsmb's/reels etc to get yourself out of trouble.
Some divers then choose to dive alone, some choose to dive in pairs - generally it's more fun in a pair anyway, but in the event of a mishap, look first to yourself, then to your buddy, who should be right next to you by then. When deep or with a significant ceiling above you, an unreliable buddy is worse than being alone.

On the books things, don't know if it is still in print, but 'The Darkness Beckons' by Martin Farr is a sobering read.

Excellent post with excellent points well made.

More to the point is that some agencies teach doctrines that are close to buddy dependence, whereas others teach complete self-reliance (such as wearing two electronic diving devices).

Even so, the buddy system with self reliant buddies is probably the best way to execute technical dives.

Here is a great book that discusses solo diving:

SOLO DIVING by Robert Maier.