Question on Scuba Books (current library, what to add?)

[filmguy123]

I am new to diving and as a reader and nerd, looking to learn and read as much as I can. Looking to create a great scuba library, but I also want to avoid redundancy in my books. As such, could use some advice on any great, can't miss books - as well as avoid purchasing a book that would not add any value to my library, given my current collection.

I currently own:

The Complete Diver by ALex Bryslkye
Scuba Confidential by Simon Pridmore
Diver Down by Micahel Ange
Deco for Divers by Mark Powell
Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson

I am considering:

Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving by PADI
The Certified Divers Handbook by Clay Coleman
Scuba Diving - 4th Edition by Dennis Graver
SCUBA: A practical guide for the new diver by James A Lapenta

I am planning in the future:
The Six Skills & Other Discussions by Steve Lewis
Staying Alive by Steve Lewis


My main question: Is the Encyclopedia of Rec Diving by PADI redundant with my other purchases? What about the Clay Coleman/Dennis Graver books? Or the James Lapenta book? Not sure if I should pick all of these up (or any? or just 1 additional?), or if it would basically be the same thing reworded over and over again.

The Steve Lewis books seem more advanced in nature so I may save those, unless people think they would be a good immediate addition?

Lastly, any books I missed here that I should certainly add or at least consider?

I am more interested in skills, advice, theory, etc. than I am in novels or fiction. I only picked up Shadow Divers because of SO many high recommendations, but if there's truly another "must have" fiction I would consider it. Though novels aren't really what I am after.

Thank you!!

 

[filmguy123]

Also - while I plan to be diving everywhere - I live in the Pacific Northwest. As such, any great books to pickup in regards to diving in my corner of the world?

And/or, any great guide books to diving all over the globe in general? Many world guides I have seen online seem to come to mixed reviews, offering many missing dives or less than useful information. Would certainly consider a great world dive atlas though on recommendations here.

 

[NYCNaiad]

I can't comment on Pacific NW diving or the PADI book, but I've found 2 good resources for scuba diving travel are Undercurrent and Scubaboard. Before I book a trip, I check both sites and ask questions on Scubaboard as well. (I generally give more credence to Scubaboard.)

Also, I really liked The Last Dive: A Father and Son's Fatal Descent into the Ocean's Depths. Funnily enough soon after reading it, I took a DAN First Aid/CPR class and the author of this book was teaching my class. lol

 

[Shotmaster]

U.S. Navy Dive Manual

Go here to down load: SEA 00C3 Diving Publications and Technical Documentation

 

[David Wilson]

My advice as a diving literature bibliophile of many years' standing is not to limit your horizons to the here and now, i.e. don't just populate your bookshelves with volumes about twenty-first-century diving by American authors. Your words "it would basically be the same thing reworded over and over again" suggest that you already understand the limitations of reading just what happens to be currently available in the diving literature section of any new book store. Find out through your reading how we got to where we are (history) and also what other countries' divers are doing (geography) to develop their practice, broadening your mind in the process when it comes to the assumptions and orthodoxies of the modern age. At the moment I'm collecting and studying Russian-language books about Soviet diving in the 1960s and 1970s and these small tomes bought on eBay reveal a very different and fascinating image of diving outside our comfortable Anglo-Saxon world. I'm going to reproduce below a posting I made about what is probably still my favourite diving book, Your guide to underwater adventure by Peter Small; I own a first edition of this title.

I have a small library of diving books, a little over 200 titles, assembled over five decades. They are a representative mix of publications relating to scuba and breath-hold diving dating from the pioneering days of the early 1950s to the present day, some biographical, some instructional, some in languages other than English (French, German, Italian, Russian). Most were purchased second-hand after scouring the water sports section of dusty used book stores both in Britain and in early-1980s California. Latterly but pre-Internet, I employed mail-order specialist diving book services such as David Way's in the UK to build up my collection. The World Wide Web is now an excellent retail source of used diving books, e.g. Classic Diving Books, based in Australia:

CLASSIC DIVING BOOKS

Selecting one book from this collection to recommend to others is extremely difficult, because by definition each book is a favourite. However, if compelled, I think my choice would fall on Your Guide to Underwater Adventure by Peter Small:

The dust jacket on my first-edition copy (1957) has the following blurb:

This is a book for the serious beginner, going into careful details of equipment and technique, and explaining the Why as well as the How of things whenever possible. "I have tried," says Peter Small, "to write the sort of book which I would like to have read when I first felt the urge to take up underwater swimming." Do's and Don'ts of choosing equipment - and approximate prices - are examined and the steps in training are followed stage by stage. The author also describes some of the interesting things that can be done underwater, including photography, surveying, and archaeological exploration, and concludes with useful appendices giving details of where cylinders can be re-charged, holiday and training centres, a book list and films that are available for hire.

Peter Small was one of the founder members of the British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC) - see Wikipedia's BSAC article for more details. It is especially poignant that five years after the publication of his book, this British journalist and diving pioneer died while helping Swiss scientist Hannes Keller establish a world diving depth record in 1962. The book is a real gem, full of wise advice, references to contemporary equipment by brand and model, simple line drawings of gear and snorkelling techniques. One photograph, which I have scanned and reproduced below, sums up his vision of diving:

It's a picture of a mid-1950s British family snorkelling at the seaside somewhere in the UK, hardly the standard picture found in most modern diving books, where the reader is more likely to be regaled with images of well-toned beauties, draped in the most elaborate, expensive and colourful equipment on sale, scuba-diving in some tropical paradise. Just in case the picture's caption isn't clear, it reads "If underwater swimming is not fun, it's not anything". A simple message for a modern age when diving sometimes strikes me as an over-priced, over-engineered and over-specialised pursuit. When I purchased it in my early teens, Peter Small's 119-page tome helped me fall in love with snorkelling, which has become a lifelong passion for me. I owe the author a big debt of gratitude.

 

[NYCNaiad]

U.S. Navy Dive Manual. Go here to down load: SEA 00C3 Diving Publications and Technical Documentation

Thanks for sharing. I didn't know they provided this online for free download. Very cool!

 

[stuartv]

I would skip straight to the Steve Lewis books. Start with The Six Skills.

And, based on the other books you mentioned, you might also consider the NOAA Diving Manual:

NOAA Diving Manual, 5th Edition Softcover Textbook

I have gotten a copy of this, but I haven't read it yet. As soon as I finish my current book (The Underwater Photographer, by Martin Edge - highly recommended), I'm planning to read the Steve Lewis books again. BTW, Steve is a member here, screen name doppler.

 

[USdiver1]

+1 on the NOAA Diving Manual. It is the best diving manual out there, superior to the Navy Diving Manual, IMO.