How do you deep divers do it?

[caliscuba]

If someone dives deeper than about 150 ft., don't you need extra tanks?

Assuming the answer above is yes, how do you bring extra tanks with you? Do you string them down a line, and change in the middle of your dive? I'm obviously completely clueless on this subject. :)

Any advice/opinion is welcome. :)

Thanks,

Patrick

[Doc Intrepid]

you wear double tanks connected with a manifold. You carry stage tanks or decompression tanks slung from your harness. You fill your tanks with trimix, to avoid nitrogen narcosis. You obtain specialty training, to avoid oxygen toxicity and to safely perform decompression during ascent.

There are numerous other elements that ensure the diver not only dives deep, but comes back up too.

The most important thing of all the above is education, which you are encouraged to pursue before you dive deep! :)

Hope this helps.

Doc

[Campana]

deep dives are planned, including time at depth, decompression stops needed on the way up, and gas needed. Usually, deeper divers wear double tanks of the 104 cubic foot range, for 208 total cubic feet. If more is needed, "stage tanks" are carried clipped to the front of the diver's harness. They may contain different mixes of nitrox or trimix. Also, decompression gases may be carried or left at a certain depth in a cave or clipped off to a downline or a wreck. There is a lot to learn about how this is done. The basic answer to your question is that a deep diver should know how much gas is needed, what types of gas are needed, and plan accordingly.

Happy learning

Dave

[daylight]

Caliscuba,
Planning for such a dive is a critical part of the dive. It's not just jumping in the water and dropping down. Calculating breathing gas required, consumption rates for the team and contingency reserves is a major factor.
Typically a dive to the depths you described is performed on Trimix as a bottom mix. You carry another cylinder referred to as travel mix and an additional cylinder with a high Oxygen content to accelerate decompression. So the short answer to your question is wearing a set of doubles and carrying a couple of other cylinders.
This is admittedly a fairly vague answer to a simple question, but this subject has many facets and can get addictive once you begin studying and practicing this sort of diving. Good training and experience is essential to becoming a practiioner.
Dive Safe,
Larry

[daylight]

A friggin consensus. This may be an all time first.

[HarleyDiver]

No, the real first here is some people got to him with good answers before the flame-throwers found the thread and lit him up.

[daylight]

Lance,
How right you are.
The wannabes will be here shortly.
Larry

[Pez de Diablo]

Good answers to the question.

Quick close the thread.

[100days-a-year]

Uh...couldn't that "wannabe" crack be considered the 1st flambe'?Caliscuba, a look into the world of deeper diving can be had for free by lurking here and posing questions as they become apparent to you.Most of the folks here are quite nice and some are very well informed and have the patience and humility to answer.