max depth?

hantzu701 · Sep 18, 2003

After I got my OW cert, the first thing my instructor did was give us a lecture about staying shallow. He gave us three reasons for this 1) In his experience, the most interesting things to see were above 60' 2) it's cold and boring below that depth. 3) the risk of decompression illness increases below 60'.

It wasn't until after my AOW cert that I dived below 60'.

I can understand why my instructor would want to deter newly certified divers from deep diving. Some of them hadn't (and still haven't) learned basic buoyancy control. But, I've run into the same attitude from other instructors as I've continued my dive education. It's left me a bit puzzled.

Anyone have an explaination?

Diver0001 · Sep 18, 2003

hantzu701 once bubbled...
After I got my OW cert, the first thing my instructor did was give us a lecture about staying shallow. He gave us three reasons for this 1) In his experience, the most interesting things to see were above 60' 2) it's cold and boring below that depth. 3) the risk of decompression illness increases below 60'.

It wasn't until after my AOW cert that I dived below 60'.

I can understand why my instructor would want to deter newly certified divers from deep diving. Some of them hadn't (and still haven't) learned basic buoyancy control. But, I've run into the same attitude from other instructors as I've continued my dive education. It's left me a bit puzzled.

Anyone have an explaination?

Your question isn't clear to me. Can you rephrase it?

R..

jbd · Sep 18, 2003

OW certification is for depths to 60 feet. This is primarily for safety.

1.)There is plenty to see below 60 feet. 2.) Generally the water is cooler or colder depending on where you are at but it is far from boring. 3.) The risk of DCS does increase somewhat when you go beyond 60 feet. This will be of real importance once you get back above 60 feet.

Its all about learning to walk before you run.

Walter · Sep 18, 2003

Maybe they want to sell the AOW card?

Juls64 · Sep 18, 2003

"It wasn't until after my AOW cert that I dived below 60'. "

Isn't Deep Dive one of the required dives for AOW?
Was it PADI AOW you did? If so, Deep dive is required, and it should be a dive between 60 and 100 feet.

ew1usnr · Sep 18, 2003

Initially the term "Deep-Sea Diver" was applied to a diver who worked below 33-feet and thus exposed himself to the bends. Harbor divers worked in shallow water on and around the hulls of ships and didn't have to worry about decompression sickness.

By original definition: Anything deeper than 33-feet (meaning a dive on which you can get bent) is a deep dive.

If you want to be completely safe from the bends, it is still a good definition.

This came from a 1950's book "Down to the Ships in the Sea" written by a retired hard hat diver. The author had spent his life as a diver. As had his father and his grandfather before him, back to the earliest days of diving. I will assume that he knew what he was talking about. It is a good book.

jbd · Sep 18, 2003

thanks for that bit of info. Hopefully I can find that book. sounds interesting.

ScubaRon · Sep 18, 2003

The deeper you dive, the higher the risk that something can go wrong and the greater the chance of a fatality if something goes wrong.

While somewhat arbitrary, 60 feet is a pretty good limit, because when you dive deeper...
... your chances of nitrogen narcosis significantly increase
... your chances of oxygen poisoning significantly increase
... an emergency swimming ascent will be extremely difficult
... your non-deco times become quite short, increasing the chances of over-extending them.

Your instructor did the right and safe thing by encouraging you to limit your diving to 60' until you are more experienced.
:snorkel:

ScubaRon

Boogie711 · Sep 18, 2003

that says if you stay above 33 feet, you won't get bent?

Anything deeper than 33-feet (meaning a dive on which you can get bent) is a deep dive.

mwilding · Sep 18, 2003

you completed an OW certification without learning about the risks of DCI?

max depth?

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