Told My Jedi Master I'm Ready for 200' - need to start preparing

[halocline]

He's been to 850' on rebreathers a few times and routinely does 400. I'm nowhere near that but I'm ready to shoot for 200 on open circuit.

I'm looking for a good deal on a drysuit. Wouldn't hurt to have a cold water reg. Any good quality off the shelf reg or something else? Aside from the obvious what are the details? Double tanks, what size? Two computers? Three computers? Seventeen computers? Bailout bottle? What else?

What's at 200 ft that you want see? That might determine the type of technical classes you need. But the short answer to your question is that you need to take technical diving classes (plural!) to learn about decompression procedures and other life-saving skills for diving at that depth. Most of your other questions will be answered during your courses. There is no other way to safely dive at that depth, period.

Regarding the regulator, if you're diving in very cold water, meaning drysuit, you might prefer an environmentally sealed first stage. One very good one is the scubapro MK17, there are lots of others. You'll get all sorts of opinions on the regulator forum.

Most importantly, don't be snitty when people post on your thread just because they might not say what you want to hear. ZKY took the time to give you the best advice you could have received and you acted like a jerk. No offense....

 

[PfcAJ]

Le Troll...

 

[EastEndDiver]

He's been to 850' on rebreathers a few times and routinely does 400. I'm nowhere near that but I'm ready to shoot for 200 on open circuit.

I'm looking for a good deal on a drysuit. Wouldn't hurt to have a cold water reg. Any good quality off the shelf reg or something else? Aside from the obvious what are the details? Double tanks, what size? Two computers? Three computers? Seventeen computers? Bailout bottle? What else?

What else????? Try common sense.

 

[down4fun]

You will get many, many opinions here on SB and many that will question why you want to go to 200ft and some that will say no one has the need to go to such depths, let alone beyond.

However whatever your motivation if you decide to proceed the process has been similar for most of us. Start out with and AN/DP class (advanced nitrox and deco procedures). Who you use for an instructor and what agency they work for may influence that choices in gear you make. For me it was beneficial to pick my instructor first (the process of doing this has been discussed at length here on SB), she then worked with me on the selection of appropriate gear and/or adaptation of what i already had. Doing it that way will help prevent the purchase of gear that turns out to be unacceptable for class. For me that first class also included helitrox. This was my introduction to tech diving 150 feet, small amounts of helium, deco procedures and higher oxygen gases for decompression.

You dive that for a while get some experience and then decide if going deeper and getting more training is for you. The next step from there is normoxic trimix. For me I made the switch to rebreathers at this point. I knew i would pursue full trimix and decided a rebreather was the best way, for me, to accomplish this. I have followed it through to full trimix and dives in excess of 450. But it is a process. Each step building upon the skills and experience previously attained.

Enjoy the process.

 

[RonFrank]

This guy is a SB newbie and maybe a troll. He may not have AOW much less any class that will take him to even 100'. If he needs advice IMO it not about what to buy.... it's easy to find those answers.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I should have been a little more thorough in my answer.
First off, the whole opening sentence of your post "I want to go to 200' and I'm going to have my Jedi master show me how" sounded immature and trollish to me. Going to 200 feet is not something to be taken lightly.
Then you ask us what you need gear wise to do it. Shouldn't your Jedi master be instructing you on that since he's supposedly going to be the one training you?

The reason I say to take the internet with a grain of salt is because if you leave it to the internet there are a lot of douches that hang out and I've seen newcomers get all spun around and completely confused by people they don't have a clue who they are or how they dive or if they even dive. Anybody can be anybody they want on the internet and deep tech diving is too critical to leave up to a bunch of clowns that you know nothing about (not that they're all clowns, there are some really good people on the boards, but there are a lot of douches too).

If you are serious and this isn't a troll or a game then my solid advice is to first inquire about what agencies there are for tech diving then do some research on those agencies and see which fits you best as far as logistics, instructor, etc. Then take it from there. Every instructor likes to see certain things in the students and also has gear preferences. Instructor selection is critical because you are putting your trust and to some degree your life in their hands.
There's a lot to learn and it takes a lot of time and money.
You may first want to think long and hard if you really want to do this.

I'm telling you though, on the internet you are going to get 180 degree opposite opinions on everything and everybody is going to think THEY are 100% right.

 

[Blackwood]

I'm nowhere near that but I'm ready to shoot for 200 on open circuit.

[snip]

Aside from the obvious what are the details? Double tanks, what size? Two computers? Three computers? Seventeen computers? Bailout bottle? What else?

On what are you basing your 'readiness' given that you don't have any idea about the details? Deep diving can be as much mental as physical.



Anyway, people have done 200+ on a breathhold, on a single cylinder, on OC doubles, on CCR with bailout and deco bottles, and in submarines. Pick whatever you are most experienced with.

 

[vladimir]

2. The shop owner (Jedi Master) was a Navy diver for many years. He was not down there to look at the fish, he was down there to blow things up. The wikipedia list says nothing about military diving.

I would be shocked to find Yoda was not a SEAL.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

May the force be with you. If not, the gene pool will be that much better off...

 

[Dive-aholic]

1. I have virtually no knowledge of tec diving. My objective here is to get to the point that I can ask informed questions. For this conversation I am ignoring my last 15+ years of rec diving and listening to those who are more experienced.

2. The shop owner (Jedi Master) was a Navy diver for many years. He was not down there to look at the fish, he was down there to blow things up. The wikipedia list says nothing about military diving.

3. He lives 120 miles away so this forum is more accessible than he is, especially for causal beginner discussion.

4. Thank you in advance for your patience, this is a new road for me and I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to contribute.

You might want to start off by doing more than 10 dives a year. You state you've been diving for over 15 years and your profile lists you in the 100-199 range. Diving deep requires more dedication than that of a casual diver. You should be doing at least 100 dives a year.

What is at 200' that you want to see? If it's just the depth then you're not ready, and your jedi master should tell you that. If he doesn't I would question his master status. 120 miles becomes nothing when you pick up a phone.

You need to get the appropriate gear and do several dozen dives in it at shallow depths before attempting to go to 200'. It's not just a matter of putting on a set of doubles and going deep. You need to be familiar with your gear.