Deep Air

[boomx5]

In terms of records I might hold the record for the least number of noteworthy events in one human life... ... but other than that....

R..

Bullcrap! You ain't taking my record!

 

[TSandM]

Scott, I'm really enjoying reading your comments, in view of the work you guys did in Tahoe this year. For anybody who doesn't know Scott, he walks the walk.

One thing that always amazes me about meeting people who do extraordinary things is that they seldom come across the way you expect them to.

My husband and I had the unusual good fortune of spending a half hour or so talking with the fellow who was the principal of the school where Sheck Exley taught. He told us about Sheck as his colleagues saw him . . . he was a math teacher. He would disappear for a weekend and do record-breaking dives, and come back to school on Monday and not even talk about them. Not everyone who seeks to break records is doing it for fame or attention. Some people do it for very internal reasons.

 

[bret gilliam]

I was forwarded the dialogue about deep air diving and let me make a few comments on the subject. Firstly, 99% of the divers out there have absolutely no business diving deeper than about 190 fsw on air due to potential issues with both narcosis and oxygen toxicity, not to mention properly handling the decompression and contingencies that might arise.

Secondly, my original book (Deep Diving: An Advanced Guide to Physiology, Procedures & Systems) was written in 1991 to help offset the incredible lack of practical information on the subject. I went to great pains to detail the tragedies that had resulted from ill-planned record attempts and to put the physics and physiology topics into plain language for average people to read and understand. I later did a massive update on the book increasing its size by over 150 pages and updating it in 1995. It remains in print today and has sold over a 100,000 copies in several languages. If you want a signed copy, send your check for $30 to me at: Bret Gilliam, 54 Stonetree Rd. , Arrowsic, ME 04530. I'll have it out the next day. It's still the best single resource on the subject.

Thirdly, both O2 tox and narcosis are highly subjective in their effects on an individual. Many of us who came from military/commercial/scientific diving backgrounds found that our tolerance was dramatically improved by frequent deep diving and a thusly acquired "adaptation" that has been clinically proven. Tom Mount, Sheck Exley, Jim Bowden, Joe Odom, and myself had incredible tolerances for narcosis. Part of this was based on experience and the huge amounts of diving in such environments that we did routinely. But another big factor was our in-depth understanding of the subjects and not being afraid of the exposures. Fear is a huge detriment to performance... But it is also a valuable inherent trait that serves to protect people from doing things they should not. And, as I said before, 99% of divers simply should stay shallower and avoid the risks. Some divers who were extraordinary performers in challenging situations like cave penetrations, wreck work, or high risk filming with sharks, etc. did not have tolerances for narcosis. It was just not something that was apart of their genetic make-up. Most of them learned quickly to avoid extreme depths. One example was British cave diver and Blue Hole explorer Rob Palmer. Rob, a dear friend, was one of the best divers I've ever known but had a very low tolerance for narcosis. Sadly, he was killed in 1997 on a deep dive in the Red Sea. It was not planned to be excessively deep but the divers were accidentally dropped in blue water with no bottom or drop-off wall reference. Many of us suspect that Palmer's death was, at least, partly due to narcosis and what is known as "deep water blackout".

Fourthly, the era in which deep air diving was practiced by the small cadre of professionals who could do it was not so much about records. Indeed, the fact that some of us achieved record depths was incidental to our work or exploration. But the primary reason we used air was because helium was either not available in remote areas or was so expensive then as to be impractical for a lot of our applications. If we could get the job done on air, we had no problems with that. But we did not advocate it for others and went out of our way to point out the hazards to try to prevent others from killing themselves.

Finally, when I broke the long-standing record of Watson & Gruner in 1990 by going to 452 fsw, I beat their mark by over 25 feet. I was not unduly impaired and actually stayed at depth to complete a series of mental tests for cognitive function before making my ascent without incident. In contrast, both Watson & Gruner were completely out of it (by their own admission), had no memory of getting to their maximum depth at all, and were lucky to have survived. Every diver that attempted to break their record later died in the process until my success 25 years later. Subsequently, another whole squad of divers killed themselves trying to break my record (my deepest was in 1993 to 475 fsw). When Dan Manion tried to set the record, he got to depth but, once again, was totally incapacitated by narcosis and barely survived.

In closing, deep air diving was a practice that existed out of necessity before other tools such as mixed gas became cost-efficient and more widely available. Also, using open circuit for deep dives is also now out of date since rebreathers are far more efficient. The key to survival is knowing all you can about the subject, a body of experience, and the confidence earned by repetitive work in such environments. It's also crucial to adapt and employ the technological advances that evolve and use the best equipment systems to get the job done. There is nothing "safe" about deep diving no matter what systems you employ. But you can mitigate the hazards by using the tools available wisely. Otherwise, you're just going to end up as another lesson in Darwinism.

Be smart. Dive wisely. Be informed and educated. And don't exceed your personal limits. I'm sure everyone has more to live for than trying to simply set a record that is now meaningless anyway. If you need to see your name in a record book, there is always the New York hot dog eating contest every year. The worst that can happen there is puking and indigestion. And I like hot dogs!

Bret Gilliam
President, OCEAN TECH
bretgilliam@gmail.com

 

[VooDooGasMan]

Bret I like your post and the the main part that so many have a hard time with is the fear, I like the way you put it. Fear is a huge detriment to performance, I always push for any one who wants to do this type of diving, they need to overcome the fear of it. Thank you bret, for this info for all to learn and enjoy.

Happy Diving

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I was forwarded the dialogue about deep air diving and let me make a few comments on the subject. Firstly, 99% of the divers out there have absolutely no business diving deeper than about 190 fsw on air due to potential issues with both narcosis and oxygen toxicity, not to mention properly handling the decompression and contingencies that might arise.

Secondly, my original book (Deep Diving: An Advanced Guide to Physiology, Procedures & Systems) was written in 1991 to help offset the incredible lack of practical information on the subject. I went to great pains to detail the tragedies that had resulted from ill-planned record attempts and to put the physics and physiology topics into plain language for average people to read and understand. I later did a massive update on the book increasing its size by over 150 pages and updating it in 1995. It remains in print today and has sold over a 100,000 copies in several languages. If you want a signed copy, send your check for $30 to me at: Bret Gilliam, 54 Stonetree Rd. , Arrowsic, ME 04530. I'll have it out the next day. It's still the best single resource on the subject.

Thirdly, both O2 tox and narcosis are highly subjective in their effects on an individual. Many of us who came from military/commercial/scientific diving backgrounds found that our tolerance was dramatically improved by frequent deep diving and a thusly acquired "adaptation" that has been clinically proven. Tom Mount, Sheck Exley, Jim Bowden, Joe Odom, and myself had incredible tolerances for narcosis. Part of this was based on experience and the huge amounts of diving in such environments that we did routinely. But another big factor was our in-depth understanding of the subjects and not being afraid of the exposures. Fear is a huge detriment to performance... But it is also a valuable inherent trait that serves to protect people from doing things they should not. And, as I said before, 99% of divers simply should stay shallower and avoid the risks. Some divers who were extraordinary performers in challenging situations like cave penetrations, wreck work, or high risk filming with sharks, etc. did not have tolerances for narcosis. It was just not something that was apart of their genetic make-up. Most of them learned quickly to avoid extreme depths. One example was British cave diver and Blue Hole explorer Rob Palmer. Rob, a dear friend, was one of the best divers I've ever known but had a very low tolerance for narcosis. Sadly, he was killed in 1997 on a deep dive in the Red Sea. It was not planned to be excessively deep but the divers were accidentally dropped in blue water with no bottom or drop-off wall reference. Many of us suspect that Palmer's death was, at least, partly due to narcosis and what is known as "deep water blackout".

Fourthly, the era in which deep air diving was practiced by the small cadre of professionals who could do it was not so much about records. Indeed, the fact that some of us achieved record depths was incidental to our work or exploration. But the primary reason we used air was because helium was either not available in remote areas or was so expensive then as to be impractical for a lot of our applications. If we could get the job done on air, we had no problems with that. But we did not advocate it for others and went out of our way to point out the hazards to try to prevent others from killing themselves.

Finally, when I broke the long-standing record of Watson & Gruner in 1990 by going to 452 fsw, I beat their mark by over 25 feet. I was not unduly impaired and actually stayed at depth to complete a series of mental tests for cognitive function before making my ascent without incident. In contrast, both Watson & Gruner were completely out of it (by their own admission), had no memory of getting to their maximum depth at all, and were lucky to have survived. Every diver that attempted to break their record later died in the process until my success 25 years later. Subsequently, another whole squad of divers killed themselves trying to break my record (my deepest was in 1993 to 475 fsw). When Dan Manion tried to set the record, he got to depth but, once again, was totally incapacitated by narcosis and barely survived.

In closing, deep air diving was a practice that existed out of necessity before other tools such as mixed gas became cost-efficient and more widely available. Also, using open circuit for deep dives is also now out of date since rebreathers are far more efficient. The key to survival is knowing all you can about the subject, a body of experience, and the confidence earned by repetitive work in such environments. It's also crucial to adapt and employ the technological advances that evolve and use the best equipment systems to get the job done. There is nothing "safe" about deep diving no matter what systems you employ. But you can mitigate the hazards by using the tools available wisely. Otherwise, you're just going to end up as another lesson in Darwinism.

Be smart. Dive wisely. Be informed and educated. And don't exceed your personal limits. I'm sure everyone has more to live for than trying to simply set a record that is now meaningless anyway. If you need to see your name in a record book, there is always the New York hot dog eating contest every year. The worst that can happen there is puking and indigestion. And I like hot dogs!

Bret Gilliam
President, OCEAN TECH
bretgilliam@gmail.com

And to think that the first divers to dive the Andrea Doria used double hose regulators, no BC, no SPG's, and on air. It seems insane by today's standards but that's how they did it.
Nerves of steel!

 

[Kevrumbo]

<. . .>
Fourthly, the era in which deep air diving was practiced by the small cadre of professionals who could do it was not so much about records. Indeed, the fact that some of us achieved record depths was incidental to our work or exploration. But the primary reason we used air was because helium was either not available in remote areas or was so expensive then as to be impractical for a lot of our applications. If we could get the job done on air, we had no problems with that. But we did not advocate it for others and went out of our way to point out the hazards to try to prevent others from killing themselves.

<. . .>
In closing, deep air diving was a practice that existed out of necessity before other tools such as mixed gas became cost-efficient and more widely available. Also, using open circuit for deep dives is also now out of date since rebreathers are far more efficient. The key to survival is knowing all you can about the subject, a body of experience, and the confidence earned by repetitive work in such environments. It's also crucial to adapt and employ the technological advances that evolve and use the best equipment systems to get the job done. There is nothing "safe" about deep diving no matter what systems you employ. But you can mitigate the hazards by using the tools available wisely. Otherwise, you're just going to end up as another lesson in Darwinism.
<. . .>
Bret Gilliam
President, OCEAN TECH
bretgilliam@gmail.com

Here's a late honor recognizing the acheivements and celebrating the Life of Kimiuo Aisek, one of the Pioneers of Truk Lagoon Wreck Diving.

And he along with Klaus Lindemann did most of the surveying, exploration, and cataloging of the Wrecks --all on Air. But being on site and in residence for most of his life, and with well over a thousand dives on these wrecks, Kimiuo probably knew best when not to push his ability and experience (and luck --probably letting Klaus know about it too!).

 

[Red Sea Shadow]

Rob, a dear friend, was one of the best divers I've ever known but had a very low tolerance for narcosis. Sadly, he was killed in 1997 on a deep dive in the Red Sea. It was not planned to be excessively deep but the divers were accidentally dropped in blue water with no bottom or drop-off wall reference. Many of us suspect that Palmer's death was, at least, partly due to narcosis and what is known as "deep water blackout".

I've tried being dropped in the blue several times. The main reason for doing that is when the reef consists of a plateau then a drop-off (might start at over 40 meters; 130 feet). Some technical divers prefer to have a fast descent directly to the maximum depth without swimming over the plateau.

 

[Rhone Man]

Thirdly, both O2 tox and narcosis are highly subjective in their effects on an individual.

Bret, not sure if you are monitoring this thread, but if you are, I would actually be more interested to hear your thoughts on O2 tox risk (rather than narcosis risk, which most people have fixated on). What sort of planning/strategy did you use to manage the risk?

Secondly, my original book (Deep Diving: An Advanced Guide to Physiology, Procedures & Systems) was written in 1991 to help offset the incredible lack of practical information on the subject. ... If you want a signed copy, send your check for $30 to me at: Bret Gilliam, 54 Stonetree Rd. , Arrowsic, ME 04530. I'll have it out the next day. It's still the best single resource on the subject.

Might take you up on that - do you ship internationally?

 

[Blackwood]

A public school student that resorts to a calculator rather than having to learn the multiplication tables, relies on the technology rather than his/her own mathematical abilities. I find it difficult to accept this as "the natural progression of society." This student isn't trying to stand on anyones back; it's simply easier...

Multiplication tables are a crutch too. Either way (calculator or memorizing an array of products) the student doesn't understand the math.

That's neither here nor there, though.

 

[boulderjohn]

Multiplication tables are a crutch too. Either way (calculator or memorizing an array of products) the student doesn't understand the math.

That's neither here nor there, though.

An d for what it's worth, just to correct a misconception, all the state math standards for public schools stress the idea that students must achieve "automaticity," the ability to make quick mental arithmetic calculations .