Happy to always dive advanced within recreational limits, forever ? [Poll]
- Thread starter Roger Hobden
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I was recently certified to 40m/130' and light backgas deco. I'm pretty certain that won't happen. Beyond 30m/100' I start feeling the narc, and I really dislike being narked. Besides, with my SAC and my tanks, my NDL on 32% at those depths is some 50% larger than my min gas time.
I could of course opt for a larger tank or a small twinset to increase my gas time, but ol' Archie is telling me that if I go from my current 10L single to e.g. a D8.5 twinset, I'd need to carry seven more kilos as gear weight, on my belt or a little of each. And in a drysuit with thick undergarments, my gear is heavy enough already, thankyouverymuch.
I log perhaps a few dozen dives every year. While that's enough to keep my rec skills decent enough that I don't make a fool out of myself, I don't think it's enough to keep my skills sharp enough to go deep into tech. So that's another argument for staying within "rec" limits.
I'm fine with planning my dives to fit my limits. If something, say a wreck or some really cool deep water biology, is outside those boundaries, I can live with that. I've already passed on diving purportedly very cool wrecks in the 35-45m depth range, and I don't feel very depressed about it.
I could of course opt for a larger tank or a small twinset to increase my gas time, but ol' Archie is telling me that if I go from my current 10L single to e.g. a D8.5 twinset, I'd need to carry seven more kilos as gear weight, on my belt or a little of each. And in a drysuit with thick undergarments, my gear is heavy enough already, thankyouverymuch.
I log perhaps a few dozen dives every year. While that's enough to keep my rec skills decent enough that I don't make a fool out of myself, I don't think it's enough to keep my skills sharp enough to go deep into tech. So that's another argument for staying within "rec" limits.
I'm fine with planning my dives to fit my limits. If something, say a wreck or some really cool deep water biology, is outside those boundaries, I can live with that. I've already passed on diving purportedly very cool wrecks in the 35-45m depth range, and I don't feel very depressed about it.
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Sure, but then there's min gas time. Disregarding NDL, I'd have at most 10-15min down there with my current setup. And I don't want to pay the price (in lead) for those additional gas minutes.
So no matter which way I look at it, for me with my priorities I can choose some ten minutes at 40m, or some three-quarters of an hour at 20m. I know what I prefer, but I'm also aware that other divers see it differently.
I considered extending my diving into the technical realm but the benefit/cost ratio just wasn't there for me. I figure I'd have to spend about $2k in equipment and $2k in instruction to get me there for the few times I'd actually be doing technical dives. I would love the challenge and excitement of it and I live near Florida cave country so plenty of sites to dive at. But, at 65 I just can't justify it. Oh well, I'm still having a good time diving rec.
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I believe you hit the nail on the head for me as well.
If I'd been 30 years younger, I'd probably be thinking a lot more about going deep, going tech and generally pushing my limits. Having passed the big five-oh quite a few years ago, I've mellowed out (except for the inevitable grumpiness, that is) and have tasted my own mortality more than once. I have the pleasure of sometimes socializing with - and diving with - people who could have been my children, and while I admire their energy, I'm also thinking that some things about reaching maturity are good. More often than not, I find that I have a much better grasp of risk analysis than those young whippersnappers have, and stuff that they do - and which I might well have done when I was their age - just isn't acceptable from a prudent risk evaluation POV.
Besides, one of the great things about growing older is that I'm getting a lot better at not giving a flying crap about what other people might think about my priorities. That almost makes up for joint pains, decreased physical prowess and all that.
2K in gear if you don't have a BPW to start with is pretty conservative. I've seen those who wanted to get into tech and didn't have access to good deals or didn't want to buy used gear drop 5 grand to start.
You'll need at a minimum
3 regs
BPW or sidemount rig
Doubles or sidemount cylinders (while you could get by with one set to start, most of us have multiple. I have 6 sets of SM cylinder of various types)
Deco bottle
Drysuit
Lift bags, reels
Lights
Once you start, it becomes a deep hole that you throw money into.
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Pretty much like owning a boat, right?
A boat is a hole in the ocean that you throw money into.
Yep. Like that. When I started tech is when I began to accumulate cylinders (2 dozen now of various sizes), regs (around 9 now plus individual components), BC's - DOWN TO 3 BPW's, 1 hybrid, and 5 sidemount rigs, over $2500 in lights alone, 2 drysuits, etc. I could have literally put a decent down payment on a house with what I've spent in gear alone.
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