Happy to always dive advanced within recreational limits, forever ? [Poll]

[Storker]

do I really need four backplates?

Well, of course you do. How so?

 

[EFX]

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.

At one time I was already diving manifolded back double 80's having bought 2 tanks from my dive buddy who already had technical diving experience. We bought a manifold, tank valves, and bands from I think DGX and put the set together. I also bought a used reg, BP and wing from my buddy which completed the package. I even invested in a Perdix which was needed for mixed gas diving. It was fun for awile but I stopped after a half dozen or so dives because I realized I couldn't reach all the valves. My plan then was to dive sidemount which eliminated the valve reaching problem and my buddy had also recently gone into sidemount so that was a plus. But as I've already said the outlay in $$'s for the additional equipment and training was too much so I didn't pursue it. I broke down the double 80's. My wife took the tank bands and used them in the garden to protect young tree saplings. I bought an STA and a single tank wing and am now diving on a 7 ft primary with a bungeed second. I share Storker's sentiment that if I were younger I might have gone into technical diving.

 

[Barnaby'sDad]

I would say that I’m 50-50 on it. I’m still new, so I’m not in a rush.

While I don’t have much interest in eventually diving much below recreational depths, I do have significant interest in exploring the options to increase bottom times at and just below recreational depths.

 

[scubadada]

I'm just a smidgen younger than you, and right now I'm considering how much gear I should sell. The rugrats are moving out, and since they won't go diving with Dad particularly often, I have a bit of gear which probably is superfluous. But it kinda hurts to sell it; that'll be closing a door.

It's not so much the financial penalty; I bought most of the gear used and will probably recover most of the financial cost. It's mostly an emotional thing.

I have a 34 year old married son (non-diver wife) and a 29 year old daughter. They both come down to Florida to dive with me every once in a while. I will keep their gear until I can no longer to get them to dive with me. Diving with my children is one of biggest rewards in my life. I will continue to try to dive with them as long as I can. They both were certified at age 12 on Grand Cayman.

 

[KentB]

I have 1 more dive to do to finish up ANDP which is happening Saturday.
He calls it tech diver level 1 which is AN/DP/ER
We’ve done 9 dives so far will be about 2 months start to finish and this course has been the hardest but more enjoyable and rewarding thing Ive done in a long time.
I’ve seen a huge improvement in my skill level and my comfort level.
I was worried I wasn’t “good enough” to start but am also a firm believer in learn good habits first instead of trying to break bad habits later so I let the instructor know my thoughts and not to hesitate to tell me after dive one your not ready go practice and come back if needed.
So we went out and conditions for most of it were ****. 5-10 feet for most of it.
2 dives were 30-40 feet some were 1-3’
On one of our deco dives I couldnt even see my hands on the 30/20/15’ stops
But I figure if we can do all the skills and handle all the task loading he can throw at us in dark cold water and terrible vis I’m just going to be that much more comfortable when conditions are better

He said he’s comfortable with our skills/ gas planning/ management and our ability to not panic...... so one more deep dive and then we are done ANDP and then go out and get a bunch of dives in come back and we will throw in the 4th bottle and finish up extended range

I really think every diver should at least entertain an entry level tech course not for the depth but just for the mindset and skill set you will develop from it.
I don’t like being narced I have zero desire to do more than 130’ without He.
Extended range apart from the 2nd deco gas makes no sense to me. 180’ on air just isn’t something that interests me.
But I really like how my instructor teaches and I’m very happy with him. Will be doing future courses with him for sure.

 

[KenGordon]

He calls it tech diver level 1 which is AN/DP/ER

I think that is a mistake. What level is just DP?

Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures being bundled is the usual way. At a certain level, doing a course over a few days, it makes sense as it covers a lot of common ground.

The disadvantage is that Advanced Nitrox brings with it a lot of additional complication and risk. At the same time there is quite a lot of discipline required for Decompression Procedures diving and a lot to learn about hanging about on a bit of string.

In the system I dive in every body learns to do decompression diving as a matter of course. None of those people doing backgas deco would call themselves technical divers. Only a few learn to use accelerated deco. It is quite effective though. In the 30m to 40m range with a twinset of appropriate nitrox you will only be doing 15 to 30 minutes of stops. Where cutting that in half is worth while vs the extra hassle and risk of carrying a deco cylinder is arguable, but it is not strictly required.

 

[NAUI Wowie]

I am curious to know how many advanced divers on SB are perfectly happy to always dive within recreational limits, and who have no plans whatsoever of moving on to more "technical" types of dives ?

Non-technical vs technical has naturally always been a moving target, and has evolved a lot in the previous decades.

So let's say we use these terms as they are currently understood by a majority of divers in 2018.

Please don't hesitate to post any comments to explain your vote.

AOW w 52 dives. Already do mainly cold water with an 8 mil semi dry and redundant air. Ive done some wreck diving and cavern already. Im almost bored with most drift diving now. Im not young by a long shot so know my mortality now but think id like to get wreck and cavern certified and do a bunch of deeper wrecks say in the 130 foot depth which means deco.

also interested in cenotes caverns.....

want to do proper training.

means more gear...cant afford now but love love love buying more gear for new types of scuba.

 

[NAUI Wowie]

I'll play Devils Advocate here. Having done the Spiegel Grove multiple times and being a non-deco recreational diver my experience differs from your description in many ways.

1- I don't drive all that distance and wait all year just to dive the SG. I plan a dive trip that will be perhaps 12-18 dives over 5-7 days. I do other things during the trip such as dining out and sightseeing and just plain relaxing so it's not "all about the diving" although it's "mostly about the diving".

2- My dives on the SG average about 40-45 minutes because most of what is to be seen on that wreck is in the 60-80' range. Being aware of depths and maximizing bottom times by staying a bit shallower on average can make quite the difference. 2 - 45 minute dives on the wreck are more than enough for me. On a recent dive we swam from the stern mooring, through the wreck almost to the bow and back again. Yes, on one dive we saw most of the wreck.

3- It can also get somewhat chilly when you're in the water close to an hour or more. I don't mind the SI to relax and warm up and enjoy some time in the sun.

4- I have no interest in hanging on a line for an hour looking at nothing but an occasional passing jellyfish. I bore easily.

5- Totally not worth the expense and extra gear and the weight of the additional tank. Besides where does a technical diver on vacation rent a rebreather or double tank rig anyway?

6- So my bottom time is about 1.5 hours vs your 3 hours. It's not clear to me if you are including deco stops in that 3 hours, if so it's a no brainer that it's not worth the extra trouble to tech dive under those conditions. Even if the deco stops are over and above the 3 hours it's still not worth it. That's a ton of time in the water. Also are the other non deco divers sitting there waiting for you to decompress after the second dive when everyone wants to head back to the dock?

best post of the month. you hit this one out of the park.

but id still take a pony haha

 

[NAUI Wowie]

I don't consider myself a technical diver. I dive air (unless Nitrox is free on a liveaboard). I have done numerous deco dives including many to 200 fsw on air, but they were all for a specific purpose. Most of my dives today are well within recreational limits since I enjoy more bottom time for filming.

Wow so you are much respected here and everywhere quite frankly. Always love when you post. Could you add a little detail on the diving to 200 feet on air? And how dangerous would you say that was? How could you limit the danger? Im not planning on doing it just highly curious and respect you alot so want to hear more stories actually sir.

 

[NAUI Wowie]

Going tech? Not just yes, but H**L, yes! Just a matter of time. I have some things I need to work on, like getting more SM dives under my belt among others, before I do TDI SM class, hopefully next year. Diving dry again, so that box is already ticked.

Did my deepest dive to date on Sunday - Milwaukee Car Ferry. 130ft to the sand, deck about 100ft. Buddy and I dropped down to 117ft to see the huge twin props before ascending to the deck. I got nicely dark narced. Gloom, doom, fear. Was kind of dark down there, viz could have been better, 50F water temp. Reinforced my desire to do helitrox as soon as possible after AN/DP (unless I do it in combo). Did the dive on a rented HP100 (I've dived them before) and my AL30 pony. Would have preferred to do it SM, but I'd only dived dry SM twice before and weighting needed to be tweaked. Felt it would have been too much task loading.

I want to do deeper wrecks without having to worry about NDL. I dive my Perdix set at medium conservatism. My backup Geo 2.0 is still set on DSAT from when it was my primary, and it was beeping to beat the band!

Not necessarily deep, deep wrecks, but perhaps to 200ft. We'll see, but that's my thinking right now.

Hello Marie13 really respect all your posts. I wasnt around for TSandM but Ive read her and she was very insightful. You remind me of her in that way but I get to experience you now thank you.
I also had a dark narc that i battled with on my AOW deep dive. i had a borrowed reg and got a CO2 hit and blacked out for a couple seconds and came to breathing saltwater.

had a dark narc after that at 90 ft went up to 60 tried to come back down but about 75 the feeling of doom and death couldnt be fought off.

How what why did that happen to you? How did you react? How would you try to handle it differently or could you? I dive monterey which is similar to your great lakes in one way.....viz is usually at most 20 feet and often only 5ft . Temps are normaly about 52 but in open areas can drop to 46