Reaching Greater Depths

[Rich Keller]

By slowing down!

Don't confuse "improved ability" with "greater depth" because the two are unrelated. You saw this yourself... you were able to survive a dive to 40M (deeper than what your certification is for) with the exceedingly limited ability and experience you have now. (I wouldn't suggest you try that again until you have "improved ability" and a lot more experience.

What's the rush? There are very few things to be seen at 40M that you can't see at 20M. And anything that there IS to be seen at 40M... will still be there in a few months.

A phrase you might hear is "There are many OLD divers. And there are many BOLD divers. But there are very few OLD, BOLD divers."

I agree 100%. Put in enough hours underwater to master what you have learned so far before moving onto the next course. Once what you have learned becomes second nature you will be ready for the next step. I have been to 200 meters and there is next to nothing to see down there, the closer to the surface you are the better the visibility and the more there is to see, 90% of the life in the ocean exists within the first 10 meters.

 

[Bagster]

Of course you're correct, boulderjohn, the subjects do get mentioned. But, speaking for myself, I didn't fully confront and subsume those bits until studying the Adventures text and doing the AOW dives. And, in view of the mistakes many beginning divers make by going too deep without understanding the consequences, it is common for people to get through OW without sufficient understanding of why they are being limited to 18m/60ft.

It seems like a matter of reinforcement; a student can easily learn--and then forget--salient facts, if they are not immediately applied or applicable.

 

[TMHeimer]

Of course you're correct, boulderjohn, the subjects do get mentioned. But, speaking for myself, I didn't fully confront and subsume those bits until studying the Adventures text and doing the AOW dives. And, in view of the mistakes many beginning divers make by going too deep without understanding the consequences, it is common for people to get through OW without sufficient understanding of why they are being limited to 18m/60ft.

It seems like a matter of reinforcement; a student can easily learn--and then forget--salient facts, if they are not immediately applied or applicable.

I don't disagree with the last sentence. But it depends on the diver. After we covered the physics and physiology in the ("old") divemaster course our instructor asked us if we now viewed our own diving differently. I thought no--when I learned about depleting air much faster at depth and learned about the Bends, I think I was a cautious then as I am now.

 

[Kevrumbo]

I didn't take exeption to the OP. I took exception to your blanket statement:
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Originally Posted by Kevrumbo
If you have a nominal Surface Consumption Rate (SCR) of 15 liters/min or better, then you are ready to matriculate to Adv Open Water, Nitrox and Intro to Tech for starters. At 15 liters/min, your depth gauge in meters will indicate how much in bar you will consume in 5min (for a single 11 L/bar [AL80] stage cylinder) or in 10min (double 11L/bar for a total cylinder rating of 22L/bar). So for example, at 30m depth you will consume 30 bar of gas in 5min on a single 11L tank, or 30 bar in 10min on a manifolded twinset of 11L tanks. This is IMHO/IME is the easy base reference SCR for a warm water deep/tech diver in Gas Consumption Planning & Deco Profiling, both Pre-Dive and on-the-fly real time. If you're not at that breathing rate now, then you're not ready for any further training to go deeper for longer . .
____
There's quite a difference between "If your SCR is more than 15 SLM, you're not ready to go beyond OW" and "If your SCR is more than 15 SLM in warm water and under benign conditions, you're not ready to go beyond OW". Anyway, I still don't agree with you.

SCR (or, as it's often called, SAC) value isn't the crux. Knowing how to calculate gas reserves and being able to bring enough gas is. If your SCR mandates more gas than the standard cylinder in your neck of the woods carries, the answer is simple: Bring more gas. Or learn to calculate min gas and limit your time at depth to what your gas reserves allow.

The most common cylinder and doubles cylinders in use worldwide at all overseas dive-ops is the ubiquitous 11L/AL80. If have a higher SCR than 15 L/min then you either compensate by taking along an additional 11L stage along with your 11L doubles; or bring & travel with your own higher capacity tanks like HP Steel 12L (15L? 17L?); or go get trained on a CCR.

Argue for your own limitations Storker . . .they are all just yours.

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Originally Posted by Kevrumbo
If you have a nominal Surface Consumption Rate (SCR) of 15 liters/min or better, then you are ready to matriculate to Adv Open Water, Nitrox and Intro to Tech for starters. At 15 liters/min, your depth gauge in meters will indicate how much in bar you will consume in 5min (for a single 11 L/bar [AL80] stage cylinder) or in 10min (double 11L/bar for a total cylinder rating of 22L/bar). So for example, at 30m depth you will consume 30 bar of gas in 5min on a single 11L tank, or 30 bar in 10min on a manifolded twinset of 11L tanks. This is IMHO/IME is the easy base reference SCR for a warm water deep/tech diver in Gas Consumption Planning & Deco Profiling, both Pre-Dive and on-the-fly real time.

If you're not at that breathing rate now, then you're not ready for any further training to go deeper for longer . .
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To quote Lecter....this is BS.
Following this logic, a small lady who uses no gas will be ready for Intro to Tech on .

If a petite lady with a better SCR wants to go Intro to Tech --more power to her. She just better have enough reserve gas to bail you out as your buddy if you have problems at depth. And that's no BS. . .

 

[Storker]

Argue for your own limitations Storker . . .they are all just yours.

I know that game! It's the persoal attack gambit AKA the ad hominem fallacy!

*sniff, sniff*
No, I'm not biting.


--
Sent from my Android phone
Typos are a feature, not a bug

 

[Damselfish]

not sure the OP has been back...

 

[ToyZuki9615]

And yeah, wanting to go deep for the sake of it, especially at this stage in your diving, is dumb. There are much better goals you could set. And doing the Blue Hole so soon was not a great idea either.

Everyone has their own reasons for diving, who are you to call someone else's goal dumb? I personally am drawn to everything under the water, fish, wrecks, reefs; however learning the safe and proper way to dive deep is at the top of my list. I plan to pursue this goal as time, finances and skills allow. I think any reason to dive is a good reason, and good for the sport. There is no problem with wanting to dive deep, as long as it is done safely.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

To echo ToyZuki's point, just getting seriously deep can be a goal in and of itself (that sounded less dirty in my head). The rocks all look the same and there's nothing much alive out past 300' here, for example, but it finally gets seriously cold and dark...and I love the feeling of being that far removed from access to the surface. If I'm honest with myself, a lot of our deep ledge diving out here is just for the sake of seeing some alien terrain and enjoying the experience of placing ourselves very far from home.

But depth is not a goal you just decide to indulge on a whim with a tank strapped to your back and a single computer At least not if you want to live.

 

[Damselfish]

Everyone has their own reasons for diving, who are you to call someone else's goal dumb? I personally am drawn to everything under the water, fish, wrecks, reefs; however learning the safe and proper way to dive deep is at the top of my list. I plan to pursue this goal as time, finances and skills allow. I think any reason to dive is a good reason, and good for the sport. There is no problem with wanting to dive deep, as long as it is done safely.

Out of context at this point - my comment was directed at the OP (who I'm not 100% convinced isn't a troll.) Having that goal once you have some idea what you're doing, and some idea of what you don't know - rather than a brand new diver who may think it's all about how deep you go (like many non-divers think) - is a different thing.

 

[Rhone Man]

To echo ToyZuki's point, just getting seriously deep can be a goal in and of itself (that sounded less dirty in my head). The rocks all look the same and there's nothing much alive out past 300' here, for example, but it finally gets seriously cold and dark...and I love the feeling of being that far removed from access to the surface. If I'm honest with myself, a lot of our deep ledge diving out here is just for the sake of seeing some alien terrain and enjoying the experience of placing ourselves very far from home.

...and there's nothing wrong with that. Anyone who tells you that they climbed K2 or Everest for the view is lying.