Under Pressure!

[Mario S Caner]

Walter,
The survey group was most likely not the average group of Joe and Joeanne type of divers. The survey was conducted by Captain Bob Halstead, the owner/operator of a liveaboard vessel called the Telita in New Guinea.

Fellow board members, please don't think that I am in any way endorsing or encouraging diving beyond your experience & training. I'm mearly looking for some insight from those of you whom do participate in these types of dives. I could honestly say that only 1 in 5 divers here in SoCal participate in these types of dives. So no, the ratio's the survey outlined aren't accurate for this area. But, it's understandable that the data would fluctuate from region to region.

Mario

 

[Walter]

........now, what exactly are your survey questions?

Walter

 

[Jeddah Aquanaut]

My deepest dive (on air) was to 203 feet, with my DM instructor/friend. Only about 2 minutes was at depth, and the rest of the dive was an ascent to 10m or so to finish the dive and start to off gas at the same time. For deep diving, I regularly take a sling bottle. Depending on the depth, I either use my 50c.f. or 30c.f. pony, and I try to use 10L HP Poseidon tanks for deeper dives. There might not be the spectacular scenery as at 5 meters, but 50 can be interesting. I never do it if I don't feel rested, if conditions are poor,... I only dive deep with one of two former instructors, both of whom I know and trust very well, have over 1,000 dives each, and are very experienced in deep diving themselves. I did not just decide to go down so deep on a whim. Over a year or so, I would go a little deeper every x number of dives, getting used to the feeling, being able to recognize the effects and calling it off if I felt uncomfortable. Sometimes I would feel fine at 160 feet, but other times would call it off at 120. Each time is different, and you have to be willing to call it off. If you don't make it to a certain depth on a certain day, it is not the end of the world. I do not do this all the time. I'm quite content to take new divers on a shallow 40 foot dive, help my instructor with new students and enjoy it. Diving with inexperienced divers (who have a head on their shoulders) is good experience for me as a DM. However, sometimes I like to go deep with my former instructors/friends for a change. It might not be PC (PADI Correct), but I feel it's a valid enough reason. Anyway, that's me.