What was your deepest and...

[Stoo]

I'd like to contest the "arbitrarity" of the 30m/100' or 40m/130' "rule".

I don't own any single tanks that aren't stage bottles. Even with a single 80 though, it's quite simple to do a dive in excess of 130', assuming you aren't spending 15 minutes down there. I just returned from a week in Belize and many of my dives exceeded 130' as I photographed something, but I didn't linger and my total dive times were typically 60 - 70 minutes. A lot depends on the individual's gas consumption of course.

The odd dive we do that is deeper/longer than this, I sill do on a single 80, but I may sling a stage bottle, just in case someone else needs gas, or something unexpected happens.

This is a screen capture from my Shearwater of a recent dive in the Blue Hole in Belize. It was done on a single 80. I had about 500 psi left at the end of the dive... plus a second unused 80. My buddy, Mrs' Stoo, likely still had about 1000 psi left.

Regarding your dismissal of the "every dive is a deco dive"... It may be tired but it's true. Try doing identical dives to say 60' for 50 minutes. Many computer algorithms will allow this as a "no deco" dive even without safety stops, but of course this algorithm assumes many things... most importantly, ascent time. Try doing that dive with an out of control buoyant ascent and there is a high degree of likelihood that you will take a hit. So that dive is very much a deco dive, even though the computer or tables say otherwise.

 

[Storker]

I don't own any single tanks that aren't stage bottles.

Which makes me believe you're tech trained. Most divers aren't and don't have the skills necessary to solve any issue - including closing tank valves and isolator mainfolds - at depth. For guys like me, who haven't learned those skills nor practiced them regularly, the solution to a serious problem at depth is to haul a... to the surface ASAP. Which probably isn't the optimal course of action if you've spent some 10-15-20 minutes at, say, 45m/150'.

 

[Stoo]

Which makes me believe you're tech trained

Mostly, I'm just old. "Tech training" is a relatively new invention. Many of us just kinda figured it out along the way.

But you are right, hauling a$$ up from 150' has it's shortcomings, but it may well beat the alternative. To quote a friend who happens to be a leading hyperbaric physician: "We can fix bent. We can't fix dead".

The addition of some redundancy... a 30 or 40 cf bottle with a second reg goes a long way in terms of providing a buffer for those "oh excrement" moments that are almost inevitable if you dive enough, although most of my friends have hundreds if not thousands of dives under their belts and I can't recall any really nasty situations with any of them. That doesn't mean that "stuff" hasn't gone bottoms up on occasion... it just means that through some combination of skill, experience and gear, they managed the situation "appropriately". I have had "acquaintances" who lost their lives diving... one was decades ago and one more recently. Both were entirely explainable, entirely avoidable and in one case, entirely predictable. But for most divers who behave sensibly and are properly equipped, this diving thing really isn't rocket science.

You should pick up a copy of Steve Lewis' (Doppler on here) book, "Six Skills". It's basically a "how to" guide for keeping your arse out of the ringer. Techie or not, it's a solid read...

The Six Skills and Other Discussions: Creative Solutions for Technical Divers: Mr Steve Lewis: 9780981228020: Amazon.com: Books

 

[Storker]

You should pick up a copy of Steve Lewis' (Doppler on here) book, "Six Skills".

I've got "Staying alive" already. I'm assuming that one of them is enough

 

[Stoo]

I've got "Staying alive" already. I'm assuming that one of them is enough

Yup. No need for redundancy.

 

[Doc Harry]

150 feet
Narcotized outta my friggin' mind the entire time on the bottom (about 25 minutes)
Ain't doing that again

 

[Bob DBF]

For guys like me, who haven't learned those skills nor practiced them regularly, the solution to a serious problem at depth is to haul a... to the surface ASAP. Which probably isn't the optimal course of action if you've spent some 10-15-20 minutes at, say, 45m/150'.

Back when I started diving deep and putting two tanks together, old school j-valve manifold or cheater bar, I was taught to head for 60' and rethink your options. Not only did it help clear out the cobwebs, but you may find you are not in as bad shape as you thought, and if you were, it was only a one minute trip to the surface.

The tables and ascent rate may change, but I still use that procedure. No sense winding up on the surface if you don't need to be there, even more reason if being there needlessly will get you hurt.

Now I use a J-valve double 72's or a 120 and a pony for diving deep, haven't used the pony for real, yet. The reason I don't go bigger on tanks is because I dive wet in cold water and don't like to be too cold..


Bob
------------------
...been deeper than some, not as deep as others.

 

[Dive Alegria Cebu]

66m on open circut

 

[certified in 1976]

I've done a lot of diving in the Great Lakes and I have to tell you 30, 50 or 100 feet in cold, murky, dark water feels an awful lot deeper than 30, 50 or 100 feet on a reef. The first time I went diving in warm, clear water it felt like such a piece of cake compared to diving the Lakes.

I don't this can be stressed enough. Its much less stressful in the tropics than in the Great Lakes or places similar.

 

[rivers]

44m (40m avg) on the Salsette. 10+m vis, 35 minutes bottom time, 30 minutes deco. Best dive to date.