In recent years, a new path has opened up for those who do not want to become an instructor and yet want to develop with his or her diving; that path is technical diving.

We can’t help it.

Around 70% of certified divers worldwide have been certified by the single largest training agency. A high percentage of these 70% go from being non divers to become “advanced scuba divers” in less than a week, and with under 10 open water dives under their belt.

“Coming here is like getting your masters degree in diving,” said Coast Guard Lt. Alan Fitzgerald, a student enrolled in the Marine Engineering Dive Officer Course at the dive center. “The academics alone are pretty tough, because you get into all aspects of diving including physics and medicine. As far as physical fitness, they train you to be strong, so you can handle yourself under the surface.”

Unfortunately, with some students, due to the stress of breathing underwater for the first time, good training and advice tend to go in one ear and out the other. By the time divers (who will naturally have inappropriate breathing techniques initially) have cracked the breathing pattern issue, they have forgotten what the instructor had to say about correct weighting in the first place.

Now, I seek only the top (and often hardest) instructor trainers when I require additional training for myself, and I love the challenge. What I have come to realize is that you can be trained by any dive center that offers technical instruction, but for the knowledge to truly stick with you and sink in, the instructor must be good at the craft of teaching.

Rebreathers aren’t exactly an impulse buy, but they don’t quite require the same deep pockets as a super car. So, you could actually own one if you put your mind and piggy bank pennies into it. They do come with the same sort of built-in bragging rights and can still gather a crowd on a beach. However, the glitz factor shouldn’t be the only reason for getting one—there are easier routes to impressing members of the opposite sex.

Hearing

Another major reason why I have a richer diving experience on my rebreather is that I can hear better—no noisy breathing apparatus or bubbles— and so, can more keenly sense what is going on around me, even when I do see it directly. I have a much more acute sense of the three-dimensional space around me and what is in it. But let me get back to that later.

During the start-up sequence, the breathing loop is filled with 100% oxygen to calibrate the sensors, so we have to observe that the oxygen partial pressure drops down from 1 bar to stabilise at 0.70 bar partial pressure, which we have chosen as our low set point.

This is the oxygen level with which we start the dive. Any wrong or erratic behaviour of the oxygen sensors will show in the readings or produce an outright error-message, of which you must strive to find the cause and correct before you can dive.

Fortunately, there are a lot of good lessons and readily applicable techniques to be learned from the world of technical diving, that can make diving much safer, without being a real bother or overshadowing the experience. Using a seat-belt when driving a car has become second nature, as is carrying a spare tyre in the trunk. We will probably never, or rarely, actually have need of them, but when needed we surely appreciate these simple measures.

 

Peter Symes:  Why do you dive so deep? Is it for seeking adventure, exploration, or developing equipment?