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A STATE OF MIND
Recently I made a comment that technical diving is a state of mind, upon being
asked to explain this (by a non technical diver) I found myself at a loss for
words.
Like trying to explain love, to someone who's never been in love, this as you
will probably understand is harder than it sounds.
It's my honest belief that there are many divers conducting technical dives
who should not be considered technical divers. This as you can imagine is not
an
opinion that will make me a popular member of the technical diving community.
However I strongly believe, it's an issue that needs to be addressed, even if it
means rocking the proverbial boat.
So first let us examine in brief, what are generally considered to be some of
the key phrases & beliefs in the technical diving community, followed by a state
of mind comment.
Redundancy: Technically correct? Redundant systems, often considered at the
heart of technical diving are now, & have always been readily available to both
the
recreational & technical diver. So does this mean that John Doe, who dives with
a pony bottle strapped to his rig is a technical diver? No, not at all, but it
may well indicate he has a healthy respect for his environment. Putting Mr John
Doe well ahead of many self proclaimed technical divers & bringing him closer
to that state of mind.
Oxygen management exposure: With the rapid growth of the recreational nitrox
industry, O2 management has become an everyday event, dispelling the myth that
this is purely the realm of the technical diver.
The question is, do you choose to follow or ignore the already hazardous
industry guide lines? There are many divers who chose to ignore them, believing
that they are only relevant, if you're not conducting deep air dives. (Charles
Darwin, come on down)
Staged decompression: let's not get confused here, all diving is decompression
diving, whether it's 30 feet or 200 feet it's all the same. What makes
the difference is whether you can ascend directly to the surface or not, if you
can't it's a staged decompression dive. So does this mean that if you
practice staged decompression you're a technical diver? I hope not, as I know
of many non technical divers who regularly perform lengthy staged decompression,
with the nearest stage bottle being at the local dive store. Definitely the
wrong state of mind.
Gas management: A very broad term, which you could say covers everything from
getting back to the boat with 100psi, to the rule of thirds. But Let's face
it most divers practice some form of gas management, so what makes a dive
technical? Well technically speaking, the rule of thirds is generally considered
the industry standard, but there are many technical divers who chose to ignore
this rule. Instead, they prefer the it'll be OK rule. A very questionable
state of mind.
Overhead environment: Ask any diver what an overhead environment is & you'll
probably get the same answer. "Well it's when your in a wreck see, or you
know in one of them there caves." Not a bad answer, & for the most part
correct. So if you're in an overhead environment are you conducting a
technical dive? No, not necessarily. Again there are many recreational divers
who frequently dive in both real & virtual overhead environments, but are
far from being technical divers. It's a question of respect for your
environment, Surely a state of mind.
Diver responsibility: I think now that were getting down to the real issue of
technical diving, responsibility to one's self & to those around you.
A diver, whether they are technical or recreational is often judged by their
peers, according to their behaviour. Are they responsible? The answer
may be yes, but does this make them a good technical diver? The answer may be
no.
you're probably asking yourself, so what is this state of mind he keeps
referring to? How can it be defined?
Well, I'm not sure it can, all I can say is that technical diving is the use of
all of the above procedures, & some. But the real meat of it is,
that no matter how well trained a diver is, if he doesn't feel it in his soul,
he's probably not a technical diver.
ARE YOU?
Shaun P Beevor.
1314 william st
key west
fl, 33040
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