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> > But, given the possibility of a CNS O2 hit, with its high probability
> > of disaster and (seeming) capriciousness of ocurrence, and the numbing
> > effect of nitrogen narcosis, what is the *motivation* behind doing extreme
> > air diving, as opposed to heliox or tri-mix, which simply seem to be more
> > suitable technologies?
> 
> One reason is the availability of the technology at the dive site. I know
> of dives in remote locations that were made on deep air (ppO2 ~1.8) because
> getting tri-mix in this area was difficult/impossible. Unfortunately, one
> of the divers (a very good diver) didn't return.
> Devon

Though I am not really a technical diver, except for doing planned 
decompression dives, I'd like to respond to the previous two 
paragraphs, by commenting that:

1) "the availability of the technology at the dive site" is not a 
   very good motivation for doing deep air dives.  IMO it is like
   penetrating a wreck/cave without using guide lines or redundant air
   supplies because it is too expensive.  In this case the objection
   probably was to make a deep dive, thus proper planning and proper
   equipment is essential.  Lack of equipment isn't an excuse for 
   pushing the limits.  On the other hand...   

2) ... if the motivation is to do a deep air dive with the objective 
   of pushing your limits, doing it 'for the heck of it', to find 
   out what will happen or whether it can be done, well, then I think 
   the motivation for using air is understandable (crazy or senseless 
   as it may seems).  This may be compared to climbing an ultra-high 
   mountain without oxygen, ropes or companions, because nobody 
   did it before...

- Gerrit

 ******************************************************************
 G Conradie  [\]                         Phone: +27 21 808 4452 (W)
 Dept. E & E Engineering                        +27 21 903 4306 (H)    
 University of Stellenbosch              Fax:   +27 21 808 4981 (W) 
 Stellenbosch, 7600
 South Africa                       Email: conradie@fi*.su*.ac*.za*
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