Mailing List Archive Mailing List Archive
On the subject of the transition from deep air to trimix diving Rich Pyle said: > > The point of my message is that it often takes YEARS of deep diving > experience to develop enough self-discipline to consistently stay alive on > deep dives (deep meaning in excess of about 100 feet). The advocates of > deep air as a prerequisit to trimix acquired this discipline over years of > deep air diving experience. > I just can't imagine a person going from OW to trimix without several > hunderd dives over a year or more in the process, and expecting that > person to be able to deal with serious problems under low-margin-for-error > circumstances. I agree wholly on these points. Some people have suggested the sequence of training should be tech-nitrox straight through to trimix. I do not see that there should be problem with this as there are skills learned on such courses which are a prerequisite for trimix training. However, surely there cannot be a substitute for experience. The IANTD have a number of prerequisites for a student to fulfill before they can embark on any mixed gas course and provided these are followed things should not be too bad. Unfortunately I know that such regulations are rarely followed and it is possible to become trimix trained in a relatively short period of time. Being trimix trained does not make one a serious deep technical diver, only experience and practice can do this. The way I see it is this: If a diver has many years of diving to 40-50 msw (now its your turn to do sums as you read!)regularly on air but wishes to venture deeper, why should he/she not train to use trimix for this purpose? Such a person may be experienced in gas management, discipline etc. but simply be unwilling to push the limits on air. Pushing personal technical limits is a far cry from pushing personal physiology which, after all is what everyone diving deeper than 50-60msw on air is doing. You can train your brain, but not your tissues to cope at depth. The question we should be discussing is not 'why should we do a deep air course before trimix?', but, 'Should we not establish several years of experience using air (or nitrox) at depth before learning trimix?' Hope I haven't rattled too many cages!! Cheers, Dr Ali Lawrie. Dept of Human Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK. aml@li*.ac*.uk*.
Navigate by Author:
[Previous]
[Next]
[Author Search Index]
Navigate by Subject:
[Previous]
[Next]
[Subject Search Index]
[Send Reply] [Send Message with New Topic]
[Search Selection] [Mailing List Home] [Home]