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Date: Thu, 5 Oct 1995 20:34:01 -0400 (EDT)
From: Roderick Farb <rfarb@em*.un*.ed*>
To: techdiver@terra.net
Subject: Diver's Rights (fwd)


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 5 Oct 1995 11:22:32 -0400 (EDT)
From: Roderick Farb <rfarb@em*.un*.ed*>
To: techdiver@terra.net
Subject: Diver's Rights

THIS MESSAGE WAS POSTED EARLY THIS AM BEFORE GEORGE WITHDREW FROM THE 
LIST BUT FOR SOME REASON IT WASN'T SENT. 

I just received a message from J.R. Oldroyd, the owner of the Techdiver 
List, informing me that I was NOT one of the two individuals he was 
referring to in his recent post. I still apologize to the List for the 
waste of bandwidth recently. This is my last post on the matter of 
aspirin and narcosis and recent events. As you recall, Cherf posted a 
message to Pyle about aspirin and narcosis. I answered with an example of 
my reaction to narcosis during dives to the USS Monitor from 1990-1995 on 
air at 240 feet. Irvine intervened and the matter deteriorated. I have 
received a number of private messages about the matter and Irvine and so 
forth. What is to follow is my last post on the matter: I am a 
professional working diver that dives in and out of the US. I dive as 
the job requirements dictate. There are many places in the world where work 
related diving is regulated by labor laws and insurance regulations that 
do not permit the use of helium in scuba tanks; mixed gas must be surface 
supplied. If you are going to work underwater in those places with scuba it 
will be with air as the breathing gas. I dive open-circuit deep (whatever 
that means to you) air, mix and rebreather as the job requires. My USS 
Monitor dives at 240 from 1990-1995 have been made on air. In 1993, when 
I was hired by NOAA to dive the site, the dives were made on trimix under 
OSHA regs. My photograph of the Monitor was published in the June issue of 
National Geographic. In 1992-1994 I worked on assignment photographing the 
CSS Alabama at 200 feet 49 degrees F and dark on air at the bottom of the 
English Channel off the coast of France. These photographs were published 
in the December, 1994 of National Geographic. Two films about the Monitor 
dives were made for Public Television and for Discovery. These and other 
companies don't care how I do the dives. They leave that up to me and 
the prevailing work rules and insurance regs. of the countries, 
agencies, etc. involved. I have plans for work on two other deep shipwrecks 
under the control of two different nations and I must abide by the 
applicable work rules and insurance regs. Neither permits the use of 
mixed gas in scuba. I've been diving for 33 years using air, mix 
and rebreathers for portions of my career. I have never insisted that 
anyone dive MY WAY. I know how to dive comfortably on air, mix and 
rebreather, and I never try to set records. For me- this is 
the important part- diving is not an end in itself. I hate the gear, the 
decompression, the bubbles, the narcosis and the trouble. For me DIVING 
IS A TOOL. Period. A tool to get the job done. I don't give a flip if it 
is analog or digital diving, whether the tank is on my back or under my 
arm, whether it is air, mix or rebreather, as long as it gets the job done 
and I make it back to collect a paycheck. I dive what the job requires 
and within my comfort zone. There is an old rule in diving that says 
that a diver's skill is generally in inverse proportion to the amount of 
times they tell you how great they are. Irvine's way is not the only way 
to do diving. You all know that. The way I dive is MY decision alone. I have 
never insisted to anyone that MY WAY was the only way to dive and that 
that was the way they had to dive before they could dive with me. 
In 33 years, I've learned a lot about diving and people in diving and 
I've seen more changes in diving than most of you know about. 
There are many good divers out there that have more experience, 
more knowledge and a delivery style that makes you want to learn. 
Some are on this list but most are not. Many of the individuals that 
Irvine has slammed as being ignorant divers are the very people new 
divers should listen to about diving. I do not think anyone should dive 
deeper than 130 feet unless you want to. I do not think you should dive 
mix unless you want to. I do not think you should dive deep (whatever 
that means to you) air unless you want to. If you desire to do these 
things then get a proper education from good divers. There are people 
in the world's navies, commercial diving industry and in the deep sport 
diving community that have good advice. Most divers around the world do 
not use mixed gas or nitrox for their deep (whatever that means) dives. 
They use air. Not out of ignorance or lack of desire but out of necessity. 
And they are good at it. The argument that you cannot do good work on 
deep (whatver that means) air is utter nonsense. It depends on how 
deep and the individual. That you could do better with mixed gas is a 
reasonable arguement. But it's your choice. There is a vast reservoir of 
scientific literature, anecdotal evidence and other work form the military 
and commercial diving that can be used to guide your choice. I have a 
personal limit on air depth and have dived mix shallower. That's for me. 
One paper on our work on the Monitor is published in the Underwater Archaeology 
Proceedings of the Society of Historical Archaeology, 1992. Other work is 
in progress. All work was done by many divers who choose to use air. Many 
other divers are choosing to use various mixes. The first step in the 
process is to quit using the term "technical diver" to describe yourself. 
You are a DIVER, period. Call yourself DEEP, SHALLOW, REEF, CAVE, WRECK. 
Anything but technical.


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