Technical Diving: What Is It and What Is It For You?

 Michael Kane is a I.A.N.T.D Divemaster certified in Nitrox, Advanced Nitrox, Technical Nitrox, Deep Air, Advanced Deep Air and Trimix.

For many years Californians have embraced the technical diving movement. Long since, "out of the closet" Californians have jumped on the tech diving bandwagon with the same enthusiasm as surfboards and rollerblades.

For those of you who have yet to experience the joys of tech diving and are wondering just what this new frontier is, I say the following: Tech diving means many things to many people, but in its most rudimentary form it's diving on a mix other than standard compressed air (i.e., 21% 02 & 79% N2) and/or diving beyond established no-decompression limits (NDL's).

So does that mean if someone unwisely dives a tank of air beyond 130 feet, they are a tech diver? No. In fact, it means just the opposite. Tech divers very strictly observe maximum operating depths, and a well-trained tech diver does truly plan the dive and dive the plan.

My own personal definition of tech diving is divided into two parts. The first part is diving Nitrox within the established air NDL's to provide an increased safety margin against the bends. I refer to these type of divers as recreational technical divers.

The second type of technical diver is the "hardcore" technical, who dives on a mix other than standard compressed air and beyond the established NDL's. Frequently, this type of diving provides for the introduction of a third breathing gas into the mixture. The most common gas added to the mix is helium to create a "Trimix." The primary advantage of adding helium into the mix is that it is a less narcotic gas than nitrogen and will thus reduce the effects of nitrogen narcosis as your depths increase. It does, however, load your tissues more quickly. Accordingly, based in part on the tissue loading and increased depths, three-minute safety stops are replaced with lengthy decompression stops. Because of these required stops, a direct no-stop ascent to the surface in not acceptable.

Therefore, a tech diver must solve any problem that arises at depth. Redundancy and discipline are a tech diver's mandate. A recreational diver is taught that if a problem occurs, try to surface as quickly and safely as possible. A tech diver is trained to get to the next decompression stop. Solving the problem at depth is of the utmost importance because surfacing while in decompression mode is simply not an option.

So why does a tech diver run these risks? Because we can? Or because it allows divers to explore reefs, wrecks, and caves that aren't generally accessible via conventional scuba. Dives such as the Matahorn-240 feet (north of Santa Barbara Island); Tuna Clipper wreck-180 feet (Catalina); Palawan wreck-140 feet (Redondo); and the Triple Crown-250 feet (Santa Barbara), to name a few, become accessible.

Many dive shops in California have wisely embraced this medium of diving, and I encourage anyone interested in this type of diving to visit your local shop and open yourself up to this opportunity. Commercial and military divers have been doing it for decades. Are you ready for the experience?

Rebuttal from Dale Sheckler, Editor:

First, I don't have a problem with nitrox. I also have no qualms about rebreathers. With proper training, those two are viable options for the recreational diver. Where I draw the line is at decompression diving. Decompression diving should NEVER be attempted without a chamber ON- SITE. If this problem can be solved, which in some rare cases it has, and the divers are fully informed as to the risk, than I think recreational "technical" decompression dives can take place at depths of up to 300 feet. I am also completely against 100 percent oxygen (or similar oxygen-rich mixtures) in the water for decompression.

Most of my education, experience and opinions were honed from seven years as a commercial diver, doing mostly deep mixed-gas work. OSHA regulations required a chamber on-site any time a dive is over 100 feet or involved decompression. SCUBA is forbidden below 100 feet. All of these regulations were for good reason.

While I can see SCUBA (rebreathers and nitrox included) being a viable option below 100 feet for recreation (not for work!), anybody doing decompression diving without a chamber right over their heads is just asking for it. When decompression diving, it is not a matter of "IF" you will get bent but "WHEN." And when it happens, you'd better have a chamber available IMMEDIATELY. Anything less soon means irreversible tissue damage. I have that damage and I had a chamber on site. A friend of mine was not so lucky. He now wears diapers.

Although technical diving is now "out of the closet" in California, and many excellent dive stores offer quality services for enthusiasts, there are a couple of reasons it has not grown here by leaps and bounds. First, There are few "technical" dive sites. Short of a few wrecks, most of our deep offshore is flat mud bottom. Second, most of the dive-charter boats have not embraced it, probably because there are so few dive sites that require technical diving. Only one dive-charter boat, the San Diego-based Lois Ann, actually generates and fills nitrox on board. Some others bring tanks of it aboard, but most barely tolerate it.

Technical diving will grow, albeit slowly. More technical dive sites will be discovered and boat services will add equipment to serve the need and interest. We as divers, however, need to take serious risks into consideration. With proper safety nets, such as on-site chambers, we can venture into new and more exciting deep territories. Until then, technical divers are the "pioneers," and as a good friend of mine says, "Pioneers are usually those with the arrows in their backs."