Why No Technical Diving?
Dale,
While I always enjoy your publication and its respective representation of diving as it applies to California, I'm saddened by your lack of attention to the growing technical dive movement. In the past you've voiced your personal objections to this type of diving; however, for a publication to be truly indicative of the subject matter it purports to analyze, this omission is glaring. Tacit by your omission is the implication that tech divers are a rare commodity. This suggestion can't be any further from the truth.
I invite you to come join us on a dive and you can experience first hand the precautions that we undertake to ensure our safety. Tech diving is here to stay and anyone who fails to recognize this will be playing catch-up for the better part of the next millennium. Many recreational divers have benefited from the training and educational advances provided in tech diving. Training and education are the keys to this movement and by sweeping it under the rug, divers desirable of this type of exposure are denied quality education due to the fears and misinformation spread by the naysayers.
Dale, it's time to welcome in the next century. Get with the program.
Regards,
Michael H. Kane
Michael:
First, where is the line drawn at "technical diving"? What some call "technical diving" I have no problem with, even welcome it. Nitrox and advances in rebreather technology are certainly beneficial. Also, the heightened awareness of redundancy, training and dive planning are fantastic advances. Then there are gray areas. Diving below the accepted sport diving limit of 130 feet is one example.
But I draw the line with two practices common in the "technical diving" community: decompression diving without the benefit of an on-site chamber and the use of high oxygen content breathing mixes used for in- water decompression.
Seven years as a commercial diver working both deep air and mixed gas jobs taught me what is risky, what is dangerous, and what is just plain foolish.
I commend intelligent technical divers who develop painstaking techniques and equipment that make highly dangerous practices safer with redundancy and multiple cross checks. But they are still dangerous practices.
And California Diving News will not promote those practices.
Dale Sheckler, Editor
Is Solo Diving OK?
CDN,
I've always considered diving solo as dangerous but I've heard of and met people who do this and don't seem to have any reservations about it. In some instances it may not be exactly solo diving. A couple buddies may go into the water with the understanding that they'll just be in the same general area, each taking their camera/videos with them. I've taken up underwater photography now and I occasionally end up losing track of my buddy. I'd like to know your own experiences when it comes to practicing the buddy system and trying to get some good photos. It seems concentrating on "getting the shot" makes it difficult to keep an eye on a buddy. Perhaps even an article about diving solo. Can it be done safely on a regular basis? Thanks for your time.
Doug Ledin
Burbank, CA
Doug:
Whether leaders in the diving community want to accept it or not, solo diving is now a common occurrence. Solo diving is definitely not the safest diving practice. But neither is it necessarily dangerous. It depends much on the situation and experience level of the diver. But it is ALWAYS preferable to dive with a buddy.
Although not recommended, solo diving should only be conducted by experienced divers in familiar surroundings with ideal conditions in shallow water. All divers, however, should have skills of self-sufficiency including the equipment, skills and training for self rescue.
By the way, there is no "gray area" for the buddy system. You either have a buddy or you don't. To go in the water with a "sort-of" system is probably more dangerous that no buddy at all. At least if you know you're solo diving, you know that you have to rely 100 percent on yourself.
I do occasionally dive solo for various reasons. First, I don't like diving with a stranger I just happened to be paired up with on a boat. I had a bad experience with that years ago and I just don't want it repeated. Second, I don't want to impose my dive plan on somebody else. My dive plans often involve long tedious dives hovering over one rock with a macro camera. Boring! But having a camera is no excuse for not having a buddy! A cooperative buddy, acting as a model, can greatly enhance your photography. A cooperative buddy can also help monitor air consumption, bottom time and depth (important factors which underwater camera clickers often lose sight of while in search of the perfect image).
Dale Sheckler, Editor
CDN:
Thank you for listing our club in your directory - we've gotten several new members as a result!
Garry McCarthy, President
San Diego Underwater Photographic Society
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