While technical diving is still fun, it's not for people who wish to go deeper. Cave and decompression dives carry more risk. The best way to reduce the risk is to plan your dives and train well. This is why divers who take these dives must be held to a higher standard. It takes practice to become a competent diver. There is no substitute for the practice and time in the water. Divers will be able to see that the minimum standards are frequently exceeded during training courses. Individual technical instructors sometimes do this. Technical training teaches divers how to redundancy. It enables them to solve problems at 1500 feet inside a cave. It's not easy and it's scary, but it's an important aspect of diving within that environment. Technical training can be challenging, but it can also be fun. At the end of it, the diver will have the ability to see areas that are completely closed off to the rest of the world.
Sidemount cylinder mounting originated for cave diving and have become more popular in all forms of technical diving since. They separate the dual cylinders, with a 1st stage on each cylinder, and mount them on either side of the diver’s body. This doesn’t allow the diver to breathe from either cylinder in the event of a regulator failure, but does give the diver easier access to valves. Sidemount diving gives the diver a larger horizontal profile, but a smaller vertical profile.
Rebreathers allow for greater diving ability by eliminating large cylinders. Instead, they recycle the gas exhaled by divers, scrub the CO2 and inject small amounts of gas. This can greatly increase the time it takes to dive, especially if you are doing deeper dives. Rebreathers can either be sidemounted or back, and their profile is determined by the configuration.
New gear means new techniques. Scuba diving sidemount is easy if you have the right skills.
Cave passage formed over millions of years of water erosion that stretch thousands of feet from the entrance are reserved for those trained in overhead diving. The unique beauty and tranquility that these sites offer is only surpassed by the incredible timescale with which they formed.
Each PADI Specialty you complete gets you one step closer to earning the elite Master Scuba Diver™ rating.
How To Become A Tech DiverYour Sidemount BCD is a harness equipped with a bladder. It also has a system of sliding Drings, bungee chords, clips, and other intricate features. The fit and position of your tank are critical for how your tank looks and is trimmed later in the water. Your instructor might spend quite a while to make sure you have them exactly right.
Sidemount rigs were initially designed for cave diving. It allows divers to pass through small cracks and restrictions (tiny hole) much more easily than the traditional back mount rig.
Skills (specific). Throughout the tech program, specific diving skills are practiced until they are perfect. Overhead diving navigation and line skills can be honed until they are automatic. Decompression divers know how to manage the gas and plan stops. Rebreather divers meticulously construct, test and tear down their equipment to ensure that it is functional. The skills required for each course are mastered at the beginning level. As you progress, they can be further developed. Each level takes these skills further and creates new challenges that make you a more knowledgeable, competent and well-rounded diver.
There are two options available with most agencies: technical Sidemount or recreational Sidemount. Similar prerequisites apply to both TDI or SDI. However, the tec-sidemount course will increase your skills. The course will also require you to learn more about them. Perfect trim and maintaining your level during the skill development is a must.
The very general definition of technical diving is to be exposed to a ceiling that does not allow a diver to ascend to the surface at any moment of the dive. This might be due to a real ceiling, in terms of a cave or a wreck, or a virtual ceiling created by a decompression obligation. In this case, by exceeding the NDL’s, mandatory decompression stops have to be performed on ascent in order to avoid any case of decompression sickness. In most cases this requires the use of special equipment, e.g. Twinsets or Sidemount, special gas mixes and of course additional training to be able to perform those stops accurately on ascent to optimize off-gassing of Nitrogen.
To extend their time at the wrecks and reefs below the ocean floor, decompression divers use oxygen mixtures. Decompression divers can cruise around the ocean floor for as long as 60 minutes, whereas sport divers may only be able to do two bottom dives at 100ft for 15 minutes each.
To begin a technical diving course, you must have completed the following prerequisites: a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver certificate or equivalent, a PADI Enriched Air Diver certificate or equivalent, and a PADI Deep Diver certificate or proof of at least 10 dives to 30 metres/100 feet.
According to experts, approximately 40% of technical divers enroll in additional education and training programs. This yields a reasonable estimate of approximately 160,000 active technical divers worldwide.
- Increased Bottom Time A Closed Circuit diver is not concerned with running out of gas because they are only limited by decompression. This can also be reduced by selecting an oxygen partial pressure that provides the diver with virtually limitless bottom times in 60 feet or less of water.