U
You know tech divers. They’re the
gearheads with double cylinders or
rebreathers, multiple deco cylinders
of synthetic gases and enough com-
puters to fly the space shuttle. As if
all that weren’t cool enough, their drysuits have pee
valves. Tech divers (a.k.a. “tec divers,” “technical div-
ers” or “dropped-on-head-as-infant divers”) are all
about dives that are deeper and longer than those
made in mainstream recreational diving.
WHY DO IT?
There are probably as many reasons to do it as there are
tech divers, but you’ll hear these explanations often:
• EXPLORATION
. It’s a privilege to go where few people
do or, even better, where you can be first. Tech
diving lets you do this.
• ACCOMPLISHMENT
. Anything worth doing takes
training, time, commitment and discipline. There’s
an undeniable sense of achievement when 100
feet is a decompression stop rather than the dive’s
deepest depth.
• ADRENALINE
. Tech diving isn’t for thrill seekers,
but you have to be emotionally dead not to feel
something while exploring a virgin underwater cave
2,000 feet from the closest exit.
• CONTRIBUTION
. Early cave divers created the octopus
and first embraced enriched air nitrox. Tech divers
are some of the “test pilots” for new technologies
that may eventually become mainstream.
• PERSPECTIVE
. T.S. Eliot put it this way: “We shall
not cease from exploration, and the end of all our
exploring will be to arrive where we started and
know the place for the first time.”
TYPES OF TECH DIVING
Let’s start with a definition. Generally, tech diving is
diving — other than commercial, military or public
safety diving — that takes divers beyond the limits of
mainstream recreational diving by using more extensive
training and technologies to manage the risks. It includes
decompression diving, diving deeper than 130 feet, wreck
or cave penetration beyond 130 linear feet from the
surface and using comparatively complex methods and
equipment to enhance underwater performance.
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WINTER 2014
RESEARCH, EDUCATION & MEDICINE
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A D V A N C E D D I V I N G
Technical Diving
B Y K A R L S H R E E V E S
Divers who wish to exceed the limits of recreational
diving may be interested in learning what technical
diving has to offer.
KARL SHREEVES/COURTESY PADI
STEPHEN FRINK
