Dive N Log

Is Cave Diving Dangerous?

Cave diving has been called, on more than one occasion, the most dangerous sport in the world.

Go to Forbes Article to see how the media sensationalizes and lumps this sport in with many others as nothing but adrenaline seeking.

But how accurate is this and how much of this is actually fueled by people’s own fears’ Well, that would be hard to measure, but there are some things you should consider before making your judgments. Continue reading Is Cave Diving Dangerous?

Overhead Environment Diver Training - What To Expect

There are four basic levels to overhead environment training. Cavern Diver, Intro-To-Cave Diver, Apprentice Cave Diver, and Full-Cave Diver.

Beyond this, there are specialties for advanced cave dives like Scooter/DPV, Cave Survey, Stage, and Rescue & Recovery.

Solo cave diving is an advanced form, but no formal training exists for this. Open water technical training can be combined with cave diving as well to REALLY make things interesting (i.e. mixed gas diving, rebreather diving, staged decompression diving, extended range diving, etc.). I’ll be focusing in detail on the four basic levels in this article. Continue reading Overhead Environment Diver Training – What To Expect

Are Snorkels In Open Water Really Necessary?

We tackle the issue of the need for a snorkel, let’s first differentiate between taking part in a scuba class versus post-certification diving. Agency standards currently require a snorkel for the Open Water Course. Therefore, it doesn’t matter if the snorkel is useless or not, you’ve got to follow standards until they are changed or you get certified.

Agency standards also require instructors to wear snorkels for Open Water training. So there isn’t much leeway in this. In addition, I think it’s a good idea for soon-to-be certified scuba divers to first learn how to use a snorkel. For example, you should know how to submerge, resurface, and clear your snorkel without lifting your head from the water. Continue reading Are Snorkels In Open Water Really Necessary?

Are You Ready For Overhead Environment Training?

Not all divers are destined to be cave divers. Nor do all of them necessarily want to become one, for various reasons. It’s estimated that only 1% of the dive community or about 10,000 people in the whole world are cave divers (give or take one or two people) or have the skills necessary to become a safe cave diver.

But what if you are one of those who think you may be interested’ When do you know you are ready for the first (Cavern Cert) of the four levels’ Actually, if you have to ask the question, then you’re probably not ready. It’s like being in love. You just know when you are, when it’s time, and when it feels right. But, let’s entertain some thoughts you should consider. Continue reading Are You Ready For Overhead Environment Training?

Diving Dry

Many divers coming from recreational into technical diving are normally sporting wetsuits. Wetsuits are easily purchased from most dive shops and are much cheaper than their drysuit counterparts.

But why might a cave/technical diver consider purchasing a drysuit’ I mean, after all, they are very expensive, prone to leak when damaged, and add one more thing to inflate/exhaust during the dive.

In addition, it takes a number of dives (usually about 10) to really begin getting comfortable diving dry. Nonetheless, I’ll try to lay out the main benefits of drysuits and hope it will help you decide which route you want to go. Continue reading Diving Dry

Equations Used In Dive Planning

Here are the most common equations I use when planning a dive. I broke them out into 4 categories: General Diving, Nitrox, Cave, and Trimix. Each category builds upon the previous one. So there are no repeats. Each formula has an abbreviated name. So further down the list, you may encounter an abbreviation inside a formula.

Look back up the page to see what this abbreviation means and how it is calculated (assuming multiple formulas are used to derive one answer). This article does not cover every aspect (i.e. decompression software running, contingency tables, pressure group determination, CNS, OTU’s, residual CNS, residual nitrogen, etc because they require more than just a formula to determine) of dive planning, but gives you a good head start. Continue reading Equations Used In Dive Planning

Etiquette In Cave Diving

What separates the human being from any other living creature is the ability to choose to put another living creature’s interest ahead of our own. Consideration for other people is the glue that makes civilization obtainable.

In cave diving, etiquette is just as important. Below is a list of examples of cave diving etiquette/protocol. These are by no means all-inclusive.

When gearing up, talk to others getting ready and see where they may be heading on their dive. If they and your team are going to the same area, it may be a good idea to put some time between when the two teams enter the water. In any case, it’s proper etiquette to stagger teams entering the water so everyone isn’t piling up on top of each other entering the water. Continue reading Etiquette In Cave Diving

Fitness & Diving

It’s a no-brainer that physical fitness and diving of any kind go together. Diving is a physically demanding activity. Not only are you putting your body through a resistance workout (drag) when diving, but internally, your body goes through changes as well.

For example, the efficiency of gas release during deco is affected by your body fat. The more the fat, the more difficult it is to off-gas nitrogen or helium. Other benefits of physical fitness are reduced gas consumption rates (which equals longer dives), less fatigue, and easier fitting into your wetsuit. Continue reading Fitness & Diving

Garage Gas Mixing – Getting Set Up

I’m an extremely low-volume garage gas mixer. I got into it more for fun than convenience or cost savings, although there is some benefit of each. The info I’m going to offer here is just a “get started” intro to garage filling. So this article does not get into cascades, etc.

All my mixing is done through partial pressure blending. There is so much conflicting info out there about the subject that I thought I’d offer what I encountered in one concise location. There are a few pics at the bottom. Continue reading Garage Gas Mixing – Getting Set Up

How Much Does The Best Cave Diving Gear Cost?

The question of which gear is the ‘best’ is debatable.’ Here is a list complete with retail prices for full-cave gear I believe to be AMONG the best on the market. Some of these items are listed as a single item.’

There are some gear modifications that you can make to these items which will cost a little more (i.e. stainless steel bolt snaps, stage bottle attachments, slates, totes to store this gear, etc), but these are the basics.’ Continue reading How Much Does The Best Cave Diving Gear Cost?