Some perspective on technical diving Accelerating no-fly time using surface oxygen Exploring a historic site in NZ Team gas planning History of deep diving Issue 1 – December 2010 Contents Editorial Editorial 2 Welcome to this inaugural issue of Tech Diving Mag. Available free, Tech Diving Mag will be covering a whole raft of Some perspective on technical diving subjects for technical divers, but will not try to please everyone and satisfy nobody. As you see, the motto is “Research - Development - By Bret Gilliam 3 Exploration”. Finding quality articles in these disciplines is not easy, but let’s keep our fingers crossed. Accelerating no-fly time using surface I have been fortunate to receive contributions from experienced hardcore divers who are extremely knowledgeable in all aspects oxygen of technical diving from deep wreck penetration to CCR and cave By Asser Salama 7 exploration. The contributors for the first issue are world renowned industry professional Bret Gilliam and technical instructor and explorer Andy Connor. Read their full bio at www.techdivingmag.com. Exploring a historic site in NZ Tech Diving Mag will be published every three months. Your By Andy Connor 22 contributions, inquiries and feedback are most welcome. This is very much your magazine and I am keen to have your input. If you have Team gas planning any interesting articles, photos or just want to share your views, drop me a line at [email protected]. By Asser Salama 26 Please visit www.techdivingmag.com and subscribe to the newsletter History of deep diving to be notified when new issues are available for download. By Bret Gilliam 29 Asser Salama Front cover image © Andy Connor. Editor, Tech Diving Mag Pg. 2 www.techdivingmag.com Issue 1 – December 2010 SOME PERSPECTIVE ON TECHNICAL DIVING By Bret Gilliam I’m pleased to be asked by Asser Salama to contribute to this new magazine dedicated to technical diving. It might be interesting to share some historical perspectives on diving practices that evolved to be known initially as “hi-tech diving” and later simply called © T. Timothy Smith. “technical” diving. Pg. 3 www.techdivingmag.com Issue 1 – December 2010 included accelerated decompression on both diving, penetration wreck exploration, or oxygen and early nitrox mixes, adaptations deeper diving. So a lot of what the handful of to equipment including transitioning to what us were doing was limited to a very small cadre was then non-standard high performance of extremely well experienced divers that came single hose regulators, buoyancy devices with from military, commercial or science diving improvised inflators, new filming methods, backgrounds. We applied existing methods and exceptionally deep work on air (400 fsw) and expanded the protocols to fit our work before we switched to helium mixes. projects, explorations, or filming contracts. When I finished my diving work for the Those who did conduct the types of dives Navy later that year, I went immediately into that we routinely executed four decades commercial diving and underwater explosive ago all had undertaken rather “in depth” blasting projects followed later by projects independent study in applicable topics of for scientific missions including NOAA and physics, physiology, equipment engineering, privately funded saturation habitats. By the emergency medical contingencies including time I decided to get involved in sport diving in in-water recompression and operation of field For many in my age demographic, diving 1972, I was finally introduced to other unique chambers. In short, we used every possible began in the 1950s. I first stuck my head individuals who had been experimenting with application of available technologies to underwater on scuba in Key West back in similar methodology to advance their wreck allow our expanded diving universe with an 1959. My professional career started in and cave diving interests. These folks included acceptable level of risk. Even then, there were January 1971 as a deep diver on film crews pioneers like Sheck Exley, Tom Mount, Hal instances of serious decompression sickness, filming fast attack submarines for the U.S. Watts, Dr. Bob Dill, George Benjamin, Al fatalities, or simply cases where people Navy during the height of the Cold War era. Giddings, Peter Gimble, Paul Tzimoulis, Jack disappeared and were never found. At times, And although the Navy had well defined McKenney, Bob Hollis, Frank Martz and it could be very sobering. But we shared programs and protocols for shallow water others. a common passion to push the technology rebreather missions, deep heliox diving, forward as a means to exploration, science, saturation systems, and explosive ordinance In those days, sport diving was strictly a and lucrative contract assignments. and tactical combat teams, the situations we shallow water (above 100 feet typically) focus faced as free-swimming untethered deep for about 90% of the participants and their And up until about 1980, this small cadre of divers in virtually bottomless open ocean instructors. The existing training agencies had divers existed in something of a parallel universe conditions broke new ground with a lot of the limited manuals and absolutely no interest in to the growing sport diving community. There techniques we developed independently. This decompression, alternative gas mixes, cave was little controversy about what we did since Pg. 4 www.techdivingmag.com Issue 1 – December 2010 our ranks had a tendency to “exclude” others the deep cave, wreck, and other explorations as That’s when guys like Exley, Mount, Wes rather than widen our circle. Usually someone exciting and newsworthy. Later in the 1980s, Skiles, Rob Palmer, Jim Bowden, Parker that was granted access to our dive teams or a series of inopportune deaths by some divers Turner, Lamar Hires, Martyn Farr, Jim King, shared techniques was vetted by a colleague who grossly exceeded their expertise and Bill Stone, and others in the cave community before gaining access to what we were up to capabilities raised alarms. These events tended began to come public with training and so the community was very close and to center on some cave events and particularly recommendations and operations protocols somewhat “peer reviewed”. Meanwhile most in the North Atlantic wreck community who more formally. Simultaneously, others like of us also had crossover mainstream interests seemed to practice their own form of “diving Richard Pyle, Joe Odom, Billy Deans, and in diving that coexisted with our niche work Darwinism” every time a group went out myself began to present on deep diving and that was far more challenging and dangerous. to the Andrea Doria or other wrecks and field accident management. In 1988, Dick managed to get lost inside or simply run out Rutkowski, the ex-Deputy Director of NOAA’s It was a fairly closed society that carefully of air due to inherently bad diving practices diving program, founded IAND to offer the chose who we considered as peers worthy and a bewildering lack of preparation with first program in nitrox training for the regular of inclusion into our circle as we cautiously improper equipment and woefully lacking public. Dr. Morgan Wells, NOAA’s Diving shared our evolving innovations. Primarily, we support systems. Director, also lent his support and awareness shared the same concerns: that less qualified began to grow. and inexperienced divers would attempt Finally, at the urging of responsible other dives beyond their capabilities and get hurt professionals like physiologist and algorithm or killed. And frankly, we didn’t like what computer modeler Dr. Bill Hamilton, many of In 1991, Mount, Deans and I joined with we saw in a lot of the “cowboy” approaches us began to speak out and offer cautions as well Rutkowski to expand his original concept of some were taking that resulted in disasters. as delineating guidelines for more responsible “The Int’l Ass’n of Nitrox Diving” (IAND) We wanted nothing to do with these elements practices. In many cases, our input could be to now be “The Int’l Ass’n of Nitrox & that seemed to be killing themselves off with summed up as, “If you can’t afford to do this Technical Diving” (IANTD). The four of us regularity from obviously predictable errors type of diving the right way, then stay out of partnered to create the first all encompassing of procedures, equipment, and outright lack of it.” An analysis of many fatalities revealed a technical training agency. And we settled experience. They scared us… and we weren’t simple lack of budget to afford the right gases on “technical diving” as the best name for scared of anything. But these few were giving and equipment and sometimes a total lack of this niche abandoning the “high-tech” term real explorers a proverbial black eye. any real training or prior experience. In short, that had been attached by some members a few sensational and well-publicized deaths of the press. In 1994, I departed to expand By the beginning of the 1980s, the press and were giving exploration an underserved bad and create a separate training agency I called the industry became more aware of these name. Technical Diving International or simply TDI. professional groups and generally accepted This company would go on to become the Pg. 5 www.techdivingmag.com Issue 1 – December 2010 In 1991, Mount, Deans and I joined with information out and letting the diving public and triumphs. The book was originally released Rutkowski to expand his original concept of make an informed choice. in its first edition in 1991 and I expanded it for “The Int’l Ass’n of Nitrox Diving” (IAND) a second edition in 1995. It went on to sell to now be “The Int’l Ass’n of Nitrox & All this became mainstream and fueled over 100,000 copies in seven languages.