Deeper or longer? A technical question

I remember all those years ago when I first emerged into the diving scene, fresh-faced and keen there were many avenues to explore. I came across an image in the back of a magazine with the tag line “when one tank is not enough”, I saw a team of divers with two or more tanks and accessories, some I was already familiar with, others were an intriguing mystery. It ignited something in me and as I browsed the internet the concept kept cropping up in expedition reports, videos, blogs etc. As I found out, ‘Technical diving’ is an inspiring branch of the proverbial dive tree.

In this blog I want to discuss some of the benefits I’ve found in Tec diving, and why you might consider giving it a go.

Firstly, let’s get some definitions out of the way. Technical (Tec) diving is an overall mindset that applies to equipment, teamwork, skills and dive planning that aims to reduce the risk of diving past the no-decompression limit or in an overhead environment. Within this Tec umbrella are subdivisions like open circuit backmount, sidemount, cave trimix and closed circuit rebreather. My own experience is with open circuit backmount so I will focus on this here. Entry PADI TecRec courses are Tec 40, Tec 45, and Tec 50. These focus on using air and nitrox mixes and build the skills needed to react to Tec diving emergencies. The numbers refer to the maximum depth you would be qualified to dive to.

What are the benefits?

Longer dives:

Arguably the biggest draw into Tec diving is to dive deeper. While this is a perfectly valid rationale, there is more to it. Tec 40 doesn’t increase your depth limit at all. Tec diving is a great tool to have in your arsenal, it opens the door to not only deeper dives but also longer dives at recreational depths. Let’s say you’re on your favourite 30m wreck dive but instead of 25mins bottom time on recreational Nitrox, you have 40mins bottom time to explore with Tec techniques! I’ve done this in the past on the Heron, my personal favourite.

Decompressing after a dive on the Sark Minesweeper

Deeper dives:

This is the intuitive benefit of Tec diving. To push past the recreational diving limit of 40m while keeping risk at an acceptable level. Tec 45 and 50 transition you to this stage. Some of my best dives have been on the deeper side. I remember in the Philippines I explored a WW2 wreck at 50m which had more fish on it than the reefs, and a deep 45m dive at a classic shark spot where we had more sightings than the others at 30m. Locally, the Sark minesweeper sitting at 50m is a pristine dive because it is visited very little and has lots of artefacts remaining.

More backups:

In standard tec diving kit, you always have redundancy, twin tanks, two regs, two masks, two cutters, two computers, two SMBs, two buoyancy devices. This is important because you need to handle problems underwater while completing your decompression stops. Some of the same ideas can cross over to recreational dives, like having a spare mask and computer and feeling comfortable with swapping to a spare mask underwater. These drills are cemented into place on all tec courses.

A team mindset:

Even though a tec diver is equipped and capable of completing the dive alone, the team mindset is paramount. Your teammates are your backup brain and you are theirs. A good tec diver is disciplined enough to put the needs of the team first without being distracted by personal goals or distractions. This mindset is rooted in all tec diver training.

Who should try tec diving?

I think that all divers should try out tec diving at some stage. Though tec diving shouldn’t be thought of as a route all divers must take, a discover technical diving session is perfect to try on twin tanks and play around with some skills. If you like it then go for Tec 40 where the fun really starts. In general, if you enjoy dives in the 30m range on wrecks and reefs then tec diving may benefit you. There are some prerequisites, you must be at least 18 and Advanced open water with Deep and Nitrox specialties. If you’re a seasoned diver or a pro who’s never tried tec it’s a nice way to practice something different and learn new skills that can complement your diving as a whole.

Inspired you to learn more?

Send us an email or pop in to chat with me Bouley bay dive centers Technical diving instructor.