From: evdg@jet.uk (Erik van der Goot)
Newsgroups: rec.scuba
Subject: Terminology (and other things)
Keywords: SCUBA, BSAC
Date: 20 Nov 92 16:59:02 GMT
Organization: Joint European Torus

First of all, let me say that I am new to this stuff. I have read the FAQ but I
have not been following any of the discussions so far. I have picked up some
stuff about the narks and about 'decompression '. I am an Advanced Instructor
with the BSAC of which I have read nothing so far in this newsgroup. Where are
all these BSAC divers??!! For the non-initiated out there, the British SubAqua 
Club is the worlds largest (I think) sports diving organisation with well over
44000 members worldwide. It is the only organisation run for and by divers. Not
just instructors!! It is also a club, so normally instructors teach in their
branch FOR FREE. They must be enthousiastic! 

To the point, this terminology stuff is a good thing, so we know what we are
talking about. I would however like to point out that there are a lot of divers
out there that are certainly not the 'hunter / competitive' type (at least not
when they are diving), enjoying DEEP diving on air (50+ metres) on a regular 
basis. They are just well trained and experienced sports divers. 
Although the BSAC considers 50 metres (165 feet) the limit for sports diving,
quite a few people go beyond this. Note that I am not advocating deep diving
here, just stating that it is being done. A BSAC Advanced Diver (not to be
confused with a PADI Advanced Open Water!!) certainly has the knowledge and
experience to take into account all the aspects that are involved in organising
and performing dives up to this limit and beyond. This includes things like
decompression requirements, air consumption, backup procedures, surface cover,
etc etc. All this is part of our STANDARD training. No such thing as a Deep
Diving Certificate here. Note that I am still talking about what the BSAC
considers sport diving. And of course there are plenty of Advanced Divers that
never go near the 50m mark. So, recreation divers do go deeper than this
magical 130ft limit.


With respect to Lee Vogt's posting I would like to say that:
a: 
carrying out dives with planned decompression stops has got nothing to do with
professional diving or recreational diving. As a matter of fact, most
professional divers would never do planned 'in water' decompression stops.
they get hauled out of the water and plonked into a surface decompression
facility. 
b:
Without looking at any tables here, I will not be far off by stating that the
maximum time you could stay at 40m (130ft) without having to do a
decompression stop is probably about 12-15 minutes. And this is when you have
no residual nirogen loading. So for any reasonable dive to this magical limit
you already have to plan you staged decompression. 

I agree that dives with staged decompression are a little bit more involved
and require slightly more experience, but they are certainly not just for the
'professional diver'. Another reason for doing a staged decompression dive is
that it actually gives you the opportunity to stay well within the tables,
rather than dive them to the limits and fool yourself in thinking you are
safe 'because I am not doing a decompression dive'!!

I hope I have not just repeated what has already been said before in this
group. I would like to see more UK/European stuff here. 

Happy and safe diving

Erik van der Goot, BSAC AI 1266.
evdg@JET.UK
- Disclaimer: Please note that the above is a personal view and should not 
  be construed as an official comment from the JET project.