Safe Diving?

[schultz]

I'm going to have to side with matt t. on this one. Safety is a relative term based on an individual's comfort level for risk. As such the basic argument here is the ability to make a judgment call on what one considers a risk. A life insurance sales person will certainly say SCUBA diving is a severe risk, and as a result raise your premium. On the other hand, a freediver might call us a bunch of wimps for carrying our air supply with us.

I also think making a 165 foot dive on a single 80 may sound like a risk, but is dependent on the circumstances, the conditions, and the abilities of the diver. 165 foot dive in cold water and limited vis is certainly riskier than a 165 foot dive in warm water and 100 foot vis, but that doesn't mean both can't and haven't been done. Much like not wearing a helmet on a motorcycle has and is repeatedly done.

I'd wager that long ago, the progenitors of tech divers, at some point made such single tank dives. As divers developing the methods and equipment we use today, they were usually pushing the limits of their equipment, and themselves. In all probability the idea of running doubles wasn't for safety's sake, but simply so that they could stay down longer. Likewise the idea of having two regs wasn't one of redundancy, but from a lack of either a Benjamin manifold or an isolator valve.

And even though knowing your SAC is part of a solution, I would argue that BMI should also be a factor as well. I have seen far too many tech divers out there that really should consider losing a few pounds in the interest of their own safety.

As far as planning such a dive - think like Tigger... just bounce  ;D