Well, I don’t know if I have resolved the one issue with my twin-tanks set-up. When I first used it, there was a slight leak at the neck of the valve. When I took it to Pulau Sembilan, it wasn’t there anymore. So this whole week next week I shall test the set-up in more rigorous conditions, whack it to the max and see if it performs well.
Tech diving is different to normal recreational diving. The first difference is of course the equipment that is being used: you carry more than one tank, and always have a decompression gas in your “deco bottle.” You will certainly breathe oxygen enriched air, and unlike the recreational Nitrox (Enriched Air), we carry oxygen mix of between 41 percent to 100 percent, well, I usually carry one mix, and that is the 50 percent Oxygen mix. Before I do my gas switch to this mix, I will have to read the label carefully, and understand what I had written on the label. If I do not understand what’s on the label, chances are I will get Oxygen Toxicity and most probably die….hehehe. Other difference include almost always but not necessarily, diving to depths beyond (deeper) than recreational dive limits; wreck or cave penetration. And you will have to be a self-sufficient diver to dive without a buddy.
Kudinne descending using the mooring line
Me cruising by the wreck
Kudinne (top), Me (center), and Jim (below) during one of the decompressions stops
Me, Kudinne and Jim doing a decompression stop
Kudinne and I with our twin tanks on our back and the decompression gas hooked onto our side
Another mode empoyed for tech diving is the use of the Rebreather. It is called a Rebreather because you will be breathing your own recyled breath. So you must monitor your air’s Oxygen content. If it gets too low, you get hypoxic and you pass out underwater. Not a good thing to do. I am seen in the pics below using a Buddy Inspiration Closed-Circuit Rebreather, otherwise known as the Yellow Box of Death (YBOD). Yes, people have died using this system, but it is still one of the best around.
Prepping the YBOD
Prepping the unit’s controller by inhaling and exhaling
Javier assisting me to open the valves before diving
Yeah, something went wrong with the harness of this unit mid-dive and Javier had to assist me again.
SeaDemon Says 