Tec Tuesday

Tec diving has come up a lot in conversation recently so I thought I would dedicate a post to it today. 

PADI defines technical diving as "diving other than conventional commercial or recreational diving that takes divers beyond recreational diving limits. It is further defined as an activity that includes one or more of the following: diving beyond 40 meters/130 feet, required stage decompression, diving in an overhead environment beyond 130 linear feet from the surface, accelerated stage decompression and/or the use of multiple gas mixtures in a single dive." For those of you wishing to learn more about the concept, click here for further information.

I have only done some penetration diving and multiple gas diving but full tec diving has never really appealed to me because I don't see the point of going down to say 90m in 7 minutes but then spending 7 hours  ascending in deco stops. 

I'm aware that is not entirely accurate but hereby lies my point: For me diving isn't about meticulous planning and calculations to achieve a depth to impress others. For me, diving is about freedom and escapism and surrendering to the power of the underwater world. I don't dispute the importance of tec diving for expeditions and commercial purposes but as a hobby it does nothing for me. I'm aware some people do it in order to see a wreck or a particular site at a depth greater than the rec limit, this I can appreciate, but to dive to crazy depths just to say you can seems pointless in my opinion.

And all the equipment would drive me crazy!