Scuba Diving?

[Arfie]

80ft aint that deep just under 25m which I dive to and past regularly.

Did you mean 80m? In which case, it's not the quarry that is dangerous, it's the depth that is the problem. The other issue is that many quarries do not have any medical facilities on site and nearest recompression chambers are normally 100's of miles away, so any incidents that do happen have a greater chance of being fatal.

Arfie

 

[steelhealr]

Arfie..just friendly here for discussion, but, I disagree that 80 feet is not deep. Although the actual depth doesn't seem visually and energy wise to be deep, 80 feet is DEEP. Recreational diving depth is considered down to 130, right? But safetywise, 80 is considered deep for many reasons:

1) this is the depth at which effects of nitrogen narcosis can be seen
2) slow ascent in an emergency breathholding situation is at 1ft/sec , well, like a mile. Compare exhaling for 60 seconds vs 80
3) this is at a depth below which you easily pass thru thermoclines, hence, temperature changes can affect mental processes.

In the marine world, most corals are best viewed above 60 feet as reds and oranges are filtered out. IMO, this is the safest place to be..even tho' there is NEVER a guarantee against getting bent, even with a dive computer. SH

 

[Arfie]

You misunderstood me SH, I didn't say it aint deep, I said it aint that deep in reply to phoenixfish's statement that they were at a ridicuous depth of 80ft. This bearing in mind that PADI OAW is down to 30m and the equivalent level with BSAC is 35m (50m on air if you are a first class diver), both of which impose limits that are considered safe (IF you have the experience and training) so at these limits, the chances of an incident are rare and the ones that do happen aren't as serious, meaning that their training regimes don't get bad press.

My divemaster and a few others have dived past 60m on air , but the divers phoenixfish mentioned were on enriched air (presumably some nitrox mix), which is even safer at deeper depths.

These quarry accidents almost always happen to VERY experienced divers, rarely with the newbies (and I still class myself as a newbie), usually due to a mixture of complacency and pushing the limits, many also happen to solo divers, and they happen at unsupervised sites with no or little suitably trined help there. SO it's not the quarry that is unsafe, it's the expert divers that are the problem. IMO of course And it's incidents like this that put people off diving.

One other point, thermoclines? in English water? you kiddin? it's bloody freezing all the way down

All that said I don't like diving below where the sun is still bright (if you need a torch when diving during the day, you are too deep for me), I have been on many organised dives where we have been diving wrecks which are at the 25m - 35m range, not my first choice, but the only option is dive it or stay on the boat. I prefer the reefs and warm water I'm also an airpig, so depth = BAD for me, I can empty a 15l tank in 20 mins at 25m , I've never had to finish a dive because the allowed dive time has been reached.

Arfie

 

[steelhealr]

Noted. I only have one quarry dive in Pennsylvania....deep, cold, and no visibility. I could barely do a requred math problem at ....80 feet. As for the experts getting killed....well, over here I think it is a mixed bag. The ones who died on the Andrea Doria were experts, supposedly, one found the next day entangled in cables on the stern. The last ones to die on the San Diego were not experts. The other most common deaths here in the US are cave divers.....newbs who enter caves without ropes to guide their way out...or ..take off their mask in a pocket of air that has gas...or silted out only feet away from the exit.

As for 'safe' limits, I can easily say that, really, there ARE NO SAFE limits. Diving is inherently dangerous. As a doc certified in Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine, I can tell you that you can get bent with a dive computer, following tables or, in 30 feet of water. Nitrogen can come out of solution even by following all the rules. Bottom line....like you said, less is best. The deeper you go, the greater the chance of adding risk...whether it's the bends, pulmonary embolism, greater depth from which to ascend or getting narc'd. SH

 

[Phoenixfish]

btw b4 it was 80 m not ft and yeh twas the depth that got em in the end, died doing what they loved