Nekton

In DIR diving, the diver donates the regulator in their mouth to the out of air diver and retrieves a backup that is kept in place by a piece of bungie cord around the neck. This approach to air sharing is a central tenet of DIR. The placement and routing of hoses is important ...more

An activity that only a decade ago was widely considered to be beyond the scope and purpose of recreational diving, technical diving has now come in from the cold to play a leading role in the development of programmes and practices that have opened up a whole new world of exciting underwater discoveries and possibilities....more

Unfortunately you don't hear a lot about DIR in this country and I have found it difficult to find information and access equipment that I consider optimal, (the reason that I developed my equipment site). There's an economic benefit in getting the right gear first up. I know! I've spent a lot on gear over the years and made plenty of dubious choices. ...more

Because I am asked a lot of questions about my equipment this series of discussions is, hopefully, intended to go some way towards answering them. Remember though, I'm still only learning about this stuff myself. (I've only taken the most basic level GUE course to date). Don't take my opinions as gospel, seek information from a range of sources and use your own common sense ...more

Stability is critical in determining a divers comfort level and performance in the water. The consequence of instability includes increased stress and effort (to compensate for the instability) and general poor form in the water, (legs down/body up posture that can result in environmental damage, inefficient swimming strokes and an inability to maintain position and effectively perform critical skills). ...more

Before taking the G.U.E. DIR courses, I considered myself to be a competent diver - although I still recognised that I had a lot to learn; like how to swim backwards! So what prompted me to do the two courses, Fundamentals and Tech 1? ...more

With none of the perceived challenges or convenience associated with diving from the side of a vessel onto isolated reefs rich in marine life, many divers regard shore diving as little more than an extension of their open water course; a reminder of time spent in confined waters refining the essential skills that were a necessary prelude to the anticipated excitement of 'real' diving! ...more

Offering quick access to remote dive sites, a good boat is the ultimate diving platform: Catering to the full spectrum of underwater interests, the challenges are more exciting, the underwater visibility generally superior and the marine life more abundant than when diving from the shore. ...more

One of the most challenging tasks in diving - and certainly one of the most common in that it has equal application to military, commercial and recreational divers alike - is the seabed search to locate a specific object. It may be a vital piece of equipment carelessly dropped over the side of a dive boat, a sunken mooring buoy, machinery, small wrecks, or even - in the case of Navy EOD divers - the detection of mines. ...more

According to a statistical survey that I read somewhere or other forty percent of the world's adult population are, at any one time, actively engaged in the search for a suitable partner while another forty percent are anxiously trying to remove themselves from a relationship turned sour. ...more

While advances in surface-to-diver, diver-to-diver voice communications systems have had an enormous impact on occupational diving safety, the use of such devices by the recreational SCUBA diving community has met with limited success; not least because few recreational divers require such complex - or costly - communication systems; especially when there already exists a variety of time-honoured techniques that usually prove adequate to their needs. ...more

A diver's ability to know precisely where they are in relation to the shore or boat is fundamental to every good dive plan. The greater the diver's proficiency in the techniques of underwater navigation the easier it becomes for them to know not only where they are at any point during the dive, but also where they're going! ...more

Diving is a potentially hazardous activity. The materials contained within this magazine are for informational purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for proper and appropriate training. Copyright (C) 2002-2005 Hydro Tech Systems. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without express written permission is prohibited.

A 'fun' activity made more enjoyable when it's accompanied by a serious attitude towards training and safety, the following selection of articles demonstrate that diving is a continually evolving activity.