Tech and Training

It may be more than four years since the 2018 Thai cave rescue dominated headlines, but the recent movie and miniseries releases have generated highly emotional reactions once again. Are divers being put off cave diving, and why should any diver consider going underground? Yvonne Press takes a closer look, interviewing several divers and technical diving instructors for this report.

The desire for adventure lies in wait and entices us… On Utö, there was an unexplored mine system. Follow Anders Etander down into the darkness, where the “In Water Under Land” exploration group had the privilege of diving in a place that has been untouched for 150 years.

Trim is a misunderstood, and often poorly rectified, scuba skill. In our scuba journey, trim is something that we may or may not encounter or discuss, unless we get into technical diving or more advanced recreational diving. Francesco Cameli offers insight and advice in how to improve your trim and increase your efficiency in the water.

Very often, you will come across examples in scuba education where what is taught does not match up with what divers do in real life. Mark Powell provides insights for new divers and tips for dive instructors.

Thermal issues affect the comfort, performance and decompression stress experienced by divers. The impact varies with the timing, direction and magnitude of the thermal stress. Thermal protection can be provided by a variety of passive and active systems. Active systems should be used with particular care since they can markedly alter inert gas exchange and decompression risk.

When we learn to scuba dive, we are given a little knowledge and taught some basic skills. We take a theory test and demonstrate that we can perform the skills and that’s it, we get a licence.