Annals of Adventure–Going Down, Down, Down: Scuba diving is what pasty schlubs do at resorts in the Caribbean. Tech diving is what semi-sane adrenaline junkies do–because it involves exploring the sea hundreds of feet below the surface, at depths where blood gases can fizz like champagne if a diver is not careful. Tech divers see parts of the ocean the rest of humanity can only dream of. They also die with some frequency. Tempted? Before you suit up, take a dive with Californians Kendall Raine and John Walker as they explore a sunken German sub more than 200 feet under San Pedro Bay:

Raine sits on Sundiver’s aft deck, burdened with more than 200 pounds of gear: twin 130-cubic-foot tanks of helium-oxygen-nitrogen trimix, a tank of oxygen-enriched air or nitrox for decompression when he ascends to 70 feet and another of pure oxygen to be used at 20 feet, plus a bottle of argon gas that he uses to fill his dry suit–argon molecules being large and offering superior insulation against cold. He carries a spare mask, an extra regulator, a spool of nylon line, a high-intensity canister light, two backup lights and a waterproof notebook on which is written his decompression profile. On one wrist he wears a compass and dive watch; on the other, a bottom timer. His dry suit is fitted with a discharge valve so he can expel urine.

Yup, there’s a lot of gear. But human beings just aren’t built to swim around 330 feet underwater. Here’s more:

Most experts in the field agree on three things: (1) Deep diving is becoming safer as more is learned and as equipment gets better; (2) the blase deep-diving “cowboys” who rely primarily on bravado instead of science are incrementally removing themselves from the gene pool; and (3) what is known about safe decompression from very deep depths is still surprisingly sketchy in both its short- and long-term consequences.

Put another way, anyone with a few weekend training sessions can descend to 300 feet, but very few understand how to return alive, and even they face uncertainty.

“We know more about being in outer space than about being underwater,” says David Mount, general manager of the Florida-based IANTD, the International Assn. of Nitrox and Technical Divers.

Or, as Walker jokes: “The dumber you are, the deeper you can go.”

So what’s the point of taking the dare?

Raine pauses and delivers one of those schoolteacher looks that you get for asking a question when the answer is self-evident.

“Adventure,” he says, smiling.

Say no more, Deep-Diving Dude….



Decompression Hang-Out: “Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of beer……”

(Photo: Kendall Raine, via LA Times)

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