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Technical scuba diving and breathing gas mixes [click here to return to previous page]

Technical dives may also be defined as being to depths requiring the use of breathing gas mixtures other than air such as trimix, heliox, and heliair. This definition is derived from the fact that breathing a mixture with the same oxygen concentration as is found in air (roughly 21%) at depths greater than 180 feet / 55 meters results in a very rapidly increasing risk of severe symptoms of oxygen toxicity. These symptoms can include visual and auditory hallucinations, loss of muscle control, full body seizures, and loss of consciousness. Increasing depth also causes air to become narcotic and results in impairing divers ability to react or think clearly (see Nitrogen narcosis). By adding helium to the breathing mix divers can reduce the narcosis. They can also lower the level of oxygen in the mix to reduce the danger of oxygen toxicity. Once the oxygen is reduced below 16% the mix is known as a hypoxic mix as it doesn't contain enough oxygen to be used safely at the surface.  Another gas mix is Nitrox which while not being used for deep diving (it is used for decreasing the build up of nitrogen within the diver's body by increasing the percentage of oxygen thereby reducing the nitrogen percentage) is also classed as a technical diving mix. This is due to the fact that further training and knowledge is required in order to safely use and understand its effects on the body in a diving situation.

Technical scuba diving and the ability to ascend

Technical dives often refer to dives with a ceiling prohibiting a direct ascent to the surface: it can either be a mandatory stop (decompression obligation) or a physical ceiling provided the environment, such as:

·         Cave diving - diving into a cave system.         [Click here to read about the technical scuba diving sub-category of: Cave Diving]

·         Deep diving - diving into greater depths.        [Click here to read about the technical scuba diving sub-category of: Deep Diving]

·         Ice diving - diving under ice.                        [Click here to read about the technical scuba diving sub-category of: Ice Diving]

·         Wreck diving - diving inside a shipwreck.        [Click here to read about the technical scuba diving sub-category of: Wreck Diving]

Click here to read more about technical scuba diving equipment and training – or –

[Click here to view a listing of all informational articles Omni Divers provides on scuba diving]

Reference material for this scuba diving related informational article: wikipedia – the free online encyclopedia, scuba diving category

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