Want to explore deep wrecks? Explore underwater caves? Stay longer at depth? If you answer yes to any of these questions, then technical dive training is what you need.

Unlike recreational sport diving which keeps you within no-decompression limits and a depth limit of 130 feet, technical diving lets us go deeper and/or stay longer at depth with proper knowledge, training, and experience.

Is this type of diving safe? As with any type of diving, technical diving has risks. To reduce the risks we prepare our gear thoroughly, plan extensively, and practice our skills on a regular basis.

Dive gear for this type of diving is a bit different than recreational gear. Divers wear either stainless steel or aluminum back plates with a continuous webbing harness to reduce failure points like buckles. The webbing has stainless steel d-rings that can be positioned in the exact required area it is needed to secure our gear. Sandwiched between the back plate and tanks is a back buoyancy device, a.k.a. wing, which are designed to be used in conjunction with twin cylinders. The tanks are twinned together with a manifold system so divers can breathe from both tanks at the same time or isolate a problem with the system.

Redundancy is a key aspect to technical diving: divers carry a spare masks, two 1st stages, and two adjustable 2nd stages on our tanks, two bottom timers, and other essential gear for the dive. In addition to carrying the twin tanks on our backs, a diver may have one or more additional tanks with decompression gases such as 50% and/or 100% oxygen.

Technical Diving International (TDI) is one of the forefathers of technical diving. The courses provided by TDI have developed over the years from practical experience in technical diving. Each course builds upon the other, giving the diver knowledge and experience prior to continue on to the next level. Getting the proper training for technical diving is essential for safe diving.

The first level of technical diving is “Intro to Tech Diving”. In this course, the student will learn how to assemble and prep their gear, emergency procedures, trim (horizontal) position in the water, situation awareness, fin kicks (modified frog, backwards, modified flutter, helicopter), surface marker buoy (SMB) deployment, and dive planning to name a few. After the student completes and builds experience from this course, he/she may continue onto Advanced Nitrox Course and Decompression Procedures Course.

While technical diving is not for everyone, divers that are looking to venture deeper, longer, or would like to penetrate a wreck or cave, may want to consider getting properly trained before attempting this type of diving.

An essential part of any scuba diving expedition is the scuba tank. For obvious reasons, you want to be sure that you get a scuba tank that is reliable and has enough capacity for the majority of your dives, yet easy enough for you to maneuver and carry. Scuba gets its name from the diving tank, because SCUBA stands for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. In fact, that is the distinguishing factor between snorkeling and scuba diving because the high-pressure gas for breathing allows you to go deeper underwater without resurfacing.

Scuba tanks contain several components including the aluminum or steel pressure vessel that holds the mixed oxygen-gas mixture, the pillar valve which connects to the diving regulator, and the rubber o-ring that forms a seal between the valve and regulator. The tanks made of steel add more weight to those that wear highly buoyant diving suits, or other tanks might be made of aluminum for ease of carrying. They should not be confused with oxygen tanks, because scuba tanks contain an air mixture that includes oxygen, but is not the oxygen-rich, hospital quality mixture.

Another factor that comes with deeper diving is that you might need different scuba tanks for each phase or depth of the dive. For example, your tank for the ascent and descent might include 21 to 40 percent oxygen, where the scuba tank you would use in deeper water might contain lower amounts of oxygen below the 21 percent or hypoxic below 17 percent. Decompression scuba tanks will contain high amounts of oxygen or pure oxygen to accelerate the decompression process.

Those that are certified in scuba diving instruction know formulas to calculate the amount of air you will need and take other factors into consideration. Details such as tanks that get lighter as you breathe them are on the verge of getting empty, can be a factor to consider in buoyancy, which will increase towards the end of the dive, for example. Recreational divers don’t need to worry about these scuba tank issues as much as those doing technical dives, such as exploring old shipwrecks in cold, deep and murky waters, for instance. The importance of your scuba tank is obvious when you are going on scuba diving expeditions, so it is advisable to seek out certified and expert help on your tanks before venturing out on your own.