Category — Decompression

…The very next day I was back in the water with Yamil and this time we couldn’t finish again as I had another course already booked but we could get another two days done.

Then Ritch came in who I had taught previously during his cave diver course to do some training in deep diving and expand his horizon in cave diving with a basic Sidemount class. As Ritch was already a cave diver his basic skills just needed a little brush up but we were ready to go and introduce new information and skills such as SMB deployment, gas switches, team formation in open water, ascent protocols, and so forth. We did a deep diver and advanced Nitrox combination and so the theory was focused on gear selection, dive planning in regards to decompression, gas volumes, oxygen exposure, emergency procedures and plenty of real life examples. During our dives we saw different environments as we used a Cenote for confined water, a sinkhole for our first dives and then moved over to dives in the ocean. During our dives in the ocean we went down to Xpu-Ha and then drove down a bit south to the deep reefs. After arriving on the bottom I have to admit I was surprised how cool the reef was. Anybody that knows me, knows I am not super keen on ocean diving, but I have to say that I really enjoyed the dives there as it was full of life and colour.

Right after that we were back in the caves (juhu) and our first objective was to built a rig that Ritch would feel comfortable in. Being that Ritch is a bit larger then life it wasn’t quiet that easy but not that hard either, and I think at the end we came to a total price on his rig of like 100usd or smth =) The next two days we were training first in open water to get familiar with the equipment and to understand 3 dimensional diving, fine tuning here and there and working on gas management and emergency procedures the basic game. After that we started with cave diving in passages that he could have passed in backmount but only with serious effort but now in sidemount were manageable with ease. It was cool to see Ritches smile after the dives because he felt so comfortable and free under water as never before with a set of doubles especially since the normal backplate simply doesn’t fit on his back. We even had a day to spare and go for a fun cave dive down in Chan Hol which we both really enjoyed!!!

Ritch in a basic harness with a modified BCD

The days after that we could finally finish Yamils cave training with two last spectacular days in Taj Maha and Xunnan Ha. It was kind of funny since I went from the biggest person I have ever trained (Ritch) right to the smallest one (Yamil). The same way I like to challenge my students during training I like to be challenged myself, and so it was really cool to look for ways to make the two comfortable in the water although they had slight disadvantages due to their seize. At the end of the day the two of them really came around during the course and I was more then happy to sign their certification!!!

Right after that it was my time to be student again, Yipi!!! I had enrolled in a GUE fundamentals class with Fred who I know and respect for some years now. I am constantly trying to evolve as a diver and as a diving instructor and part of that is to take classes myself not only to see again how it feels to be watched and critiqued but also to see how the instructor teaches and relates information. All in all it was a great experience and lots of fun and I am looking forward to do further courses with Fred an hopefully also with Danny and Chris!

At the same time my dear friend and dive partner Hans (with family) was is town and so of course we had to seize the opportunity to go cave diving. He had spent the last couple of days exploring with Mauro while I was teaching and now that I was free the three of us went to Cenote 307 adding some 600ft of line in small unstable but awesome cave!!! The day after that we went down to Dos Pisos for a three hour swim around since neither of the two had been there before. There is really hardly anything better for me then going cave diving with a couple of friends and just enjoy a day out in the nature!

Little Hans

The day after that I was back teaching, finishing Anneleens course that she had started with Nando. We had only the last three days left to go from intro to full cave. Anneleen is a local diving instructor who finally after living here for more than a year gave in and started cave diving. It was fun to watch because she instantly was so fascinated and stunned by the caves that she was still smiling hours after ascending =)))))

Finally the last couple of days I had the great pleasure to dive with Dr. Mel Clark and show her around a little bit which was great. Of course it is always cool to dive with another CCR cave diver especially one that is in the hall of fame!!! We did some really amazing dives and finished with an insane trip from Cenote Dos Palmas to The Pit and back. Some 4h of non stop scootering…I don’t know what was better the dive or finally getting out of the water releasing the pressure in certain areas =)

Mel with a 42 ... without batteries in it though =)

After that I got another two former cave students in, Jojo and Chris from the french part of Swiss. We started of doing a stage, multistage course which was really super fun, since I had to teach in french which always kind of makes me look like a stand up comedian. In the evenings my brain was so much in knots that I started to mix all sorts of languages and simply was not able to communicate anymore. Moments like this always make me think of my polish chemistry teacher in high school, being that chemistry isn’t the easiest subject in the first place, only being able to understand every third word of the teacher doesn’t really help either But they both assured me that I was doing great and that they really understand what I am talking about (yeah right…)! Thanks god hand signals are international!!!

Jojo and Chris still suited up to avoid the bloodsuckers

After that Jojo continued with a Normoxic Trimix class which brought me back again to dive in the ocean. After the confined water session in a cenote we dove out of Xpu-Ha, mostly hanging out at the drop off =) Jojo really enjoyed the training especially the ratio deco which was a new concept to him and as he told me changed completely the way he looks at dive planning now! I am always happy and glad to get such a reaction from a student!

So I hope this little report shows why I didn’t post too much in the last 2 months but I was simply too busy living the dream and going diving every day, hahahah! I hope you enjoyed the post nearly as much as I enjoyed the dives!!!

cheers Patrick

The continuing exploration of particular Cenotes, cave systems and sinkholes within the Yucatan Peninsula takes time in terms of divers committing to exploration with training and experience, the financial as well as the time burden that such explorations are coming with.  Another large aspect of cave exploration is finding the right dive team that is equally experienced to dive the cave or sinkhole at hand, to train continuously and work up to the planned dive pluis the logistical support needed for such projects.

decompressing deep diver

In January of 2010 all came together when a polish deep diving team around Jurek and Cezary were ready to continue the deep exploration of the Sabak Ha (Turbid Water) Cenote in the central Yucatan some 60 kilometers / 40 miles south of Merida. I was diving deep in Sabak Ha around 1997 – 2000 to a depth of 150 meters / 500 feet with a large room clearly continuing horizontally as well as vertically down. No walls where to be seen, no ceiling and no bottom with a visibility of around 30 meters / 100 feet. When Jurek heard about this site we went for a recon dive earlier this year ,and he was all for a project to push the boundaries.

lowering gear to the water

The 2010 exploration team consisted of Jurek and Cezary as deep push divers, Robert and Dariusz as support divers, Conrad filming underwater, Jacek and Piotr filming on the surface. me from the ProTec Dive Center in Playa del Carmen was responsible for local support, logistics, gas mixing, photography underwater and on the surface, liaison with local authorities and press as well as translation. All participating divers where technical cave divers as well as Trimix divers experienced in deep cave diving as well as Mexican cave diving. Dive team preparations prior arriving in Mexico included multiple deep cave diving in the Red Sea in the 100 – 120 meter / 330 – 400 feet range to get the team procedures in sync. When the dive team arrived in Q. Roo during the beginning of January 2010 three days of horizontal cave diving in large doubles where conducted to acclimatize to Mexican caves and the tanks to be used during the deep diving project.

For the first deep diving day in Sabak Ha all breathing gases such as a number of Trimix mixtures, Nitrox and oxygen were mixed by me in Playa del Carmen’s ProTec Dive Center. A total of 25 80 cft alm stage tanks, 2 sets of 80 cft alm double tanks, 2 sets of 104 cft steel double tanks and 2 sets of 125 cft steel doubles tanks got filled, rigged and came along for the trip. This was going to be an all open circuit assault as all divers where experienced in open circuit deep diving. The project was scheduled in a way to dive one day then mix gases / rest the next day, dive one day then mix gases / rest the next day, and so on.

mixing it up

After arriving on site at the first diving day all came together as we met our porter team around Dionicio and Chepo from the Ecology Department of Yucatan who introduced us to the helping hands they had organized. The 2010 Sabak Ha exploration project was in the planning for over 6 month with continuous support from the Ecology Department of Yucatan who contributed with a rescue team and vehicle on site. As all gases where mixed in Playa del Carmen the team went to the dive site for a recon dive that led the whole team to a depth of 65 meters / 215 feet. During that time one camera man was diving with the team documenting the environment, two camera men stayed on the surface documenting the surface activity and I me remaining on the surface organizing the surface support as well as taking still images for later articles that where to be published in Poland.

gear assembly

underwater camera man

The next day after the recon dive was a mixing day with a 6 hour long mixing session at Dutton’s Machine Shop in Merida, the only filling station in Merida. During that mixing session a number of breathing mixes did not turn out the way they should have been. The affected breathing mixtures were analyzed and identified the same evening but could not be changed due to fill station time restraints and gas supply company hiccups, the gas company not being able to deliver the gases I had reserved and they had confirmed. The blending issue was identified to as helium tanks containing less than 100% helium. The average helium purity was established and analyzed around 93-94% helium, with one tank 70% helium and another 80% helium. This mix up of breathing gases could have been easily avoided if I would have analyzed all helium tanks for helium content before starting the mixing process. In order to fix the breathing mixtures the next planned diving day fell into the water as the remixing of a number of Trimix mixtures took some 3 1/2 hours as soon as the filling station opened, and at this time the dive team did not feel it wanted to be rushed into deep cave diving, and canceled the dive of this day.

fill station in Merida

The second diving day lead the deep diving team to the 100 – 110 meter / 330 – 360 feet horizontal passage from where the line leads into the large room where no walls, bottom or ceiling can be seen. When continuing into this passage exploration starts at 120 meters / 400 feet horizontally and when following the line down at 150 meters / 500 feet depth at the end of the line with no bottom in sight. The deep team was continuously documenting the whole dive with a helmet mounted video camera. The shallow diving team went into the shallower 65 meter / 215 feet cave passage to investigate the potential for further exploration. During that dive the underwater camera man was filming the deep team to a depth of 100 meters / 330 feet while this author was taking underwater still images to a depth of 30 meters / 100 feet as well as surface photography.

Due to delays with the gas company providing the helium and oxygen, and the weekend becoming a major factor of not being able to blend breathing gases in the fill station the day was used to shoot surface footage at the Uxmal ruins. Nice day, nice footage, not much diving through. At this time the project schedule started to slide but the day in the ruins was a great way to not think about diving too much.

The following day started with fully restocked helium and oxygen supplies and the next 6 1/2 hour mixing marathon session began to blend breathing gases for the upcoming push dive. This time we had no bad helium tanks but all tanks were analyzed to be around 93 – 94% helium. While being at the fill station all day long I really appreciate the help from Elias who helped me so much pumping all that air that was needed to drive the so important booster pump as well as to top of all them tanks.

tanks come up the line in darkness

The next diving day came with us leaving Merida around 8:00 am from the Tecnotel Motel right in Merida and close to the fill station with about an hour’s drive to the village of Mucuyche where we met at the house of Dionicio and Adelaida to gather the rest of our porters. Today old trusted Pedro came along to help out, bringing the porter crew up to four porters. Arriving shortly after 9:00 am at the dive site it took about 1 1/2 hours to get all the tanks set up, down the rope and towards the water’s edge. The rescue teams daily arrival was around 11:00 am, just before the divers went into the water.  The hang line was installed daily to hang travel gases, deco gases and extra tanks onto the line prior the divers went into the water. Support divers verified the tank depth. During the deep part of the dive one of the deep support divers got entangled into the guideline at around 100 meters / 330 feet depth and the guideline had to be cut to free the support diver. At this moment the dive was called and the divers came back to the surface well before the 6 hour long planned dive that would have been the push dive. Better safe than sorry.

tanks come up the line in darkness

As the project time was running out slowly with the project duration coming to an end it was decided to do one more dive to fix and repair the guide line at 110 meters / 360 feet in order to leave an continuous guideline for following dive teams. Breathing gases where filled and remixed early in the morning the same day with a late start arriving at the dive site at 11:00 am putting the divers into the water around 13:00 pm. The deep diving team was able to repair the line on this last dive and to push on into the deep part of the cave to a depth of 130 meters / 430 feet. As we had a late start into the dive darkness came up fast. The generator was started up around 17:00 pm providing light with two 500 watt working lights, thus enabling the surface crew to safely bring all the tanks back up the line and stored into the vehicles.

During our stay we gave a number of interviews for local news papers and local TV stations that demonstrated that the local populations interest in how the sinkhole of Sabak Ha, the deepest geological feature of the Yucatan may continue and what new passages might be found. During the diving days we had quite a large number of up to 40 visitors that came from the surrounding villages to see what we do, have a chat and lend a hand. 

As the project came to an end the team did no reached the goal they came here to Sabak Ha to fulfill, the exploration to maximum depth, however, the team established the potential of exploration at the 120 meter / 400 feet plateau. When the guideline broke it became a priority to repair the guide line and they spend a dive on repair instead of a deep push dive. During the four conducted deep dives no one was hurt, no one was bent, not even a strained ankle, shoulder or scratch on the arm. As it turns out at times deep cave exploration is not an easy feat but if you can walk away from it and talk about it, it was a great successful project. The dive profiles where for dive 1) to 60 meters / 200 feet, 20 minutes bottom time, 1,5 hrs total time, dive 2) to 60 meters / 200 feet dive, 30 minutes bottom time, 2,5 hrs total time, dive 3) to 113 meters / 370 feet, 17 minutes bottom, 2 hrs 15 minutes total time, dive 4) to 100 meters / 330 feet, 11 minutes bottom, 1,5 hrs total, dive 5) to 130 meters / 430 feet, 30 minutes bottom, 4,5 hrs total time.

decompressing deep diving team

I would like to thank the Ecology Department of Yucatan for their support, the Bomberos rescue team to be there for us, the porter crew to make it happen, Adelaida for the great Yucatecan food, Pedro to not give up teaching me some Maya and Dionicio to have the great skill to move a mountain of equipment without a scratch.  

I would like to thank the Polish deep team Jurek and Cezary, the support team Robert and Dariusz, the underwater camera man Conrad, the surface film crew Jacek and Piotr to come here to Mexico and trying to push the known boundaries of these deep caves. I would like to mention as well that part of making the project happen was the generous project support of the main sponsor Infovide-Matrix a Polish IT consulting company which also sponsored Jurek’s 231 meter / 757 feet depth record in 2007, the main media patron National Geographic Poland and the equipment sponsored by Liquivision – X1 Trimix computers and Ammonite Polish underwater lights.

family matters

Stage cylinders are generally used in addition to “back mount” cylinders or in addition to “side mount” cylinders while cave diving.  The reasons that cave divers, wreck divers and technical divers use stage cylinders include but is not limited to increase the total volume of gas during a dive so that penetration distances or dive times can be greater, to hold different gas mixes (for example a decompression mix, a travel gas, or a bottom mix), to hold a volume of gas needed for team planning or as a safety bottle, and to provide an open circuit bailout source during Rebreather diving applications, to provide safety air volumes needed when planning dives using DPV’s and calculating for failures requiring a swim out.  The diver throughout the entire dive may carry these cylinders, depending on the objective and dive plan, or they may as well be placed along a cave or anchor/ascent line to be retrieved during the exit from the dive depending on the environment and conditions they are diving. 

Diving with single and multiple stages in the overhead environment (cave, wreck, or decompression) should only be attempted by divers who have perfected diving skills in their back mount or side mount gear.  These advanced techniques are to be used only once a diver has achieved perfection in the environment they are diving and have a real need and desire to progress greater into the dive.  The reasons divers use stage diving techniques may be enticing but as well with these practices comes a greater responsibility and greater risks for divers to be aware of.  Divers are now entering further into the overhead environment, they may be leaving tanks in water filled caves which may impact the cave, and they are increasing task loading during the dive while making a more complex dive plans.  Divers using the techniques and information in this manual must as well understand and completely accept the risks involved in planning extended penetration dives.  

Stage bottles need to be secured to the divers harness via clips to the d-rings. The preferred clip is a bolt clip made out of stainless steel due to a longer life span and ease of use while brass clips become more difficult to operate with time. The size of the clips is depending of the environment, where cold water divers need larger clips due to the gloves or mittens worn. A carry strap can be attached to the stage bottle with the two clips firmly attached to the strap. The strap is used below water to handle the tank and less for the surface. A stainless steel clamp covered in a tubular webbing makes a perfect tank band to hold the strap in place. The connection from tank to clip should be of a cutable kind, a metal to metal connection is not desirable since it can not be cut in case of a clip failure or entanglement scenario when it becomes important to drop or remove the stage tank to solve the problem.

All stage tanks should be labeled clearly in regards to what breathing media is inside the tanks, the marking of maximum operational depth on the side of the tank in large number does have the advantage of the team members being able to see and verify that the correct breathing mixture is being used ant the correct depth.

Each stage regulator does need its own pressure gauge with a preferable short high pressure hose of about 15 cm length. The gauge is bend upward during use and attached to the first stage via a bungee cord or surgical tubing. During periods of non use the gauge can be released to ease the stress on the hose. During the dive when the stage bottle is not in use the valve is to be maintained close, during descent and at maximum depth the valve should be opened shortly to pressurize the first stage, a prevention of water entering the first stage due to pressure differences.

Safety and Deco

Decompression diving and accelerated decompression schedules are in need of a variety of breathing gases ranging from bottom gases to travel gases and a variety of decompression gases. All these breathing media have to be planned, blended, labeled, analyzed and then used at the appropriate time and depth during and according to the dive plan. Depending on the environment dived and the planned bottom times stage tank size and material are of consideration to the diver, while most divers prefer aluminum stages because of their lesser weight and lift requirements.

In ocean drift diving and wreck diving scenarios the decompression stage bottles are usually carried by and with the diver throughout the whole dive, even if that means that the breathing mixture is carried below safe breathing depth. In cave diving scenarios the decompression stage bottles are clipped to the line in a way that not to much stress is exerted onto the line and left at a depth where the breathing gas can be safely breathed, eliminating the potential danger of breathing the wrong mix at the wrong depth.

Extended Penetration

Stage diving must be well thought out. Staging allows the diver to extend the distance of safe exploration. Due to being further into the system it may also produce additional time pressure stress. Training and gradual build up in penetration distances will help offset this stress. In addition stage diving is similar to flying a airplane in that the diver must think well ahead of their position. By thinking ahead and being familiar with stage techniques the diver avoids delays during stage drops and retrievals and the diver will also avoid sudden changes in buoyancy.

Stage and multi-stage diving are other techniques used to further penetration into the caves or wrecks but allows as well longer bottom times during technical dives. When a diver reaches his turnaround pressure but wishes to further penetrate the cave or wreck then a stage or extra tank becomes a necessity. A stage tank can be worn on either side or all on the left hand side depending on configuration preferences. The dive is generally started on the stage tank and when the pre-established turn pressure is reached the diver switches over to another stage or the primary tanks either back mounted or sidemounted. When turn pressure on the primary tanks is reached the diver will turn around and will find his or her stage that was clipped to the line, then change over to the stage tank and exiting the cave or wreck breathing of the stage tank or tanks. Stage diving has a potential high impact on the cave and wreck environment and damage can be extended far into the cave or wreck. Care should be taken not to harm the cave or wreck. Special training is needed to use stage tanks safely in the cave or wreck environment.

Gas and Stage Switching Procedures

How you and your team will switch between your cylinders during the dive needs to be preplanned and practiced in open water situations prior to attempting them in the overhead environment or in real decompression situations.  There are a few common and ¨accepted¨ ways that this can be accomplished.  However your team decides to accomplish gas switches it needs to be remembered that there are many things that can go wrong when switching gases and going to and from regulators.  The end result of an improper switch can end in loss of gas, loss of a way to deliver gas, hypoxic and hyperoxic situations.  Gas switches no matter how done need to have the entire teams attention at 100%.  This is true if you are doing a switch to a bottom gas, travel gas, or a decompression gas.  In addition to verifying your own gas supply and system you must also verify that the other members of your team have made a proper switch as well.

Entire team switching gas and stages

One way that teams prefer to switch gases is the entire team switching at once.  This means that at one point, after the signal has been given and confirmed by the entire team, every member of the team will initiate and switch gases at the same time.  The sequence for this is:

a.     One team member gives signal to switch gases upon arrival at the correct depth or point of dive

b.     Team confirms the need and place to switch

c.      Every diver locates proper cylinder

d.     Divers read labels and check depth vs. MOD

e.     Everyone turns on the correct stage cylinder

f.       Divers deploy regulator of stage and get it into position to breathe

g.     Purge regulator you are planning to breathe from, confirm it will supply gas

h.     Switch to new regulator and breathe prior to storing previous gas (you may need to go back to it)

i.        Store hose that is no longer needed

j.       Trace regulator back from your mouth to the stage bottle and check mix and MOD vs. your actual depth

k.     Check other team members to verify they are doing switches and to proper tank and breathing gas

l.        Once all team members have switched and confirm okay, continue dive or decompression

This type of switch is best accomplished with all the team members facing each other.  While you are completing each of your steps you are as well going to be keeping up to date with what the rest of the team is doing.  How is their buoyancy, are they at the correct depth, are they switching to the correct tank, is the tank on, is somebody out of gas?  The ability for every member of the team to be able to see each other and the cylinder that each member switches to is critical.  A wrong switch to a wrong tank and breathing gas is a life-threatening event for every member of the team.  Every team member must stay in complete control of the procedures during this time of task loading. 

Individual Gas Switches

The second style of gas switching is very similar to the first in the stops but has a different team strategy.  Some teams prefer to switch with one person always acting as observer.  This means that one person will delay their switch and act as an observer until the rest of the team has confirmed their switch.  Upon confirmation of the gas switch of the rest of the team this diver will then switch gases with the rest of the team observing them.  This second way will take a longer time to get the entire team switched but gives you the added benefit of always having one diver less task loaded and paying attention to confirm the switch of the other team members and can respond in case of any failures.

a.     Team member gives signal to switch gases upon arrival at the correct depth or point of dive

b.     Rest of team confirms the need and place to switch

c.      Rest of team locates proper cylinder (leader does not switch)

d.     Team read labels and check depth vs. mod (leader observes)

e.     Team turns on the correct stage cylinder (leader observes)

f.       Team deploy regulator of stage and get it into position to breath (leader observes)

g.     Team purges planned next regulator, confirming it will supply gas (leader observes)

h.     Switch to new regulator and breath prior to storing previous gas (leader observes)

i.        Store hose that is no longer needed (leader observes)

j.       Team traces regulators back to the stage bottle and check mix and mod vs. actual depth (leader observes)

k.     Team members verify they are done with switch and to proper tank (leader confirms or makes any adjustments needed)

l.        Upon completion and confirmation of the entire teams successful switch the team leader will then start at the top of the list and complete theirs with the rest of the team acting as observers.

Once the team leader has switched and now the entire team is on the new breathing gas and or stage tank the dive will continue or the decompression will start.

Either way that you decide to switch gases team members must be responsible for their own switch while ensuring the safety of the other team members.  Regulators will be coming out of mouths making potential out of air situations more likely.  In situations of reduced and zero visibility extreme caution must be used, especially when you are carrying mixes that have maximum operating depths shallower than any parts of the dive.  A wrong switch has been the end of divers lives on more than one occasion, usually involving switches to high oxygen content tanks at depths over maximum operating depths.

While reading this article please keep in mind that 99% of my diving takes place in the caves of the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. The opinions expressed in this article are based on my observations of the combined experience of Matt here at Protec, Hans Kaspersetz from Quiet Diver and myself.

Patrick decoing after deep dive in the Pit

I have found the X1 to be an extraordinary tool, considering the environment I dive in and the type of diving I pursue.  The X1’s design and features are both robust and easy to use and facilitate the type of diving I do on a daily basis.

I have used the X1 for: shallow cave diving, teaching and exploring; both in open and closed circuit modes; in environments from huge power passage to tight sidemount cave; for air, Nitrox, Trimix and Heliox; and for up to 7-hour long decompression dives with in water decompression as well as in a habitat.

There are certain aspects that make the X1 the perfect choice for me and here are some of them:

1. The computer is unbelievably small: I think this is a very important factor because of various reasons such as, less entanglement hazard while working with reels and lines, less crowded forearms especially while deep diving and the general minimalist approach of equipment in cave diving. The unit is nicely streamlined and can be carried on both arms with the option of flipping the screen. In cave diving, seize matters!!!
2. The solid body: Anyone that dives in caves will be able to tell you that it is extremely demanding on your equipment. Sharp edges and fine silt that enters even the tiniest orifice put your equipment to the test. The solid body, button less design and wrist mount from Deep Sea Supply combines to make a durable unit that securely attaches to your person.
3. The OLED display: Well, who ever has seen one under water or in pictures knows that the display is very powerful and also readable from almost every angle. A fantastic feature especially for exploring because you can still read the depth reading in extremely low visibility which facilitates the collection of data. In fact the display is so bright that I call it my 3rd back up light.
4. The compass: Honestly I would not use the compass for surveying BUT, you can use it to follow the general trend of the cave while laying line for example. It safes another spot on your arm, two birds one stone.
5. The integrated stopwatch: Very useful for timing decompression stops, low Po2 brakes in the water or habitat, slow final ascents, distances between way points in the cave, runtimes of DPV and many more.
6. The constant updates: Another awesome feature and they are FREE, when you use Ross Hemingway’s V-Planner Live. It is like getting a new computer every couple of months. The new software versions are announced by mail. To download and update your computer takes about 10min and it is easy even for somebody like me who is very inexperienced with computers.
7. The user elected menu list: The new software 4.25 gives you the option to choose the order of the menus. Meaning you can swap things around depending on their importance during the dive. Depending on the type of dive you maybe want to have the compass on first place followed by deco mixes and maybe then the lost gas option or maybe first stop tables then ceilings and display. Before every dive it’s your choice in which order they appear.


Hans preparing for a 325ft / 4.5hours cave dive

8. Plan your dive, dive your plan: I am a fan of Ross´ software since I first used the Z-Planner for deep diving projects in the Egyptian Red Sea. When I got my hands on the first multi-gas computers the calibration nightmare started. I don’t know how often I “bent the computer” because I followed the tables and my computer did not agree…what a nice back up?!? Anyway it always took some time to tweak the settings of the software with the ones of the computer to get them to more or less agree. Now having the same software in the laptop as in the dive computer makes really for nice straight forward dive planning.
9. The use: If this computer was any easier to use a monkey could do it, on a second thought maybe the ones at NASA can. But seriously the menu set up and programming is really great. You still should READ THE OWNERS MANUAL before you use it though. But after sitting and playing with the unit for like 20min you know it inside and out.
10. Customer Service: I have worked in the dive industry for about 8 years and purchased a lot of gear.  Unfortunately, my customer service experiences have been less then satisfying and I rarely have something positive to say about dive equipment manufacturers.   Most will invent the weirdest stories or blame you no matter how something brakes or doesn’t work as advertised. Sometimes it is even insulting.  However, I am happy to report that for the case of the X1 where you have to deal with two manufacturers: Liquivision and HHS Software, I received OUTSTANDING support from Margaret at Liquivision and Ross from HHS. They are incredibly fast when it comes to answering emails, are super professional and very helpful.  I had to deal with them for equipment failures and after a dive accident.

Patrick during Deco

Unfortunately, I cannot report only good things about the X1.  We suffered some hardware failures; however they were dealt with quickly and without cost to us.

1. Problem with depth sensor: There is a known problem, as stated by Liquivision, where the pressure senor port is filled with too much protective white goo.  When the computer is heated up by being in direct sunlight or in the sweltering jungle, the goo expands and the unit senses that it is under pressure and will not turn off.  There are fixes for the problem listed on the Liquivision web site.  If it occurs while on site, Hans discovered that he could just take the computer in the water and the goo shrinks and display the correct numbers.  Liquivision offered to replace the computer.
2. Missing pixels on the display: Matt and I both had some missing lines and missing pixels on the display after only a couple of dives. Liquivision replaced them at 0 cost and we kept the computers (since they were still absolutely usable) until the new units had arrived. The same day after sending a mail to Ross we had a new key to install V-Planner Live again at no cost.

All in all it is really a great tool with a wide range from exploring tiny caves in OC sidemount and getting good readings even in low viz which is crucial for collecting good survey data to several hour long deep cave dives utilizing CCRs with 20 different Bail Out mixes and habitats. The X1 with V-Planner Live is a great product that really jump started a new generation of dive computers. What a great time to be a diver ))

Photos by Matt and Hans

Termine un curso de técnico en cuevas con Berni y Tanya una pareja de Alemania , después de terminar su curso de buceo con matt y realizar unos buceos de diversión en nuestras maravillosos sistemas de cuevas decidieron tomar el siguiente curso, ya que los dos tienen entrenamiento en buceos técnico y de mezcla de gases tal como trimix que es una mezcla de gases que se utiliza para buceos profundos.

El día de entrenamiento empezó en la tienda haciendo el papeleo y con un poco de teoría. después de checar los tanques los cargamos en la camioneta y nos dirigimos al cenote edén.

Haciendo un recordatorio de las técnicas aprendidas en su curso de cuevas mas la nuevas que consisten en los dos tanques extras los cuales los utilizamos para extender nuestra penetración y el otro con una mezcla mejor para acelerar nuestra descompresión hablando y discutiendo los diferentes técnicas de manejo de los tanques, y preparar nuestro equipo, estábamos listos para hacer nuestra sesión de aguas abiertas.

La sesión fue transcurriendo tranquilamente ya que ellos ya estaban habituados a las técnicas que utilizamos en cuevas y a que tenían bastante experiencia haciendo buceos técnicos no se les hizo tan pesado el día.

Entrenamos en varios escenarios como sin visibilidad y compartiendo aire, después de estar barias horas en agua llegamos al final del día con una sonrisa por que fue un día muy productivo tanto para ellos como para mi. Regresamos a protec para descargar nuestro equipo y prepararnos para el día siguiente.

Berni y Tanya platicamos mucho de nuestros buceos que son tan diferentes ya que ellos bucean en Alemania y la temperatura del agua es un poco mas fría que la nuestra, también de sus viajes al mar rojo y bucearon con ex alumno de nosotros Leigh Cunningham sus viajes a Francia y me comentaba las diferencias entre esos sistemas y los nuestros.

Al día siguiente fuimos de nuevo al cenote edén y hicimos dos buces de entrenamiento con las botellas de penetración y de descompresión compartiendo aire y sin visibilidad los cuales Berni fue el líder en el primer buceo y luego cambiamos y fue Tanya. En el segundo los buceos no fueron tan largos salimos del agua para meter las cosas a la camioneta y empezar el regreso a protec durante el transcurso de regreso platicando mas acnecdotas de buceo las cuales ya saben que son muchas.

El siguiente día después de analizar nuestras mezclas y cargar todo en la camioneta nos dirigimos hacia Mayan Blue que cada unos kilómetros adelante deTulum. Después de ver el lugar y hacer nuestra planificación consistía del buceo armamos los equipos el plan consistía en ir al túnel B navegar hasta el salto del túnel E continuar hasta el salto con el túnel F, con una descompresión de 15 min a 6 metros respirando oxigeno.

El buceo fue fantástico es uno de mis lugares preferidos para bucear ya que el sistema cambia de forma y es muy decorado con espeleotermos (estalactitas y estalagmitas).

Fue unos de los niveles de cueva que me gusta enseñar y a Berni y Tanya los voy a recordar por las anegdotas y historias que compartimos. Esperando que regresen una vez mas para seguir buceando en estos maravillosos sistemas de cueva.