Technical Diving In Depth

Technically Speaking

Technically Speaking: Talks on Technical Diving Volume 2: Foundations and Strategies is the second book in this series by best-selling author Simon Pridmore. Part one, "Foundations", is for people who are thinking of getting into technical diving or wondering what technical diving is all about, introducing topics such as the pros and cons, the attributes you need, how to prepare, what to expect from a course, how to choose your training path and common mistakes new technical divers make. Part two, "Strategies", is for qualified technical divers looking for new perspectives and insights. The topics also include examples to follow and precedents to avoid if you want to prosper in this most challenging and complex of sport diving’s disciplines. These talks reflect Simon's take on dive safety and technique, and he shares what he has learned over the decades he has spent involved in technical diving, identifying areas where further progress in the sport is still needed and where common practice could be improved. Author Simon Pridmore has been at the sharp end of the scuba diving industry for 30 years. He pioneered mixed-gas deep diving in Asia, and he has held the regional franchises for IANTD in the western Pacific and the United Kingdom. He also spent several years working for cutting-edge mixed-gas computer and rebreather manufacturers VR Technology. Today, Simon is one of scuba diving’s most prolific writers, with a five-volume Scuba series, several guides for travelling divers, a biography, a novel and even a couple of divers’ cookbooks to his name. He and his wife, Sofie, currently live among the outer islands of Hong Kong. Find out more about Simon and his books at www.simonpridmore.com or via his Substack newsletter Scuba Conversational.

Technical Diving in Depth

Scuba Exceptional

Scuba Exceptional is the perfect sequel to Simon Pridmore's Scuba Confidential - An Insider's Guide to Becoming a Better Diver. It reflects the same philosophy of safe diving through the acquisition of knowledge and skills. The themes are new, there are some wonderful and extremely useful new cautionary tales and the focus this time is more on issues that face experienced divers. For example, there is more technical diving content but, as usual, Simon covers complex issues in his usual clear and easy-to-read style. In many cases, the concerns of technical divers reflect those of scuba divers at every level. After all, as he says, technical diving is on the same spectrum as conventional sport diving: it is just a different frequency. Scuba Exceptional also deals in detail with the psychological approach to scuba diving, broaching topics from new angles and borrowing techniques and procedures from other fields of human activity. While most of Scuba Exceptional focuses on the diver, it also takes a look at the wider picture and highlights a number of areas where scuba diving professionals and the “industry” as a whole are letting divers down. As always, Simon is realistic in his assessments. He may shine a little light on the dark side of the scuba diving world, but he does this in order to illuminate bad practice and encourage change, while offering solutions. He also provides insights on a wide range of topics. For instance, do you want to know... what makes someone a good diver? how to swim against a current without getting exhausted? how you can be out of air while you still have plenty to breathe? what the concept of failure points is? how to be a defensive diver? how preconditioning applies to scuba diving? how long you should really wait between diving and flying? when to call DAN (and when not to call)? how corals could possibly be animals when they look like rocks? how to avoid being left behind in the ocean? what’s happening in the world of rebreather diving? or what the perimeter of ignorance is? Scuba Exceptional has the answers to these questions and a lot more