Dive Training
The Elephant in the Pool
If buoyancy control is the key to good diving, why is it not a core component of commercial entry-level diver training? John Kean airs his views Read more...
Beware of the Corner-Cutters
We all know that we get what we pay for, but sometimes we can’t resist what appears to be a stone bargain. Read more...
How to Live on Liveaboards
SIMON PRIDMORE tackles all aspects of a diver’s life at sea, from avoiding arguments and sea-sickness to underwater incontinence, complaints and the vexed question of tipping. Read more...
Perimeters of Ignorance
The more we know, the more we realise we don’t know – understanding that can mean the difference between life and death. Read more...
You Can Be Too Careful
When we learn a discipline such as nitrox diving, it’s important that we understand fully the thinking behind it. A recent wreck dive illustrates the point. Read more...
The Barracuda Dive
Many dives offer us lessons that can serve us well in future, if we choose to take note. Take Bill’s observations on a recent drift dive. Read more...
A brick can do that!
What can happen when scuba-divers get their priorities wrong? The same thing that can happen to mountain-climbers, says SIMON PRIDMORE – disaster Read more...
Constructive Paranoia – a Survival Technique
It takes confidence to call a dive, but perhaps we should all take more notice of the cave-diving approach to safety, suggests SIMON PRIDMORE Read more...
Breaking the Chain
It takes confidence to call a dive, but perhaps we should all take more notice of the cave-diving approach to safety, suggests SIMON PRIDMORE Read more...
To Divemaster and Beyond
Tell a commercial diver training agency that you want to be an instructor and it will extend a warm welcome, says SIMON PRIDMORE. Just don’t kid yourself that you’re submitting a job application – you’re buying a product. Read more...
Reduce, reduce, reduce!
Everyone knows that minimising the amount of weight carried is a diver’s holy grail, but there are practical limits in the quest to down-weight. Read more...
Josh Boggi – Diving to New Depths
Josh Boggi recently became the world’s first triple-amputee Rescue Diver – MELISSA HOBSON met him to find out how he achieved this incredible feat. Read more...
Back in the Saddle
When too much time has elapsed since that last dive, a refresher is in order. Read more...
Defensive Diving Part 3: Assuming Responsibility
You don’t have to appear to others as a constant pessimist, you can keep your thoughts to yourself – but always be prepared for that worst-case scenario. Read more...
Defensive Diving Part 2: Deviance & Depth
The diving set-up doesn’t seem ideal but you go ahead anyway and get away with it. Perhaps it was OK after all; perhaps you were just lucky. SIMON PRIDMORE takes it from there Read more...
Defensive Diving – Part 1
Vehicle-drivers survive on the roads by adopting techniques that take all contingencies into account – scuba-divers should do the same, says SIMON PRIDMORE Read more...
Preconditioning Techniques
In other sports, preconditioning strategies such as warming up, passive heat maintenance and prior exercise are used to ensure that athletes perform as well as possible on game day. Read more...
Diving Behind Closed Doors
The Atlantic Tank, the SETT and the Silent Pool – all three are now defunct dives, and all left lasting impressions on STEVE WARREN Read more...
Why is tec-diver training so tough?
Often divers who embark on technical diving are experienced enough to have some unlearning to do first. That, as SIMON PRIDMORE explains, can aid in understanding of how to be a team-player Read more...
Routine Matters
We’ve all been there – we get distracted during the build-up to the dive, and some vital kit component is overlooked. Read more...
Swim Like a Cave Diver
This story takes place on a dive liveaboard that ran four dives a day and imposed a 60-minute maximum dive-time on each one. Read more...
The Attribute of Altruism
This story takes place on a dive liveaboard that ran four dives a day and imposed a 60-minute maximum dive-time on each one. Read more...
Out of Air – With Plenty Left to Breathe
Back-rolling into the water – by this stage, you want to be sure that all’s well with your equipment. Read more...
Delving Deeper into Deep Stops
Beware anyone who tells you they know what your ‘correct’ decompression profile should be, because they almost certainly don’t, warns MARK POWELL. Read more...
Failure Points
The concept of failure points is frequently discussed in the technical-diving world but often neglected in the mainstream, says Read more...
Living On Liveaboards
For anyone who has yet to experience an overseas liveaboard trip, SIMON PRIDMORE provides a full guide to everything you need to know… Read more...
The Art Of Ascending
Our upward journeys back to air are among the least-considered aspects of diving, but vital to get right and easy to get wrong Read more...
The Threat of Complacency
The more experienced you are as a diver, the less likely things are to go wrong, right? No, wrong! says SIMON PRIDMORE Read more...
