Technically Speaking

By Bill Nadeau

And so passes the last day of the final year of the millennium and with it a generation of diving technology and ideology so dynamic that its changing face creates controversy and inhibits acceptance. The single high pressure hose, the buoyancy control device, the dive computer, nitrox, and rebreathers; all have been met with resistance as traditionalists maintain that the old way of doing things should not be messed withespecially if it works. Those who dare to venture beyond conventional practices are labelled as cowboys taking on unnecessary risk or using things 'they don't need'. Yet time passes and we eventually accept the change (some earlier than others). The latest in dive technology includes mechanisms (like nitrox and rebreathers) that have been around for over a century and were the parents of the very same activity of sport diving we do today. I am often asked what I foresee in the future for diving technology. We are seeing the future today yet I believe some have turned their back on what will inevitably become tomorrow's standardand this includes nitrox and rebreathers.

For more Technically Speaking pick up a copy of the February issue of DIVER Magazine.