Davy Jones Locker Diving is to be the first dive school in Thailand to adopt the new BSAC Sports Mixed Gas, Advanced Mixed Gas and Explorer Mixed Gas courses.
These courses are designed to incorporate helium into the breathing gas in progressive amounts and at progressive depths.
The sports mixed gas diver course will allow the diver to use a minimum of 20% O2 and a maximum of 30% helium content, decreasing the effectiveness of narcosis and CO2 retention normally encountered on air dives to 50 metres.
Tim Lawrence at Davy Jones Locker commented that the new BSAC materials have up to date information on decompression techniques used when diving helium profiles. The helium content on the first course is controlled to avoid problems with isobaric counter diffusion and the depth is limited to 50m to avoid the normal problems encountered in air diving.
At present we intend to give our customers the option after completing the BSAC advanced Nitrox course of completing the existing extended range course using air to 50m or switching to the sports mixed gas diver course to 50m. We believe that using tri mix will always make diving to more than 40m less problematic than diving with air due to the cost of helium and the financial constraints placed on diving professionals which make up the majority of our courses. There is a high chance that our customers will dive to 50m on air, consequently it’s better to teach these divers the dangers of narcosis and CO2 retention to prepare them for this eventuality. We do however fully embrace the BSAC philosophy using mild helium blends to enhance the safety of this type of diving. We feel that by giving our students the opportunity to chose between these two courses is a more realistic approach in our market place at present and intend on giving them the discipline they require to progress into tri mix and become better tri mix divers.
Davy Jones Locker Pricing details for these new BSAC courses are as follows:
Sports Mixed Gas Diver – 25,000 baht, plus gas costs (diver must have complete advanced Nitrox course)
Explorer Mixed Gas Diver – 20,000 baht, plus gas costs
Advanced Mixed Gas Diver – 80m depth required, price depends on dive sites chosen POA
For more information please contact kris@seaexplorersclub.com
