So much for the "No Lights Drill"

[Cave Ranger]

300 fsw with no way to see your depth guage. Amazing but I'll bet he didn't dive solo and probably followed someone elses lead. I respect his courage but I'm not sure Diving would hold much of an interest to me if I couldn't also see the beauty of the underwater world or the Shark that was stalking me.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/s...es/5100622.stm

[D1V3R]

do depth gauges come in brail?

[skip]

I can't imagine diving blind, oh wait, yes I can.

Vision is highly over-rated. the feel of the water and the pressure is enough to go diving. just leave your mask ashore next time and give it a try, or put aluminum foil in it if you prefer the illusion of being safer.

i doubt if anyone ever actually see's the shark that bites them before they get bitten, and what good is that anyway?

I can't believe anyone would give up diving or not learn to dive based on whether or not they could see....but maybe it's just me.

heck, take my legs my arms my eyes and ears, just give me a tank and reg and a lung to breathe with..., I'll sink to the bottom, wallow in the sand or mud or lay on a rock, then inflate/deflate the bc to get back up again and do it solo if that's what it would take....

Now, really, wouldn't anyone?

I say raise a pint to Mr. Threadgold and buddy him up with Matt, the Dreamer!

-skip

[DR2K]

I wish to you all safe enjoyable diving. Records are meant to be broken no matter what the situation or condition of the "athletes".

Skip, thanks for your kind words, I guess I am not that diplomatic.

Hats off to all our very special needs heros.

ED

[Angie Reim]

I can imagine how difficult it must be for those guys to overcome their disabilities just to do what they've done. Sure they have help....but who gets anywhere without help occasionally.

Give 'em the credit they deserve for having the mental stamina to have accomplished so much. Could I do it? Well I'd die trying. I imagine it's the same for them. Freaky, scary.....but understandable.

[allen]

Let's see (or feel) ... 100 metres is a bit deeper than my (sighted with a 13 W light) personal deepest. I take my dive hood off to Mr. Threadgold, switching tanks at the right time and maintaining depth through all those deco stops is an achievement for anyone.

[Cave Ranger]

I sure would like to see a report on exactly how this was achieved. You would have to put 100% trust in someone else to get you through all the stops and gas switches. Maybe he used a Rebreather. Pardon my ignorance but don't some Rebreathers automatically give you the correct breathing gas mix based on depth?
Maybe he used an audio depth guage and marked his deco bottles in braile. I don't know but if they developed the technology to the point that even a blind person could Tech dive think of how far it could advance diving in general.
As for not seeing the Shark? What I mean't to say was I'd hate to miss seeing all those topless Mermaids on my deco stop WoooHooo!!!

Pardon my ignorance but don't some Rebreathers automatically give you the correct breathing gas mix based on depth?

I don't know of any rebreather which will automatically give you the correct breathing gas mix, based upon varying depths, but a Closed Circuit Rebreather can help you maintain a proper set-point (PO2 – partial pressure of oxygen). You still need the ability to monitor the oxygen sensor readings for survival. This is usually accomplished by a diver visually checking the primary and secondary sensor displays.

Devices do exist to help a diver track when an oxygen sensor reading is out of range (example: a Heads Up Display (HUD) or a buzzer). HUDs are typically visual displays, but some also vibrate for warnings. This could potentially help a vision impaired diver, but the visual sensor readings must also be monitored.

For a dive to this depth, a rebreather can actually make the dive more complex, because you need to carry open circuit bailout tanks to make it back to the surface (if you have a problem with your rebreather which you can’t handle by automatic, manual or Semi Closed Circuit control of the rebreather).

As Caveranger suggested; I would also like to see a report on how this was achieved. It’s a challenging task for non-visually impaired divers to perform a decompression schedule, and gas switches, for a dive to 100 metres. Cheers to Mr. Threadgold!

[Tegg]

Gotta give this guy credit... thats for sure.

I wonder if he has created the use of "voice" for telling him when there are certain "marks" that have taken place. These are just some of the things that "could" be done today with the technology we have in other industries:


Voice telling him when he hits certain depths from a computer with a depth guage.

Voice telling him every 10-20sec his PO2 (if on a RB)

Now, that might add up to be alot of voices, but some of us are familiar with handling several voices in our ear (those of us married and anyone that has kids)...

[Cave Ranger]

Here's some more info on this dive. He did use a Rebreather and modified audible alarms.
http://www.divemagazine.co.uk/news/a...98142332607684