0:00
Try mix has always been treated as
0:03
something other in diving. It's
0:06
something technical. It's something
0:08
specialist. It's something you can only
0:11
touch once you've crossed an invisible
0:13
line. But Bezac's new deeper diver
0:16
course does something genuinely
0:19
different. And I think it mirrors what
0:22
happened when nitrox first became
0:25
Now, if that comparison holds, this
0:29
course could quietly change how we think
0:32
about helium and who gets to use it. In
0:36
this video, I'm going to do five things.
0:39
First, I'll explain what the Bezac
0:41
Deeper Diver course actually is and what
0:44
it isn't. Second, I'll explain how it
0:48
extends what divers are already
0:51
qualified to do at sport diver level all
0:54
the way down to 50 meters.
0:57
Third, I'll compare it to how Tryix is
1:00
taught by other agencies, Paddyy, TDI,
1:03
and GU because that context really
1:08
Fourth, I'll explain why I think this
1:11
represents a genuine cultural shift,
1:14
similar to what happened with Nitrox in
1:17
the early '9s. And finally, I'll talk
1:20
honestly about what I don't like about
1:22
the course, because obviously no
1:25
training program should be above
1:27
criticism. If you're someone who
1:29
regularly dives beyond 30 or 40 m, this
1:32
one's worth sticking with. I think it's
1:35
easy for us to forget now, but nitrox
1:37
was once deeply, deeply controversial in
1:41
the late 80s and the very early 90s. It
1:44
was viewed as dangerous, experimental,
1:47
and not suitable for normal divers.
1:50
What changed wasn't the gas. It was how
1:53
divers were taught to think about it.
1:56
Nitrox all of a sudden stopped being
1:58
framed as a way to go deeper and started
2:01
being framed as a way to reduce risk,
2:04
less nitrogen loading, more safety
2:07
margins. And here's the crucial part I
2:10
think people forget. Nitrox didn't
2:12
become normal because everyone did
2:14
checkout dives. Most Nitro
2:17
certifications are academic only. You
2:20
learn gas analysis, maximum operating
2:23
depths, oxygen exposure, and planning.
2:26
And then you apply that knowledge to
2:29
dives that you're already qualified to
2:31
do. Today, even very, very junior divers
2:35
routinely use nitrox, and nobody
2:38
considers that technical diving or
2:40
unsafe or risky. It happened because the
2:44
thinking was normalized. Bezac's deeper
2:48
diver course feels to me like an attempt
2:50
to do the same thing. This is a
2:53
theoryled course. It consists of four
2:55
modules covering deeper diving
2:58
physiology, narcosis, cognitive
3:01
impairments, gas density, work of
3:04
breathing, decompression theory,
3:08
planning, redundancy, and decision
3:12
Only after that knowledge is in place,
3:15
do the divers have the option of
3:17
progressive depth extending dives in 5 m
3:21
increments up to a maximum of 50 m.
3:26
Of course, that progression is
3:27
deliberately conservative. No big jumps,
3:30
no stacking multiple depth increases,
3:33
and no rushing experience. For me,
3:36
that's a really important part of the
3:38
conversation. A bezac sports diver is a
3:41
slightly unusual qualification. It
3:43
doesn't directly align to many other
3:46
agencies equivalent, but they are
3:49
qualified to plan and execute
3:51
decompression dives and can do depth
3:53
progression up to 40 m using air and
3:58
Historically, Bezac has always permitted
4:01
the use of air and then nitrox down to
4:04
50 m. So that's not new. But what is new
4:08
is our understanding. We now know more
4:10
about narcosis and cognitive
4:13
impairments. We know about gas density,
4:15
work of breathing, carbon dioxide
4:18
retention, and how performance degrades
4:21
at depth. The Bezac deeper diver course
4:23
doesn't suddenly give permission to go
4:25
deeper. It extends the qualification
4:28
gained at sports diver by giving divers
4:31
the understanding and the knowledge to
4:34
choose between air, nitrox and try mix.
4:38
Air and nitrox remain permitted. What
4:41
the course does is gives people the
4:44
information and the education to say
4:46
that there may be better options and
4:49
here's how to understand the risks. It
4:52
doesn't mandate helium. It educates
4:55
divers and that educational intent I
4:58
think is at the heart of this course.
5:00
Bezac explicitly allows tryix during the
5:03
progression dives but within strict
5:06
guard rails. Oxygen stays sensible so no
5:10
less than 20% no danger of hypoxic
5:14
mixes. Helium is capped no more than
5:19
Partial pressure of oxygen stays
5:21
conservative with a maximum of 1.4 four
5:23
bar. This is not hypoxic trrimix. It's
5:27
not about extreme depth. It's about
5:29
recognizing that narcosis and gas
5:32
density become increasingly important
5:35
factors the deeper that you go. In this
5:38
course, helium is being framed the same
5:41
way as nitrox was as a riskmanagement
5:44
tool, not a badge of technical identity.
5:48
Other agencies such as TDI and Paddyy
5:52
treat try as explicitly technical.
5:55
They're multiple gas courses with
5:58
switches and twin sets. And these are
6:01
excellent courses, but they're designed
6:04
to create technical try mix divers,
6:07
which is which is fantastic. But the
6:08
Bezac deeper diver course isn't trying
6:11
to do that. They have other courses for
6:12
that. It's targeting divers who are
6:15
already going slightly deeper. and
6:18
saying, "Let's improve how you think,
6:21
plan, and choose gas." Now, you might
6:24
say, "Well, isn't that what GU does as
6:27
well?" And it's absolutely a good point.
6:30
GU does normalize helium, but once
6:33
again, within a full technical system.
6:36
To access Helium in GU, you must pass
6:39
fundamentals to a high standards. You
6:41
must have their fixed equipment
6:43
configuration. you must use standard
6:45
gases and commit to a strict team-based
6:48
approach. I mean, that system works
6:50
extremely well for them, but it is kind
6:52
of all or nothing. The Bezac Deeper
6:55
Diver course isn't doing that. It's
6:57
offering something different. It's
7:00
giving understanding without requiring
7:03
the total system adoption. So, if you're
7:05
a Bezac deeper diver and you want to
7:07
stick Triix into your 12 L cylinder or
7:10
your 15 or your twin set, you can do any
7:14
of those things. You don't have to have
7:16
a twin set. You don't have to have a
7:18
decompression stage. You just have to
7:21
understand that putting helium in is
7:24
probably going to give you a slightly
7:26
more of a decompression penalty. And
7:28
when you do your planning, you need to
7:29
make sure you've got enough gas for
7:31
that. Now, there will be people out
7:33
there who consider this course to be
7:35
absolute heresy. They will think that
7:38
Triix can only be used in a GU
7:41
configuration twin set or you can only
7:44
dive Tryix if you've got a stage
7:46
decompression gas or you can only do it
7:49
if you're in a team or wearing a
7:51
rebreather or or whatever else it is.
7:53
And you know what? It's entirely fine to
7:55
have those views. Wouldn't it be dull if
7:57
everybody was the same? All I'm going to
7:59
say is 20 well maybe 30 years ago people
8:03
felt exactly the same way about nitrox
8:06
nowadays it's not a conversation
8:09
anybody's ever going to have and I think
8:11
that's where we're going to end up with
8:13
this we all know that depth changes
8:17
decision making it becomes more
8:19
difficult the consequences are more
8:21
significant you get task fixated coms
8:25
are degraded so this course is targeting
8:28
these failure modes directly by focusing
8:32
people on the knowledge of the
8:34
physiology, the planning and the
8:36
judgment before anything else. Now, one
8:40
thing I need to be honest about, my name
8:42
appears in this manual and I think it's
8:44
especially important that because of
8:46
that, I'm honest about the po parts of
8:48
the course I don't agree with. The first
8:51
issue is the entry level. deeper diver
8:55
currently sits a dive leader and
8:57
personally I think that's a mistake.
9:00
A sports diver is already trained and
9:03
qualified to do decompression diving.
9:05
There's nothing in the dive leader
9:07
syllabus that materially changes or
9:10
advances the understanding that has been
9:12
gained at sports diver level. There's
9:14
lots in there about leadership and
9:16
supervision skills which are really
9:18
valuable, but they're not related.
9:21
They're not part of what's happening
9:24
when you go to do deeper diving. A dive
9:26
leader is effectively the same
9:28
qualification as dive master in other
9:31
agencies. So for me, if a diver is
9:35
qualified to do decompression, they
9:37
should at least have the option to learn
9:39
why helium might make that diving safer.
9:42
The second issue, and I think this is
9:44
one that a lot of Bezac members will
9:46
have uh issue with, is the 45 course
9:50
pack. This is a four module theory
9:52
course. When you compare that to other
9:55
BAC courses with significantly more
9:57
content, it doesn't compare.
10:00
Particularly, I think that's important
10:02
if your aim is to educate and normalize
10:05
and make things safer. None of that
10:07
undermines the core idea, but I think
10:10
they are things that should have been
10:11
addressed. And obviously, there's still
10:13
time to do both of those and to to
10:16
change them, and I hope Boozak will. Now
10:18
moving back to where I started. Nitrox
10:21
became normal when education replaced
10:24
Mystique. Deeper Diver is attempting the
10:27
same thing with helium. It doesn't force
10:30
divers to use it. It teaches them why
10:33
they might want to. And that for me is
10:36
the whole point of it. As I've already
10:38
mentioned, I don't think it put it's
10:40
perfect, but I do strongly believe the
10:44
educational intent behind it is a really
10:47
important thing and one that I hope
10:50
other organizations and other agencies
10:52
will pick up on. If in 20 or 30 years or
10:55
possibly less, helium is just another
10:58
sensible tool for deeper divers. The
11:00
same way nitrox is today for well,
11:03
pretty much all diving. I think this
11:05
course will have done exactly what it
11:07
set out to do. And if we're still
11:09
arguing about it by then, for me,
11:12
something's gone badly wrong. I hope
11:14
you've enjoyed hearing my thoughts on
11:16
the Bezac Deeper Diver course. For those
11:18
who aren't Bzac members, you may have
11:20
found it quite interesting what a small
11:23
British training organization is doing,
11:25
how it's trying to do things a bit
11:27
differently. For Bzac members, please uh
11:30
what I would say is it is different.
11:32
It's not something that the organization
11:34
has done before. In my view, you should
11:37
get behind it and you should support it.
11:39
For people who've enjoyed this video, I
11:41
hope you'll have a look at some of my
11:42
other ones. I've got plenty more
11:44
containing my musings on a whole variety
11:46
of different subjects related to diving
11:49
or particularly technical diving. But
11:51
for now, that's it. I'm Dom Robinson,
11:54
Deep Wreck Diver, and I will look
11:57
forward to seeing you on my next video.
