Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Re: Increasing pressure inside hull

["Sean T. Stevenson" <sts@telus.net>]

The Doria is only in about 250.  I dive to the mid 300's on trimix occasionally for similar wreck dives.  A couple of mixed gas SCUBA (ie. technical recreational) expeditions have been in excess of 500.  Idiotic attempts at depth records have taken persons on open circuit SCUBA close to 1000.  Commercial diving contractors have run guys at saturation in excess of 2000, but on surface supply (gas reclaim) and with significant support in place.

As for what the human body can stand, as far as we're concerned (ie. within the depth that you should be operating an ambient sub or diver lockout without surface support), it's just a matter of managing the standard stuff -- inert gas loading, oxygen exposure limits, thermal considerations and so forth.  SCUBA divers generally do not need to worry about long-term effects, unless they are consistenly decompressing improperly or something similarly dubious.

The commercial guys who perform dives at extreme depths or are saturated for long periods of time exhibit a few problems.  Bone necrosis and arthritis/tendonitis (joints operating under increased pressure) are a couple that come to mind off the top of my head.

-Sean


--Original Message Text---
From: Wolf
Date: Sat, 5 Oct 2002 11:57:58 -0700 (PDT)



They are diving the Andrea Doria, and shes in over 300ft of water using Heliox. 

I have read a book on Jaques Cousteau and the Conshelf Experiment saying they went using various Heliox down to welll over 400 feet. 

 jbarlow@bjservices.ca wrote: 
I think that I wasn't clear in my question. I didn't really have any
intention of doing this, just wondering about the possibility of building
would be unnecessary because any leak would
either be too small to worry about or too large and rapid to do anything
about.

Now it is purely an academic question about what the human body can or
has withstood if anyone knows.


Jay.