Iantd UK

After much discussion over the Summer, the decision to not renew as IANTD UK licensee has been jointly taken by Martin, Amy, Phil and Tim. There are a number of reasons, which intertwine to remove the viability of IANTD UK.

Firstly, it's no secret that we have not given IANTD as much time since COVID as it deserves. There has always been an ambition to drive instructor recruitment, support new materials and make sure existing instructors have the support they need. We haven't managed that as well as we would like. Vobster has supported IANTD for several declining years, but the combination of current factors has made that too difficult. It's time for someone else to bring a new vision and determination.

Secondly, the number of IANTD UK instructors is at an all time low, following the retirement of many stalwart instructors. It is currently hard to justify re presenting the opportunities for tech training in the UK as worth the investment to new candidates. That may change with a new licensee, more time, energy and a new vision.

Third, the opportunities for deep water training and price of helium are a sector wide problem, but has effectively drastically diminshed technical OC certs in the UK.

We have taken the decision to announce this now, to maximise the chances of finding a successor and supporting them in the transition. We all remain committed to supporting IANTD as instructors and IT, but cannot sustain the effort required for licensee activities. We will happily discuss our experience and the remaining opportunities with anyone interested in taking over as licensee. We certainly hope that they can enjoy the responsibility of running a licensee region that we had, until just a couple of years ago.

On the flip-side, it has been a privilege to steer IANTD from the dangerously liable state we found it in in 2010. Missing certs, dubious accounting, standards oddness, some rogue practice and no communication from licensee. We are happy that we are leaving it in a better state, albeit one facing very different external challenges, instead of internal disorganisation. We have deep thanks for all of you who have been with us on that journey to restore the reputation of IANTD as a training provider - it would not have been possible without you. Phil and Tim will retain their instructor and IT status to support the next licensee as part of a team committed to safe, high quality training.

With best wishes for safe diving,

Amy, Martin, Phil and Tim

Citizen Science is an excellent use for your diving skills! Get on board for the Lundy Marine Festival.

Closed circuit rebreather technology isn't just a cool tool for diving - it can also play a leading role in the fight against COVID-19. IANTD UK boss Martin Stanton has spent the last two years applying his extensive knowledge of rebreathers to solve one of the medical industry's biggest challenges - the lack of available oxygen capacity in modern hospitals...

Vobster Brings CCR Tech Into ICU | Scuba Diver Mag Vobster Quay's Martin Stanton utilises CCR technology to revolutionise ventilators designed to help patients with severe breathing difficulties.

Early season tech diving in the Sound of Mull aboard MV Clasina is the perfect time to add some O dive personal Doppler truthing to dive evaluation. Dive profile from the Suunto Eon steel black, a couple of easy measurements from the O Dive and the analysis from Azoth systems. Even works over dodgy phone signal mid channel!

Very sad news today for convienient technical training in the UK. NDAC has been an outstanding mainstay of 'weather proofing' technical training, which has supported all agencies and technical diving instructors.

Thanks Darren and Ashley Bryce for so many years of support and well managed diving. IANTD instructors have always been warmly welcomed by everyone at NDAC and we wishe you well for the future.

Cheers,
IANTD UK

NOTICE OF SITE CLOSURE

The National Diving & Activity Centre is permanently closed. We are not taking bookings for leisure activities or public diving.

We’d like to thank all our customers for their support over the years.

An excellent weekend in Capenwray for the first IANTD Photogrammetry course of 2022. Especially pleasing to be running this for the Seascape project, hosted by Newcastle University, original supporters of the first photogrammetry course!
All photogrammers had a fine time in the brisk but clear waters of Capenwray, with great results from the gopro 10, overseen by the expert eye of Simon Brown. Great assistance from Marcus Blatchford. Congrats to Tim Cutter, Rachael Priest, Peter Almond and the unique Steve Sanders.
We're very much looking forward to seeing the result of citizen photogrammetry in communicating the submerged heritage of the NE.
Cheers, Tim Clements

IANTD UK sends their deepest condolences to the family of Tom Mount and the worldwide IANTD community. Tom was an inspirational leader in technical and exploration diving from the earliest days, creating a system that has trained and mentored countless divers. The hard won lessons from the diving projects he undertook have laid technical diving foundations for all agencies. He is one of the giants on whose shoulders we stand.

The human qualities that Tom valued were fierce individualism, personal freedom to pursue exploration goals, strong emphasis on rigorous training and unwavering determination to never give up in survival situations. He combined this with a personal interest in students and instructors that extended training into mentoring, creating knowledgeable, thinking divers capable of adapting to any challenge they wished to meet.

A full list of his pioneering achievements in diving is a long list indeed, but it was his personal energy that overcame a 'ban' on Nitrox providers at DEMA in 1991. This was typical of Tom's belief that divers should be conducting exploration with the latest technology and skills, extending this to trimix, rebreathers, decompression analysis and psychological training to name a few.

Tom conducted the first IANTD courses in the UK in 1993, returning over the years for further developments and conferences. He was always personally interested in diving projects, providing support and endorsement for new diving programmes and technologies. Tom has personally trained many of the past and present IANTD instructors and IT and is remembered for his rigorous but good humoured approach to diver training, placing great value on comradeship, not division, in diving.

IANTD UK will continue to champion these values and remember Tom for the great diving pioneer he undoubtedly was.

'Fins ready to make the next kick':

RIP Tom Mount.

It is with great sadness that I bid farewell to my friend and mentor.

RIP Tom, our thoughts are with you and your family.

Thank you for your guidance and inspiration your legacy will live on 🙏

Iantd UK updated their address.

IANTD O Dive Doppler Technician training today at U.K. HQ. Martin Robson and Rob Fowler getting to grips with the personal Doppler that ‘ground truths’ decompression theories and personal variation. A great pleasure to dive with both

IANTD IT Phil Short and Tim Clements were on the original Human Factors in Diving course, way back in 2016. Fast forward to the first conference, which promises to be an excellent and informative for all divers. Great work Gareth Lock!

I’m delighted to be speaking at the first Human Factors in diving conference in two weeks time. Making the consideration of human factors fundamental in dive planning offers as much to divers as having enough gas! I’ll be speaking on ‘Human Factors in CCR CE testing’. The other presentations are excellent, and it’s well worth a trip to the website. It’s an online conference, which means your human comfort factors can be taken care of by your sofa. Cheers Tim Clements #

https://www.facebook.com/thehumandiver

IANTD U.K. HQ was delighted to take delivery of its brand new O Dive ‘diving centre and instructor’ edition. Offering unlimited connections and analyses for sport and technical diving, this is available to renewed IANTD U.K. instructors for use on O Dive technician courses. It’s a significant investment, but we feel strongly that this is a game changer for DCI awareness. Want to know more? Contact us at [email protected]

Instructor Training on the O’Dive Doppler with IANTD U.K. Instructors Ian France and Barry White and user training for U.K. Distributor Brett Thorpe.
This innovative device to self monitor for post dive bubbles and structure safety improvements on subsequent dive plans is an excellent piece of equipment and IANTD offer training via the O’Dive Doppler Technician program.

Gas analysis and effective clear labelling of cylinder contents is an essential aspect of dive safety diligence. These new stickers from Dive Signs are a great addition to any tech divers gear!

https://www.facebook.com/DiveSigns/posts/220848770044636

Dive Signs Gas Analysis Stickers are now also available in vertical format. This style makes it easier to record your analysis data on stage/deco cylinders (as shown). It is also easier to read the stickers on an attached cylinder when performing a gas switch (for divers who check this as part of their switch procedure). Select Vertical Layout when ordering for this option.



https://www.divesigns.com/product-category/gas-analysis-stickers/

Big well done to Helen James for completing her Iantd UK Intro to Mine diver course at Aberlas mine today, lots of dives and lots of hard work paid off

It's been a bit busy recently.

Firstly well done to Jon for completing his Iantd UK Open Water Sidemount Diver course in some quite challenging conditions. We were really impressed with how both Jon and his equipment configuation came together in the two days. Probably mostly due to his choice of equipment though (Xdeep and Apeks, a classic combination).

Second up it's well done to Ian for an excellent start to his IANTD Tek Sidemount and Advanced EANx Diver combined course. Another weekend to go and some theory sessions too.

Third up it's Andrew who did exceptionally well on his IANTD CCR Advanced EANx Diver course on his VMS - Vobster Marine Systems RedBare. 5 days of theory and diving done, with just one dive left to complete. Great to see past student Bryan joining us for a skills refresh too. Bryan was lucky enough to get his training in just before the latest round of lockdowns kicked in last year.

Thankfully my drysuit zip waited until the last dive before giving up. It's 5 years old so I can't complain. A close inspection revealed just this little bit of damage to the outer part of the zip. Guessing it was still enough to cause the ingress of freezing water all the way through the dive. We still managed 50mins which was more than enough in min. 5 deg C.

Custom Decompression Feedback - The O dive

What does meddling with your algorithm settings really do to your body? We Took the Azoth systems O Dive for another spin yesterday on some RedBare test diving. With actual dive data imported from the excellent and brand new Eon Steel Black and post dive doppler measurements processed at Azoth, feedback on dive severity and personal bubble score could be seen on my phone within an hour of surfacing.

It's extremely simple - the Eon Steel Black links intuitively to the Suunto phone app. The O dive app imports data from the Suunto app and compares the dive against a vast database. The advice comes back from that, with a neat ability to see how your score 'might' improve if you did more deco or tweaked the gradient factors. The Suunto Eon Steel Black now has gradient factors, which makes it a perfect companion.

We're working on both GF and o Dive linkup for the RedBare too!

Thanks to O Dive and Suunto for excellent 21st centure dive gear.

Humbled and honoured to of been a part of the team that successfully recovered and returned home to his family 2nd LT Ernest Vienneau from a B-17 in 70 metres of water off the island of Vis in Croatia last September and October.
Rest in peace Ernest we shall remember you 🙏

https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/News-Releases/PressReleaseArticleView/Article/2578211/pilot-accounted-for-from-world-war-ii-vienneau-e/

IANTD instructors Hugo Angel and Tim Clements back in action with CCR training on the VMS RedBare.

Preparing the IANTD O’Dive training program for launch within IANTD U.K.’s course list. This system is a game changer in diver safety and we are proud to be able to offer it this year when restrictions allow training to resume 😎

Check out this breathtaking example of what can be achieved when you combine sonar data with photogrammetry! This amazing 'fly-thru' was created by Professor Chris Rowlands of Dundee University, Kari Hyttinen and the team involved in the HMS Royal Oak 80 Survey Project.

https://vimeo.com/520941991

HMS Royal Oak 80 Survey: Photogrammetry HMS Royal Oak 80 Survey. The project combined sonar data from 2006 with photogrammetry captured during the survey. This is a short overview revealing some of the…

APSTO are refining their advice as they gather more information regarding teaching diving within the government regulations and recommendations. The attached link updates APSTO advice particularly concerning the possibility of using swimming pools for training in Tier 3 regions.

http://apsto.org.uk/covid-19-restrictions-3

COVID-19 Restrictions – APSTO COVID-19 Restrictions Posted on 16 December 202016 December 2020 by APSTO Admin 16 December 2020 APSTO Advisory: Interpretation of the latest government restrictions for England This advisory includes a further amendment to the advice in the advisory dated 11 December 2020 concerning the use of swim...

COVID 19 Restrictions – APSTO

IANTD has recently joined a new group of U.K. training agencies to try and have a common approach to diver training. We have had discussions over the new tier level and have some common recommendations for our instructors and divers. The government advice is not specific to diving but we are trying balance our diving with covid control via a common approach. Thanks for your time.

http://apsto.org.uk/covid-19-restrictions

apsto.org.uk COVID 19 Restrictions Posted on November 27, 2020November 27, 2020 by APSTO Admin 27 November 2020 APSTO Advisory: Interpretation of the latest government restrictions for England APSTO supports a return to diving and to assist diving businesses with interpreting the rules to achieve safe diving edu...

IANTD UK supported the virtual meeting of the BDSG yesterday. The government advice doesn’t refer specifically to diving, which means divers need to make their own interpretation of whether their dives are exercise and whether the journey to those dives is reasonable.

If you do choose to dive in a family bubble or meet one other person, the advice about covid safety during diving remains on the BDSG website.

The overall message is be safe, be cautious.

https://bdsg.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/BDSG-COVID-19-2020.11.05-Statement.pdf

bdsg.org.uk

Nammu Tech

We are excited to present our brand new CAVE REEL !!!
With 250 metres of line and only weighing 2 kilos out of the water, this is one of the lightest reels of it’s size !!

Like our other reels this one is made using 3D printed carbon fibre composites making it extremely tough and ready to handle any overhead environment.

The cave reel is now available on our shop so go get yourself one !!

https://nammu-tech.com/reels/250m-cave-reel
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Points of Interest | Deep3D Photogrammetry

IANTD UK loves a bit of diving science this is state of the art for survey and science work underwater, with Simon Brown, co author and co host of several IANTD photogrammetry courses.

deep3d.co.uk Using UWIS to record locations of objects and features of interest using GPS navigation tablet.

BDSG – British Diving Safety Group – Working together to make recreational diving safer

The British Diving Safety Group was extremely busy during lockdown and beyond. Normally, meeting 3-4 times per year to consider evolving safety items or updates, the pandemic caused a major change in activity. The result was the collation of information and discussion of many facets of diving relating to covid, from disinfection to the evolving advice from the medical community, themselves in new territory and understanding.

The results are now available to all divers on the new BDSG website. Particular thanks needs to be given to all members, but especially John Soones of the RNLI for chairing voluntarily. If you're looking for a wide ranging team effort in diving, this is it and IANTD UK was proud to contribute.

https://bdsg.org.uk/

bdsg.org.uk

Evolution of Dive Planning - Shearwater Research

Required reading on ‘The Evolution of Dive Planning’ from Mark Powell

shearwater.com Plan the dive and dive the plan has long been the mantra employed in all areas of diving. Technical divers, in particular, spend more time planning their dives than many recreational divers. This is due […]

Getting Back in the Water with Caveman Phil Short

After the long layoff from diving caused by COVID lockdown a cautious and gradual return in small steps would be prudent.

Here Phil Short shares his thoughts and his return to Diving with Michael (M2) Menduno at InDepth.

gue.com With local diving slowly opening in the wake of the pandemic, we caught up with British cave explorer Phil Short to see how he approached getting wet again.

IANTD U.K. prides its self on active Instructors who dive beyond teaching on their own projects.
IT Ian France and U.K. Training Director Phil Short were in Wookey Hole the birth place of Cave Diving today carrying equipment to the terminal sump at the end of the cave in support of a CDG project taking place this week.

it is a wonderful feeling when you can share an adventure with a student who became an Instructor Candidate a colleague and now a friend. 😊

Ian France and I dived from Chamber 9 to the dive base at the end of Chamber 24 following the incredible subterranean River Axe.
We were in support of a 4 day project for Chris Jewell who is working towards continuing exploration at the end of the terminal sump.
Andy Torbet assisted Chris in building the deco habitat ready for the push. Michael Thomas and Craig Holdstock dived more equipment from 9 to 22

Another excellent day of CDG teamwork towards an exploration goal..... that ended with 3 scoops of the wonderful Wookey Ice Cream! 😮

O’Dive: Assessing the World’s First Personal Deco Safety Tool

Excellent article from Michael (M2) Menduno on the Azoth-Systems O-Dive personal post dive bubble monitoring system.

gue.com Retired French Naval officer Axel Barbaud estimates that his company’s new product dubbed “O’Dive”—an innovative personalized safety tool—has the potential to reduce the diving community’s risk of DCS by a factor of five!

Back to sea all weekend IANTD UK IT’s Ian France and Phil Short out of Portland on Sea Leopard with Al Wright & Freda Wright Diving the SS Pomeranian and the P & O Liner Salsette.
Classic U.K. diving 😊

Today was spent underwater on the Salsette with Ian France Technical & Phil Short Technical from Sea Leopard (MV Salutay). Still a lot of s**t in the water but a bloody cracking dive, we even had dolphins o the way back in :)

Launched by IANTD divers. Good luck chaps!

WE ARE LIVE !!
Our website as well as the desktop version of our app is now available !!!
Compatible on PC, Linux and Mac, all you have to do is visit www.ki-diving.com and sign up !!
Then go to www.ki-diving.app on any browser to start exploring !!!
Hopefully in the next 7 days the dive app will also be live on the play store and the app store !
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We hope you enjoy using this app as much as we have enjoyed making it, and remember, as with all our products your feedback is always appreciated and taken on board !!
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@ Malvern, Worcestershire

Cave Diving Navigation by Daniel Hutnan and Bill Philips is quite simply a long overdue and beautiful book!
Now there will of course be opinions and likely controversy, but this is a work of great effort and passion that can not fail to complement all Cave Divers, Cave Instructors and Cave IT’s library. I will personally be using it as a teaching aid on all my overhead classes in the future to start Navigation training, promote discussion and make my students and instructors think.
Like any book, the professional educator will add to its contents with regional differences and practice but what a start.

Nothing but praise for Daniel sharing this with our community.

Safe cave diving all. 🙏

https://www.iantd.cz/en/stranka-e-shop-16

In Deep Dive Centre

Diving update!

Here at In Deep we always put our customers and their safety first and as a result of this we have remained patiently waiting for some guidance that would hint at letting us return to sea.

Following our comprehensive risk assessment we feel the time has now arrived where we can safely and legitimately carry a reduced number of divers on board our vessels ‘Seeker’ and ‘Panther’ whilst maintaining social distancing policies and strict hygiene regimes around the dive centre and onboard.

As a result of this, from June 13th we shall be taking our two boats out with 6 divers on each. These will be 2 dive days costing £80 per person. Depth will be restricted to 30m max.

Currently there is no accommodation available so divers must be willing to travel to and from the diver centre in one day.

We will be asking all divers that join us to meet some basic criteria and follow some simple rules:

- Be free from any signs or symptoms of Covid-19 for at least the last 14 days and if you have contracted Covid-19 previously you must inform us at the time of booking and produce negative test result paperwork.

- Be fit and able enough to load/unload their own equipment on and off the boats unaided.

- Be able to don/doff dive gear unattended before buddy checks are carried out.

- Own all equipment necessary to conduct dives in cold water. (Cylinders can be hired separately if needed)

- Have suitable experience and qualifications to conduct dives in cold water. Initially we are suggesting a minimum of Advanced open water / sports diver equivalents.

- Familiar with UK boat diving etiquette.

- No refreshments or food will be provided onboard so please bring your own.

- No toilet facilities available onboard for gents and only for ladies in emergencies. A disinfectant spray will be provided to disinfect the seat/toilet by each person after use.

- No movement around the vessel whilst in transit other than to dress/undress dive gear.

- Each diver should bring a suitable face covering (one that won’t disintegrate when wet!) and hand sanitiser with them although we will have some on board just in case.

- Must sign and agree to the terms of our Risk Assessment and Disclaimer at time of booking.

Providing you can meet these requirements, we will begin taking bookings from today ready for next weekend.

We are already fully booked on the 13th, however Sunday 14th onwards is available for bookings. We operate 7 days a week.

**UPDATE**- 2 spaces have just become available on Saturday. If anyone would like them, please give us a call at the dive centre on 01752405400

Weekdays and weekends will be available until the end of June.

We shall look forward to seeing you all soon, the In Deep team.

Scuba Diver Live - 'virtual Fireside Chat' With Marcus Rose And Tim Clements | Scuba Diver Mag

Exploration is so often spear headed by dedicated hobbyists and sport divers. Ocean science and conservation are wrapped up in all our diving and there are opportunities to do more. Tune in to find out about these opportunities.

scubadivermag.com Join host Mark Evans for another 'virtual fireside chat' on Scuba Diver Live on Tuesday 26 May, kicking off at 8pm BST.