Episode #75 Tom Crisp 2 - "Explorer-Adventurer"

This episode is brought to you by our amazing sponsor XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Thanks so much to both for their support that makes this podcast possible.

Tom Crisp hails from my home New Zealand and is undoubtedly one of our finest cave explorers and I'll use the term, adventurers. Tom has based himself in Alberta, Canada to allow him to discover and explore the caves of that region.

You may recall Tom and I spoke way back in Episode #15 and in this, episode #75 we catch up on what we've been up to over the past three and a half years. Tom talks about why he has based himself in Canada, his work and training with the Alberta Parks and how this supports his exploration projects.

Tom shares how he shapes his life to support his exploration, the sacrifices and the rewards that come from this "calling". We chat about the active exploration projects Tom is working on in Canada and the geology of these caves before we talk at length about what it takes to dive in 2-degree water and access caves in sub-zero surface conditions.

We cover Tom's sump diving set-up, before a fascinating exchange on knowing when to pull back when you encounter a stressful situation on a dive and we finish with Tom sharing some of the cave exploration projects he had to leave behind and pass on to other explorers here in NZ.

All this and much, much more in this episode of…. Speaking Sidemount!!

Episode #74 Sanne Volja - "The Power of Passion"

This episode is brought to you by our brilliant sponsor XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both for your support.

Sanne Volja is a cave diver and ISE instructor from Belgium and if you haven't seen her social media then you've been missing out on a real treat. Sanne combines her huge passion for diving with a unique style that makes for some of the best and most compelling stories and reels anywhere on Facebook and Instagram.

Sanne has only been diving for a few years but diving has become a seven day a week passion allowing her to build a huge skillset and experience base in a short period of time. Despite her considerable skills and passion, however, as a young woman, it hasn’t always been easy for Sanne to be taken seriously and included by some. Sadly, barriers for women still exist in many male-dominated domains and diving is no exception.

In this episode Sanne shares, how she got into diving and technical diving. How she manages her business and life to allow her to dive several times per week. We talk about the importance of mentors and how she was supported into technical diving and becoming a dive instructor. Sanne has deep empathy for the students she is teaching and she shares how she takes the stress and pressure out of her courses by allowing her students time after their course to build some dives before coming back for certification.

Sanne and I have a pretty deep conversation about the barriers that women face as technical divers and what can be done to make things easier and more inclusive. And then she shares on the formation of the Cavettes… three women who share a passion for cave diving who met through Instagram and are now blazing a trail for women technical divers… role modelling, sharing information and creating women-only events where they can dive, share their passion and knowledge.

A conversation with Sanne isn’t complete without us sharing our experiences on the KISS Sidewinder.

We end with Sanne sharing her plans for the year ahead and I accidentally let it out of the bag that I'll be in Mexico this November. More to come on that for sure!!

Image Credit - Hedwig Dieraert

Links:

Sanne Volja - https://www.instagram.com/tecdivesanne

Steve Mt Gambier Cave Diving - https://youtu.be/UHlBcuaTVN8

Episode #73 Edmund Yiu - "The Business of Diving"

This episode is brought to you by our brilliant sponsor XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both for your support.

In this episode I catch up with Edmund Yiu. Edmund hails from Hong Kong and is a Tec Diving instructor to trimix levels on both open circuit and closed-circuit rebreathers. He also teaches cave diving, is Greater China Regional Head for the RAID Dive agency, and he's a Divesoft Liberty instructor and a member of their Ambassador team.

In addition to teaching diving Edmund also runs a dive equipment distribution business throughout Asia representing some of the absolute primo brands in diving such as XDEEP, Seacraft, Divesoft and Ammonite.

Pre-pandemic Edmund has travelled the world with diving and has been regular at many conferences and dive events.

In this episode, Edmund and I get into… the diving and teaching that he does and the diving scene in Asia. We talk about his involvement with dive agency RAID and some of the really cool initiatives they are implementing to shake up the dive industry.

Edmund shares with us some on the Divesoft Liberty sidemount rebreather and what in his mind makes it special. We then talk a lot about the business of diving as Edmund describes his successful dive equipment distribution business. This is Speaking Sidemount so I ask Edmund to share some tips on what it takes to be a good sidemount diver before in a similar vein, we discuss where sidemount sits in the hierarchy of dive courses and what it takes to be a good sidemount instructor.

Enjoy :)!!

Episode #72 Stratis Kas 2 - "Close Calls"

This episode is brought to you with the support of our brilliant Sponsor XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both for their support.

I'm really happy to be able to bring you another episode featuring Stratis Kas. In addition to being a stellar cave diver and instructor who in his own words is as passionate about sidemount diving as I am… he also seems to be constantly involved in super interesting projects from his book "Close Calls" to his recently released video feature "Infinite Liquid" to co-organising the FLOW Sardinia Sidemount Event.

 Stratis is also a passionate sidemount rebreather diver who puts a massive amount of thought and work into everything that he does.

In this episode, Stratis and I catch up on what he's been doing since he last featured in Speaking Sidemount Episode #38 released in 2019. We go deep into his "must-have" book Close Calls including sharing our own experiences regarding our specific near miss but also our motivation for sharing our stories along with our favourites from other divers featured in the book.

We can’t help but muse on how the sidemount configuration actually helped some of the divers work their way out of trouble and what would a chat with Stratis be without us talking some on the KISS Sidewinder and the recent acquisition of KISS Rebreathers by the Blackwater Group which also operates XDEEP and Seal Drysuits.

Stratis then tells us more about Project Infinite Liquid which documents the exploration of several Greek Caves and then we close by chatting about our upcoming plans… All this and much more in this episode of Speaking Sidemount…

Huge thanks to:

Stratis Kas - https://stratiskas.com/

Image Credit - Laurent Miroult

Special Release - E058 Hayun Jung: "Young Guns"

Hey... getting through the busy summer season in NZ so here's another Special Release from the patron archive brought to you by XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount.

It's awesome to be able to share my discussion with Hayun Yung from South Australia.

Hayun is new to sidemount but is progressing extremely quickly through diligent practice and with what you'll hear, excellent attention to detail. We chat about how and why she got into diving and sidemount... her thoughts on her upcoming cave training and then we get into a Q&A where we discuss, achieving correct weighting, trim, and balance, the pros and cons of Wireless or AI Transmitters, and the benefits of video feedback and review. 

Huge thanks to Hayun and to XDEEP and all of you for your support.

Enjoy :)!

Special Release - E056 Steve Bogaerts - "When Shit Gets Real"

It's awesome to be able to bring you with the support of XDEEP, another great episode from the Speaking Sidemount Patreon vault. This episode was the first of two episodes with Steve Bogaerts I did back in 2020 and was originally released as a premium, patron-only episode. The information Steve covers is awesome, so I am pleased to now share it more widely.

In this episode, Steve and I discuss the importance of foundational skill development - buoyancy control, trim and stability, pressure test training, and ultimately how to deal with serious issues while diving.

We tie it all together as Steve shares his amazing dive to connect Dan and Ralf's Caves in Abaco Bahamas. He recounts how he dealt with having only one partially functioning (free-flowing and wet breathing) regulator as he exited a vertical, mud and clay-filled, no-mount restriction in zero visibility!! 

I then ask Steve about his cylinder management for Hypoxic trimix dives and we end with Steve sharing his future plans... Enjoy :)!

Image Credit - HP Hartmann

Episode #71 Robin Cuesta - "The Caves of Sulawesi"

This episode is brought to you by XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount, huge thanks to both for their support.

Robin Cuesta hails from France but has made his home in one of the most beautiful parts of the world, Sulawesi Indonesia. Long known for its brilliant ocean diving, Robin discovered that the region's geology included massive areas of limestone and that all of the water came from underground sources. If you are into cave diving you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to deduce that there was a strong possibility of Karst or solution caves and Robin set out to discover and explore many flooded caves in Sulawesi and the surrounding islands of Indonesia.

In this episode Robin shares how he got into diving and cave diving, how he moved to Indonesia and the amazing work that he is doing exploring the caves of Sulawesi, we talk about his journey to become a cave instructor, and how cave instructing supplements and enhances his exploration work. And then we get into his collaboration with other cave divers which has helped to grow his own exploration experience and then we share the importance of working with local communities and their leaders to enable Robin's work.

Enjoy, and thanks for your support.

Steve

Episode #70 - Christine Tamburri - "Passion Plus".

This episode is brought to you with the awesome support of XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both, their support makes this podcast possible.

Great to give you Episode #70 Christine Tamburri - "Passion Plus". Christine is a young woman hailing from the US Northeast. She has not been diving long, but as you'll hear, she has developed an exceptional attitude to both her diving and progress as a technical and cave diver. Attitude is one thing but Christine's passion for all things diving is a thing to behold and incredibly compelling, hence my episode title... "Passion Plus"!!

Christine and I get into how she got into diving and sidemount, her cave training with Roger Williams in Mexico, how she prepared for her course and how she came to meet Tom St George resulting in some award-winning cave photographs. We talk about her work with DAN Americas and how badly she suffered from altitude sickness as a test subject for a hyperbaric research project requiring her to live for days at an altitude over 12,000ft (3,658m). We then get into Christine's plans for further diving and training and finish with some advice on how to progress your diving.

Enjoy !!

Steve Davis

Thanks to: Christine Tamburri

Image credit and thanks - Tom St George

Our Sponsor - XDEEP

Episode #69 - Prof Simon Mitchell 2 - Gas Density & Other Issues

Great to be able to bring you part 2 of my awesome catch-up and chat with world-leading hyperbaric physician Prof Simon Mitchell. See player below =>

As always, this episode is brought to you by XDEEP. Huge thanks to the XDEEP team for their support!!

In this episode, Simon and I get into the negative impact of increased gas density, particularly at depth. We muse on the impact of gas density and CO2 retention with it likely being a factor in dive accidents such as that of David Shaw, and then I get to rant a bit and ask Simon about the benefits of streamlining with respect to work of breathing.

From there, I ask Simon about the relationship between CO2 and panic relating my thoughts on the relationship between the psychological aspects of an issue in the water and the physiological responses to these stressors. Simon gives some advice for divers in a panic situation and also for rebreather divers faced with a CO2 issue.

We hit on some misconceptions or poorly understood areas such as reverse profiles, the issues with multiple deco dives in one day... We talk NDL for recreational divers and what it really means, we chat about free diving after a scuba dive and then Simon shares his extensive experience on applying human factors in the surgical operating theatre and how human factors apply to diving. DON'T miss it...

Episode #68 - Prof. Simon Mitchell - A Line Under Deep Stops

This episode has been produced with the support of XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both for their support.

In this episode, I catch up with fellow Kiwi and world-renowned Hyperbaric Physician, Prof Simon Mitchell.

In this, the first of two special episodes with Simon, we discuss his background and how he got into diving medicine, how his service in the Royal New Zealand Navy shaped his career, we reminisce on our military service and then draw a line under the stellar work that Simon has done in synthesising the research and evidence on Deep Stops before we get into other factors that might influence our decompression including PFOs, dehydration, diver temperature, working at depth, and light physical activity while decompressing. Simon is an amazing technical diver in his own right and has a great talent for explaining complex topics in a way that can be easily understood and applied to our diving.

Enjoy Steve

#divingdecompression #profsimonmitchell #hyperbaricmedicine #sidemountpros #deepstops #decompressiontheory

Episode #67 - Skanda 2 - KISS Sidewinder Exploration

Hey, here it is. "Skanda Strikes Back"... with the support of XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks for the amazing support of this podcast :)!!

In Episode #67 Skanda 2 - KISS Sidewinder Exploration, Skanda shares more on his very best cave exploration projects and in particular, we investigate how the KISS Sidewinder rebreather is enabling the Protec Tulum team and others to go deeper and longer in pursuit of places unseen by any human.

Huge thanks again to Skanda for sharing with all of us and to XDEEP and our patrons whose support makes all of this possible.

Enjoy and PLEASE SHARE 🙂!

BIG thanks to:

Skanda Coffield - http://www.protectulum.com/

Image Credit & Thanks to - Alvaro Herrero

Our sponsor - XDEEP https://www.xdeep.eu

To become a patron of Speaking Sidemount and support the show go to - https://www.patreon.com/speakingsidemount

Speaking Sidemount - https://www.facebook.com/speakingsidemount

#xdeep #nx700 #SteveDavis #sidemountpros #sidemountdiving #skandacoffield #protectulum #cavediving

Episode #66 - Skanda Coffield

This episode is brought to you with the support of our brilliant sponsor XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both.

A few weeks back I received a message from Patrick Widmann asking if I had seen the efforts of Skanda Coffield... and for sure I had seen him featured in a couple of Phillip Lehman's Somos Los Cenotes videos most notably the Blue Abyss dive which was just stunning... If you haven't seen it... Check it out on the DRLocal YouTube channel - Somos Los Cenotes Episode 10.

Patrick related that Skanda had knocked out over 700 hours of exploration on the KISS Sidewinder in the last 18 months and is one of the most active cave explorers on the planet... He had me at Sidewinder... So I reached out to Skanda and we got into it... so much so that we have two episodes of amazing material for you all.

In this the first... Skanda and I discussed... His background in diving, how he came to base himself in Mexico, his work at Protec Tulum, and then we dive deep into his exploration projects how he uses the KISS Sidewinder to go places no human has been before. To round it all out, Skanda shares his best and worst moments in diving... All this and much more...

Image credit and thanks to - Alvaro Herrero.

Become a Patron - https://www.patreon.com/speakingsidemount

Speaking Sidemount - https://www.facebook.com/speakingsidemount

#xdeep #sidemountpros #sidemountdiving #cavdiving #skandacoffield #protectulum

Episode #65 - Daniele Pontis

This episode is brought to you with the support of our sponsor XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both :)!!

Late last year I was honoured to be invited to speak at the FLOW Sidemount event in Cala Gonone, Sardinia. The event was originally slated for June this year but moved to October due to COVID. Conceived and organised by Stratis Kas my guest way back in episode #38, along with Daniele Pontis and Mariona Yepes Daviu from Bluforia Diving Centre, this event will be a must-attend for sidemount divers based in Europe and the UK and definitely also for anyone wishing and able to attend from other parts of the world given COVID travel restrictions.

You may remember, I travelled to Sardinia back in 2019 and caught up with Thorsten Toddy Waelde and Brian Starnes for some brilliant cave diving so I can recommend Cala Gonone from personal experience as a top cave diving destination and an awesome place to stay.

To our knowledge, this is the first Sidemount specialist event in Europe and it's intended to cover the full gambit of sidemount from recreational diving open water through to tech diving in open water, wrecks and of course caves. Cala Gonone, Sardinia is an absolutely ideal location for such an event and it is no surprise that XDEEP is onboard to support the show. Speakers include and I am sorry if I miss anyone but I can't wait to meet and learn from the former guests on Speaking Sidemount including Garry Dallas, Mikko Paasi, and Christina Zenato add to that amazing list... the man who coined the term Technical Diving, Michael Menduno, and TV personality, author and explorer, Andy Torbet.

So with all FLOW Sardinia in front of me, I thought it would be a great opportunity to catch up with Daniele Pontis to learn more about his diving, Bluforia dive centre, how he set it up and the diving they do, his philosophy teaching sidemount diving... And then given Daniele is an Instructor Trainer on the KISS Sidewinder, I asked him more about this amazing Sidemount CCR including somewhat selfishly for me, the transition from Open Water Air diluent level to Cave CCR and Normoxic trimix.

Daniele and I both feature in Stratis Kas' book Close Calls so I asked Daniele to relive his near-miss, share what he learned, and how he applies this in his own diving and interactions with his students on courses.

And of course, we talk about FLOW and what you can expect if you come to meet us and attend this event... Cheers Steve

Episode #64 - Mikko Paasi

Awesome to be able to share Episode #64 - Mikko Paasi brought to you with the support of XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both for their support.

By now the name Mikko Paasi is, or should be well known to all of us as a key member of the support diver team that contributed massively to the positive outcome of the Thai Cave rescue.

Hailing from Finland, Mikko owns Kho Tao Divers in Thailand and beyond his exploits in the rescue, Mikko is a cave diver and dedicated wreck explorer. In particular, he is involved in a number of awesome shipwreck exploration projects in SE Asia under the auspices of Bottomline projects.

In this episode, Mikko shares on his background in diving, how he ended up in Thailand and of course his reflection on the Thai Cave Rescue nearly three years later. Mikko tells us about his experiences returning to the Tham Luang cave system and seeing the passages dry after the floodwaters had receded.

We talk about his new venture in Malta and then cover plenty on sidemount diving, sidemount rebreathers including the SF2 and KISS Sidewinder and then look forward to meeting up at the FLOW Sidemount event to be held in Sardinia later this year...

Thanks to Mikko and all of you for your support :)!

Cheers Steve

Become a Patron of Speaking Sidemount Here - https://www.patreon.com/speakingsidemount

Episode #63 - Laurent Miroult: 'Live For Moments You Can't Put Into Words'

Welcome to the 2021 season of Speaking Sidemount brought to you with the support of XDEEP and our patrons. In this episode, I catch up with renowned cave diving photographer, Laurent Miroult. Huge thanks to Stratis Kas for the introduction.

Laurent and I dive into... his background and how he got into sidemount and cave diving, how he balances his career as a doctor with diving, and his training and mentoring with Rob Neto. We learn more about how Laurent captures his amazing images... his equipment, his photographic process, the importance of safety, and his advice for aspiring cave photographers.

We talk a bit about COVID and vaccines and muse on goals for older divers, before Laurent and I share our favourite caves we have dived and the locations that we are itching to get to once we are able to travel again.

Enjoy!! Steve

Special Release - Episode #54 - Matt Jevon: Diving After COVID-19

It's awesome to be able to bring you with the support of XDEEP, another great episode from the Speaking Sidemount Patreon vault. 

In this episode, I catch up with my old friend Matt Jevon, just a few months into the COVID-19 pandemic. I first met Matt Jevon back in late 2015 when I was being taught and mentored by Tom Steiner at Gozo Technical Diving. Matt and I teamed up on a bunch of awesome dives and also did our fair share of après-diving at a few of the great restaurants on Gozo.

Matt is the founder/instructor at South West Technical Diving in Kinsale Ireland where teaches the full gambit of tech courses including sidemount, cave, and rebreather courses. He is also a sports psychologist, rugby and conditioning coach and consults to businesses on strategy at senior management and board levels.

As you'll soon hear, Matt was seriously infected with COVID-19 a few months back which included a period of hospitalisation. Matt shares his first-hand knowledge of the virus and also what he has learned during his recovery and his research into the longer-term impacts for divers.

We also discuss our time at Gozo Technical and what we learned being part of and observing dive training there. Matt tells us about the diving in Ireland including the Lusitania and the wrecks of Malin head.

We get into Matt's thoughts on sidemount in a variety of environments, sidemount CCR and his work with the Divesoft Liberty.

We close with a discussion using Matt's knowledge and experience as a psychologist on how to best deal with the current pandemic and its effect on our lives.

Special Release - Episode #52 - PJ Prinsloo

As our summer hiatus continues, it's awesome to be able to bring you with the support of XDEEP, another great episode from the Speaking Sidemount Patreon vault.

This time I catch up with PJ Prinsloo. PJ is a technical diving instructor trainer and the Director, Technical Diving for RAID South Africa. As you'll hear, he is passionate about the benefits of sidemount and has a wealth of knowledge from the perspective of a sidemount diver, instructor, instructor trainer, and in his role at RAID.

Last year PJ was inducted into the prestigious Explorers Club and in this episode, we go deep into his involvement in the stunning exploration of the Phoenician Wreck in Xlendi Bay off the island of Gozo, Malta. As you know, I spent two amazing seasons at Gozo Technical Diving and this is definitely a place very close to my heart. The exploration dives were at depths over 110m with 3-4 hour dive runtimes which took an immense amount of planning and attention to detail to execute safely.

We also discuss sidemount diving and continue our voyage into the state of sidemount diving and instruction. We talk about what it takes to be a great sidemount instructor, the economic argument for focussing on smaller class sizes and more attention to course quality, PJ's thoughts on optimising your sidemount setup, sliding d-rings. We continue discussing sidemount CCR and how he sees this through the students that come on his courses. We finish reminiscing about our trips to Chuuk and the wrecks of Truk Lagoon.

Special Release - Episode #50 - Chris Jewell: Beyond Thailand

I'm super excited to publicly release Episode #50 with Chris Jewell. Previously this episode was only available to Patrons of Speaking Sidemount and is brought to you with the support of XDEEP.

Chris is a member of the British Cave Diving Group and was part of the team involved in the acclaimed Thai Cave rescue. Chris took part in the actual extraction dives of the rescue and in doing so became part of history as a key part of one of the greatest rescues of modern times.

Awards, accolades and numerous TV and speaking appearances followed and so it was awesome nearly 2 years later to catch up with Chris and ask him about how he got into cave diving, his experience in training and becoming part of the CDG, the importance of mentoring to the CDG training process. Chris reflects on his experience in Thailand some two years after the rescue, and he shares more on his terrifying lost line episode while extracting one of the boys from the cave.

Chris and I discuss the distinctions between sump diving and traditional cave diving, how this then drives decisions about your equipment configuration. We dive into detail on Chris' UK sump diving sidemount set up, we talk conceptually about carrying a long hose, gas sharing scenarios, and some of Chris' favourite cave exploration projects.

Enjoy, Steve

Episode #62 - Rob Neto: The Almost Comprehensive Guide to Sidemount

Hey all, Happy New Year. I hope that wherever you are, that you are well and doing OK. Excited to provide the first episode of 2021 brought to you by XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Thanks so much to both for their support.

In this episode, I catch up with Florida based, cave instructor, explorer and author, Rob Neto. Rob has just released the 2nd edition of his book "Sidemount Diving, The Almost Comprehensive Guide". Despite the title, this is, without doubt, the most complete written work on sidemount diving with over 300 pages of how-to and the whys behind all of it. In this episode, Rob and I get into the book, chat some on different aspects of sidemount before he shares on his cave exploration exploits in Cozumel.

He has graciously shared a discount code for all of you which is valid until the end of Feb. Just go to his website at https://bit.ly/38XOK1Q and use the coupon code speakingsidemount for a $15 discount.

Cheers Steve

#XDEEP #SteveDavis #SidemountPros #SidemountDiving #Cavediving #RobNeto #ChipolaDivers

Episode #61 - Sean Wheller

Here it is... the last episode of 2020 with Speaking Sidemount Gold Patron, Sean Wheller. Sean and I have been communicating online for well over a year, and in fact, he was one of the very first patrons to support the show. He's a sidemount diver, a decompression and cave diver and continues to progress his training with PJ Prinsloo in South Africa. 

In this episode, Sean and I chat about his diving, how he started in sidemount learning from Steve Martin's videos, his training with PJ Prinsloo, how he has worked to develop his diving and overcome mental challenges as he addresses cave training in particular. We talk about the benefit of a variety of instructors and also get into diving in South Africa, in particular, Sodwana bay and Komati Springs.

Wishing you all an awesome holiday season and all the best for next year. Thanks again for the support :)!!

Become a Patron - Speaking Sidemount with Steve Davis - Podcast | Patreon