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Entra en un mundo infinito de historias

Escuchar y leer

Simon Pridmore

If you are a diver, what you learned about topics such as decompression sickness and narcosis in your scuba diving classes is unlikely to have been as complete as you thought. Most of it will have been over-simplified and some of it will just have been plain wrong, as diver training agency texts have not kept pace with the science. Scuba Physiological gives you a chance to catch up.

A recent book called The Science of Diving was a collation of work done by scientists in the field of decompression research as part of a three-year project called PHYPODE (Physiology of Decompression). The book did not reach the diving public; mainly because it was written by scientists for other scientists and they speak a different language than most of us. Simon Pridmore is not an expert on diving medicine but he knows something good when he sees it. When Simon read The Science of Diving (with help from Google), he thought it was worthwhile working on it to try to make it more accessible. The original authors agreed that this was a good idea and Scuba Physiological is the result.

There have been great advances to make diving safer, but, despite nearly 170 years of research, the fundamental nature of decompression sickness and decompression stress remains unknown and there are still glaring gaps in our knowledge. Scuba Physiological provides a good summary of what we know, as well as a glimpse of where the science is taking us and some invaluable tips to make you a safer diver now. 

Among many other things, you will learn:

1. Pre-dive hydration, exposure to heat, whole body vibration and oxygen breathing may reduce the risk of DCS.

2. Post-dive, our bodies have most bubbles running around them 30 to 40 minutes AFTER we have surfaced. Post-dive hydration and certain other post-dive behaviours are therefore also essential.

3. The effects of nitrogen narcosis continue for a period of time AFTER a dive.

4. All dive computers have a known DCS risk rate.

5. Exercise during the period up to 120 minutes after surfacing may increase your risk of DCS.

6. Never use a weightlifter's breath-hold and release technique when pulling yourself into the boat post-dive.

7. A little dark chocolate before a dive may be a good thing for you.

What the experts say:

“With this latest volume, Simon Pridmore makes a significant contribution to the body of practical knowledge in the science of scuba diving. If you are looking for a thorough understanding of the science of diving and how it might be impacting your safety and enjoyment of diving, this book is a must read.” Dan Orr, President, Academy of Underwater Arts & Sciences and President Emeritus, Divers Alert Network Foundation

"This book makes it easy to understand the latest discoveries in diving research and our current understanding of what happens to our bodies when we dive." JP Imbert: Decompression designer and technical diving pioneer

"There are some lovely thought-provoking ideas and questioning of current dogma. This book is well worth the read. " Dr Ian Sibley-Calder, HSE Approved Medical Examiner of Divers, Occupational Health Physician

"This book is an excellent discussion of the issues. It is an enjoyable, simplified read of a complex subject and easy for a non-scientist to comprehend. I consider this an essential text for every diver's shelf." Joseph Dituri PhD (c), CDR, US Navy Saturation Diving

Sandsmedia

The Scuba Series

Scuba Physiological: Think You Know All About Scuba Medicine? Think Again!

If you do not yet scuba dive but are thinking of learning, then Scuba Fundamental - Start Diving the Right Way is for you. It takes you from the germ of the idea that you might like to try scuba diving up to the point where you have done around 20 dives.

This is not your standard how-to scuba diving manual. It is very different. The purpose of Scuba Fundamental is not to teach you how to dive. A dive instructor will do that. But this book will make the learning process much easier. It will help you make the right choices and avoid the pitfalls that await new and uninformed divers coming into the sport.It will also set you well on the road to becoming a capable and competent lifelong diver.

Scuba Fundamental tells you how to make sure you are prepared for a scuba diving course and what a good beginners course should entail. It tells you how to choose a good instructor, how to decide which operators to dive with after you have finished your course and what sort of dives you should be doing when you first start diving.

You will learn the many ways in which diving will change your life and also acquire some extremely valuable advice on the etiquette involved in the sport. Throughout the book and especially in the chapter "It Happened to Me" you will be entertained, educated and encouraged by anecdotes from people who are now experienced divers but were once beginners too.

There is also an entire section devoted to diving safety, much of which covers vitally important aspects of scuba diving that standard training manuals don't emphasise enough or even leave out completely.

The book's message is: start scuba diving the right way and you will be relaxed and ready for the adventure. You will have more fun, make fewer mistakes and be confident in the fact that you are well informed, have made the best choices and have spent your money wisely.

Scuba Fundamental is a unique, reliable and essential guide: one that you can trust completely and follow during this formative phase of your scuba diving life.

"I wish I had had this book to read when I learned to dive. I remember being totally confused."

Robin Yao, Executive Editor, EZDIVE magazine

"This is the book divers should give to friends when they say they want to learn to scuba dive."

Ian Thomas, Scuba Instructor Trainer

Scuba Fundamental: Start Diving the Right Way

Scuba Confidential is a unique book packed full of valuable tips and expert advice, giving you unprecedented access to the secrets of dive professionals and technical divers. With Scuba Confidential, you will learn how to master skills and techniques that will make you a more confident, capable and safe diver. 

It offers an informed, balanced view on some of scuba diving's most contentious issues like going solo, deep diving and rebreathers and includes a comprehensive analysis of how diving accidents happen and how to make sure you do not become a statistic. 
Scuba Confidential also gives you valuable insights on a vast range of topics such as what it is like to do a cave diving course, how to make sure you buy the right equipment, what to consider when choosing an instructor, things even the pros get wrong and where to find the best diving in the world. 
This is candid, no-nonsense practical advice from a professional who has been involved over the last three decades with virtually every aspect of the sport. 

Have you ever wondered? 

How to look as comfortable in the water as the professionals do? 
What it is like to dive inside shipwrecks? 
Which training courses are most worthwhile? 
If you would make a good technical diver? 
If you should be considering a rebreather? 
How you can improve your diving skills? 
How you can reduce your air consumption? 
Why diving accidents happen and how to prevent them? 
Whether you might sometimes actually be safer solo diving? 
How to dive deep safely? Or 
How muck diving can possibly be any fun? 

Scuba Confidential has the answers to these questions and many more.

Scuba Confidential: An Insider's Guide to Becoming a Better Diver

Scuba Exceptional is the perfect sequel to Simon Pridmore's Scuba Confidential - An Insider's Guide to Becoming a Better Diver.

It reflects the same philosophy of safe diving through the acquisition of knowledge and skills. The themes are new, there are some wonderful and extremely useful new cautionary tales and the focus this time is more on issues that face experienced divers. For example, there is more technical diving content but, as usual, Simon covers complex issues in his usual clear and easy-to-read style. In many cases, the concerns of technical divers reflect those of scuba divers at every level. After all, as he says, technical diving is on the same spectrum as conventional sport diving: it is just a different frequency.

Scuba Exceptional also deals in detail with the psychological approach to scuba diving, broaching topics from new angles and borrowing techniques and procedures from other fields of human activity.

While most of Scuba Exceptional focuses on the diver, it also takes a look at the wider picture and highlights a number of areas where scuba diving professionals and the “industry” as a whole are letting divers down. As always, Simon is realistic in his assessments. He may shine a little light on the dark side of the scuba diving world, but he does this in order to illuminate bad practice and encourage change, while offering solutions. He also provides insights on a wide range of topics.

For instance, do you want to know…

what makes someone a good diver?

how to swim against a current without getting exhausted?

how you can be out of air while you still have plenty to breathe?

what the concept of failure points is?

how to be a defensive diver?

how preconditioning applies to scuba diving?

how long you should really wait between diving and flying?

when to call DAN (and when not to call)?

how corals could possibly be animals when they look like rocks?

how to avoid being left behind in the ocean?

what’s happening in the world of rebreather diving? or

what the perimeter of ignorance is?

Scuba Exceptional has the answers to these questions and a lot more

Scuba Exceptional: Become the Best Diver You Can Be

Scuba Professional introduces readers of Simon Pridmore's other books, Scuba Fundamental, Scuba Confidential and Scuba Exceptional to a whole new level of the sport. Whereas the other books focus on how to scuba dive, Scuba Professional looks at how diving is taught and how dive operations are conducted.

Scuba Professional is an excellent source of out-of-the-box ideas and independent, objective advice for instructors and dive operators. It is also an indispensable guide for those aspiring to become dive professionals with chapters such as Do You Have What It Takes? and Which Training Agency?

In short, this is everything you wanted to know about working in scuba diving but never dared to ask.

Scuba Professional is not only for professionals. Serious divers who take more than a passing interest in their hobby and want to know what goes on behind the scenes will be fascinated by the topics addressed and the insights offered.

From a dive safety point of view, Simon looks at the bigger picture and, in a series of chapters on avoiding and handling accidents, sets out a framework for developing the safety culture within our sport. He also examines the present state of key aspects of the dive industry and speculates as to the future.

There is quite simply nothing like this book: the ultimate backstage pass into the business of scuba.

Jill Heinerth, Technical Instructor Trainer & Filmmaker

Terrific, really good! Simon captures the key characteristics of the diving instruction milieu with insight and clarity.

Associate Professor Simon Mitchell,

Diving Physician

The closest thing we have to an insiders guide to the dive industry.

Peter Symes Publisher X-Ray Magazine

I wish this book had been available 20 years ago!

Tamara Thomsen, Owner Diversions Scuba, Madison