Stage Cave Diver

Course Description

Sooner or later, most active cave divers discover they’ve gone as far as possible using a single set of backmounted doubles or sidemount. When this happens, the question becomes, “How do I go further?” The first step is to use stage bottles.

There is more to stage diving, however, than simply strapping on extra bottles. Without proper training and equipment, the added burden of carrying stage bottles can increase your gas consumption to the point you don’t actually go any farther. To prevent this, you must learn:

• How to properly configure stage cylinders for backmount and/or sidemount.

• The most effective ways to deploy stage bottles.

• How to avoid environmental damage when staging.

• Effective strategies for gas management when stage diving.

The Stage Cave Diver course teaches you this. It’s also an important prerequisite for DPV Cave Diver training.

Course Equipment Requirements

In addition to the equipment requirements listed for all NSS-CDS courses, students and instructors are to have and use one or more suitably rigged stage cylinder(s) with regulator and team compatibility

Course Prerequisites

• Be at least 18

• Be certified to the full Cave Diver level or equivalent by a widely recognized training organization

How long will this take?

This course generally takes two days encompassing three or more dives.