Mike Young (cave diver)
American cave explorer and rebreather designer
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Mike Young is an American cave diver and rebreather designer. He is known for record-breaking underwater cave exploration and is the former owner of KISS Rebreathers. Young designed the first production sidemount rebreather and the KISS Sidewinder, a sidemount rebreather popular among cave divers.
- Cave exploration
- Rebreather inventions
Mike Young | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Rebreather designer |
| Years active | c. 1995–present |
| Known for |
|
| Website | kissrebreathers |
Early life
Young grew up in Colorado. He learned to scuba dive in the 1990s and worked as a machinery designer and builder.[1][2]
Rebreather design
Young has designed multiple rebreathers including the KISS GEM and Spirit. In 2012, he became the owner of KISS Rebreathers and moved production to Fort Smith, Arkansas.[2] The KISS Sidekick became the first production-made sidemount rebreather and won the TEKDiveUSA 2016 innovation award.[3] The Sidewinder is a popular sidemount closed circuit rebreather (CCR) used by cave divers.[4] Young sold the company in 2021 but continued to design rebreathers including the chest-mounted Dive Talk Go.[5][3][6]
Cave diving
Young has explored caves with the Advanced Diver Magazine Exploration team, US Deep Caving team, and KISS Rebreathers dive team.[3] In 2011, Young mapped the longest known underground river system, a 14 mile (23 km) long system in Puerto Rico.[3] In 2021, Young and Randall Purdy dove to 472 feet (144 m) in Roaring River Spring which was the deepest exploration of a US cave until 2023.[7][8] The Missouri senate recognized the dive team for their exploration of the cave.[9]
Young has participated in multiple body recoveries.[3] In 2019 Young, along with Edd Sorenson, recovered the bodies of two divers in the Domincan Republic who had been stuck in a cave for weeks.[10][11] Young also supported Sorenson's rescue of Josh Bratchley, a diver who had participated in the Tham Luang cave rescue.[12]
Young is a CCR instructor and instructor trainer. He is an advisory member of the Professional Scuba Association International (PSAI).[13]
In media
Young participated in diving Devils Hole Cave for the IMAX film Ancient Caves and to support research along with Brian Kakuk.[3] Young is also featured leading a cave exploration team in Jonathan Bird's Blue World.[14]