When to go tech...

[Colliam7]

I'm just trying to get some peoples' thoughts on the right time to get into tech diving. I've done somewhere in the region of 80 dives, . . . I'm interested in both the science of diving and in developing my own knowledge and capabilities. . . . My goal is really just to get the knowledge I feel I lack of decompression procedures, to learn to dive with a twinset and to extend my bottom time on deep(ish - about 40m) dives. I'd then hope to refine those skills for another hundred or more dives before moving onto the next stage (trimix?). . . . Am I rushing things? If so, how should I continue to expand my knowledge in the meantime?

No, you are not necessarily rushing things. At the risk of putting words in your mouth, I read your post as a question about when to pursue technical dive training, not specifically when to 'get into tech diving'. And, the training, in whatever form it may take, is the key.

For me, technical dive training was about a) equipment, b) skills, and c) attitude / mindset, with the latter being perhaps the more important part. People often focus on the equipment, but that is probably not the most important component. Technical dive training was actually a significant step forward in my recreational diving. Not only was I forced to focus on, and considerably improve, improve my control of buoyancy and trim, I learned more about dive planning, including gas management, developed new skills, substantially refined skills that I (erroneously) thought I already had (switching gas supplies underwater in a timely, efficient and fluid manner), and came out of the training process far, far better recreational diver than I was at the start. So, even though I use the skills for deep decompression diving, I think a primary benefit was to help me become a more competent, comfortable recreational diver.

I particularly agree with much of OzGriffo's response. Before tech training, I had already logged >100 drysuit dives and >20 doubles dives. Thanks goodness. If I had tried to master - during the courses - a new exposure suit, and doubles, AND the skills involved in the training, it would have overwhelmed me. In fact, even having a pre-existing modicum of proficiency diving dry and diving doubles, there were multiple times when my frustration almost cause me to throw up my hands and quit.

Reading more is good. Doing a Fundies course is good. Gaining experience with diving dry and gaining experience with doubles are things that can (and, I think, should) be started before formal technical training.

 

[jadairiii]

First off, buy this video, regardless if you go GUE route or not, it is invaluable for understanding decompression:

The Mysterious Malady: Toward an Understanding of Decompression Injuries | Global Underwater Explorers

Second, take a GUE fundamental’s course, it will square you away, get you in the mind set for future diving needs and be useful in your quest to go deeper.

When choosing a Tech instructor, look for one that really does dive, other than just teaching. Ask them when they are not teaching what exploration groups they are diving with. If the only dives in the instructor's log book are teaching dives, move on.

 

[DaleC]

Instead of suggesting books to read or training to take to prepare you for technical diving I would suggest looking at what you do now.
If all your dives are charters there could be a lot of planning that you do not participate in. A good first step would be to take responsibility for all aspects of your rec dives. Location research, tides/currents, gas planning, setting detailed dive plans & following them etc... Basically, creating a dive experience/team that operates like a tech team but in the rec realm. These are all things that can be done without another course (actual skills refinement / mastery) that translate directly to the skillset needed for tech diving.

Solid basic dive skills are the core of technical diving - ask yourself if you have them, or are you just passing through on the road to bigger and better things. Those boats will still be there if you take the time to do the groundwork first.

 

[flots am]

I've recently started to consider doing TDI deco procedures/advanced nitrox. I was hoping to do it towards the end of this year or start of next year, once I've bumped up the number of dives I've done to somewhere around 100-120. Does that sound like a reasonable goal? I'm very comfortable in the water and am used to diving in temperate conditions and in surge/currents (such is the diving in Victoria, Australia). My goal is really just to get the knowledge I feel I lack of decompression procedures, to learn to dive with a twinset and to extend my bottom time on deep(ish - about 40m) dives. I'd then hope to refine those skills for another hundred or more dives before moving onto the next stage (trimix?).

Am I rushing things?

You're ready for technical diving as soon as you've decided that you're willing to die if you make a mistake that you can't fix underwater. Only you can answer that.

While you probably already know this, I'll mention it anyway. The big difference between recreational and technical diving is that on a recreational dive, the surface is always available. On an overhead (technical) dive, the surface becomes a less attractive or impossible choice.

If you have a small deco obligation you may (or may not) be able to surface and not be injured. With a large deco obligation, your choice becomes "stay here and die" or "surface and die." Inside a wreck or cave, the choices are more limited.

There's actually no reason for you do do any of this unless there are dives that you want to do, and feel that the risk is worth the reward.

In Recreational Open Water training, each new class makes your dive safer. Better navigation, better buddy skills, learning how to detect and handle panic, better buoyancy, etc. The tech classes you mentioned (deco, trimix, etc.) each carries additional risks.

Deco, for example, allows you to dive deeper and longer at the expense of not being able to surface if you have a problem. Tri-mix, allows you to dive even deeper with less narcosis, at the expense of additional decompression. They're all trade-offs that carry additional risk. Nobody here can tell you whether you're ready or if any of it is even a good idea.

flots.

 

[windapp]

I am not a tech diver, but I love to dive with tech divers.

Tech divers still do buddy checks even after thousands of dives.
Tech divers maintain close buddy contact.
Tech divers aren't afraid to tell you if something is out of place with your gear.
When a particular dive op has a tech diver running it, all the instructors and dive masters are more thorough and careful, and there are usually never any shortcuts taken.
In short, tech divers dive the way we were trained to dive.

 

[Peter_C]

Second, take a GUE fundamental’s course, it will square you away, get you in the mind set for future diving needs and be useful in your quest to go deeper.

I will third that!

Take a class as such in the gear of a tech diver IE: Doubles, drysuit if necessary, can light, etc, then go out and do another 50 dives with your new gear and skills. Keep practicing and you will be on your way to a safe diving.

 

[TSandM]

I totally agree with Colliam7 -- one of the biggest differences between the usual recreational diver and the technical diver is the mindset. Recreational diving is often done in a reactive mode -- you go down and swim around until your deco limits are hit or your gas gets low, and then you come up. Technical diving is PLANNED -- you know where you are going to go and how long you are going to stay there, and how much deco you are going to incur, and how much gas you need to do it. You know what equipment you are going to need, and you know it all has to work . . . thus the care with predive checks that was mentioned in another post above.

You can begin this transition without changing equipment or going any deeper than you already are. The Fundamentals class which has been mentioned is a good way to do it -- you can do the class in a single tank setup, and it will challenge your skills AND your thinking. You can then take the new ideas into all your recreational diving for a while, switch to doubles, do some mentoring dives (or a doubles class) and then do a tech checkout. Once you have a tech pass from Fundies, you are beautifully prepared to go on to any technical training you envision, whether that is with GUE or elsewhere.

You have a wonderful guy for a GUE instructor in Melbourne. I have met Nick Schoeffler, and he is a very nice man. You could not go wrong making contact with him, even if it's just to check out some dives with the GUE community there.

 

[Jared0425]

What?

As in your buddy cannot do much for you at depth or in enclosed spaces. Buddies can only do so much at a certain point without comprising themselves. I took a hit after I saved my buddies life at 145' and did a free ascent, so that's why I say buddies can only do so much, which is why self reliance and solo mindset is a good to have.

 

[Peter Guy]

As in your buddy cannot do much for you at depth or in enclosed spaces. Buddies can only do so much at a certain point without comprising themselves. I took a hit after I saved my buddies life at 145' and did a free ascent, so that's why I say buddies can only do so much, which is why self reliance and solo mindset is a good to have.

I suppose this is as good of a description of the difference between "team diving" and "Chatterton diving" as one can get-- and ne'er the twain shall meet.

OP and Jared, I can guarantee both of you that in any dive I do with my teammate(s), one of them will be able to assist me if such assistance is requested (regardless if it is needed). If you dive with teammates, the planning and the precision of such a dive provides the ability to assist -- if you dive with "others" then the lack of planning and (perhaps) the lack of precision will hinder the ability to assist as described by Jared. There is a HUGE difference between the two types of dives.

 

[Jared0425]

When you are tech diving as I was taught by the others around me, we are self reliant so that we don't need such assistance. I guess maybe we think a buddy as a hinderance to assist that could endanger ourselves. I am a believer in the buddy system when doing recreational diving. I don't care if you are a new diver or an very experienced diver who has thousands of dives, I think a buddy is a good idea, it's just when you are in certain scenarios of tech, you are responsible for yourself. I know divers who would probably rank up there as the best and they would agree with what I said.

Apsolute Mess, when you get to certain point usually 200 dives, you will notice that you can meld into a balanced art of tech and recreational diving that is extended range. It could be sooner or later this happens, then the magic number of 130 is no longer that limit but extended to a point which you can operate and dive to a reasonable limit. Just focus on your diving and try to get a number of different dives under your belt. Cold water, warm, good vis and bad, current and none, rivers, lakes, whatever constitutes experience. Wrecks are wonderful, that's why I got into diving and shipwreck hunting. There is nothing like finding a intact wooden vessel that hasn't been seen in 100 years.