UTD Essentials of Recreational Diving - What graduates say

[randytay]

My UTD Essentials covers the following:

Helium and standard gassed
Minimum decompression and deep stops
Gas consumption and rock bottom calculations.

Keep in mind that we are talking about an agency that teaches helium in strictly non technical and purely recreational capacity.
A lot of things that they call Recreational 3 may seem technical diving to the outside world but it is recreational in their texts. The line between recreational and technical is not the way it exists everywhere else.

You are right. To us, there is no hard line between recreational and technical diving. It is a continuum being one is the extension of the other.

 

[Lorenzoid]

You are right. To us, there is no hard line between recreational and technical diving. It is a continuum being one is the extension of the other.

I'm just glad that in rec Fundies they didn't overtly emphasize that. It was simply explained to us that some of the things we were being taught had origins in tech diving but should not be exclusive to tech diving. I took Fundies with my wife, and in the beginning--probably even after we finished the course--she was skeptical that what we were being taught was not "tech diving stuff." She was adamant that she did not want any part of "tech diving stuff." It took some time before the concept of a "continuum" really sunk in--for both of us. I think it was better for us to have connected the dots on our own over time than it would have been if GUE had tried to emphasize the continuum aspect at the outset. My wife would have closed her mind to GUE completely if they had dwelled too much on the connection to tech diving. I think both GUE and UTD could attract more rec divers if they took the soft approach.

 

[The Chairman]

So is decompression diving in altitude, totally recreational.

I believe they actually teach RD in their Rec classes, so yeah. I could be wrong.

 

[RainPilot]

I believe they actually teach RD in their Rec classes, so yeah. I could be wrong.

No ratio deco in recreational. Min deco ascent is taught.

 

[Landau]

My opinion as a Recreational diver - I'm not taking this course.

I'm not changing my equipment, I picked it for specific reasons. Shore dives near me involve long treks in gear. My BCD is the best I could find for supporting the tank and weight on land during those treks. It is back inflate but I'm not going to a harness that can't support wight on your hips IE very little weight supported by the shoulder straps.

I'm never going to do decompression dives so I don't care what theory is used. I watch my computer and have no interest in figuring out my NDL in my head when a down current takes me deeper that I planned.

I would take a course on improving my buoyancy control & trim (In my drysuit), holding and altering my position just using fins to get just the right angle for the octopus photo (forward, backward, up, down, sideways and rotate) while my hands are holding the camera.

Things along those lines interest me - not some introduction to tech that is called Essentials of Rec.

If I was on the other side of the continent NetDoc's snobbish amounts of trim course would interest me.

 

[randytay]

My opinion as a Recreational diver - I'm not taking this course.

I'm not changing my equipment, I picked it for specific reasons. Shore dives near me involve long treks in gear. My BCD is the best I could find for supporting the tank and weight on land during those treks. It is back inflate but I'm not going to a harness that can't support wight on your hips IE very little weight supported by the shoulder straps.

I'm never going to do decompression dives so I don't care what theory is used. I watch my computer and have no interest in figuring out my NDL in my head when a down current takes me deeper that I planned.

I would take a course on improving my buoyancy control & trim (In my drysuit), holding and altering my position just using fins to get just the right angle for the octopus photo (forward, backward, up, down, sideways and rotate) while my hands are holding the camera.

Things along those lines interest me - not some introduction to tech that is called Essentials of Rec.

If I was on the other side of the continent NetDoc's snobbish amounts of trim course would interest me.

Oh you will find the intro to tech to be quite different from Essentials of Rec although they do share some common stuff known as "good diving skills" and "good diving habits". Nevertheless, thank you for your feedback.

 

[The Chairman]

Min deco ascent is taught.

Color me ignorant! Does this use tables or PDCs???

 

[RainPilot]

Color me ignorant! Does this use tables or PDCs???

Tables are taught and provided. Standard gas for rec depths is 32% up to 100' then deeper the students are certified for helitrox. Yes, you can breathe Helium on a recreational dive without having to be deco trained first.
No issue with using a PDC but priority is given to understanding the tables and relationship of NDL to depth and time.

Min deco ascent is basically a way of limiting the ascent rate, AFAIK the procedure is pretty much the same as GUE.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

Yes, you can breathe Helium on a recreational dive without having to be deco trained first.

I ask this in complete sincerity, but why would a diver do this? To extend NDL time? Sounds expensive.

 

[The Chairman]

I ask this in complete sincerity, but why would a diver do this? To extend NDL time? Sounds expensive.

To improve clarity and help with decision making. I think it's a good idea.