Next step for longer bottom times on deep dives?

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jf3193

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Location
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Good evening gang.
Im researching the idea of stepping up into the tech world. Ive done several deep wrecks over the years, and I'm often wishing I had more bottom time 90-130 ft range eats up NDL even on Nitrox.
what would be a good starting point to get more bottom time out of this dive range? I often dive the Spiegel grove and the Duane down in the keys, and I want to get into the North Carolina wrecks, but id love to figure out what step I need to have better bottom time. I have good air consumption, but still can't win that fight against NDL, even on Nitrox.
Id love to be able to truly explore, staying down 45+ on these dives at this range. I see several options for classes that are 'tech', but not sure where to start. PADI certified, but TDI or other outfits are just as open to me.

any thoughts?
 
Helium and therefore an empty wallet (as helium has become insanely expense) is in your future. If you are going to dive deep prolifically, consider closed circuit. But prior to that, get the fundamentals down. I advocate GUE fundies or similar before starting tech.
 
Helium and therefore an empty wallet (as helium has become insanely expense) is in your future. If you are going to dive deep prolifically, consider closed circuit. But prior to that, get the fundamentals down. I advocate GUE fundies or similar before starting tech.
It wouldn't be often, just on various trips where it warranted longer dives. (huge wrecks where it takes multiple dives to explore. It gets old feeling like I just went to the bottom for 20-25 minutes and have to come up.
 
Then stick with OC. Same advice for starting with fundies. That will prepare you well for TDI if you decide that route. Or stick with GUE. I’d use SB to help vet good tech instructors.
 
If your diving is being limited by NDL, you can try to get enrich air that is optimized for your dive vs the standard nitrox. But the difference will be minimal, you need to move up if you want to hit 45+ min bottom time at 100-130ft. You can do this without trimix if you don't have major nitrogen narcosis issues.

Going into tech, you'll be able to achieve those goals once you pass decompression procedures with either sidemount or backmount doubles. The instructor should be able to package those together or you may take them separately.

Depending on the environment, you may need to increase your exposure protection like drysuit. If you want to drop your SAC, you can look at using a DPV.

If you are entering tech, as @wetb4igetinthewater you'll want to first sharpen your buoyancy, kicks, smb deployment, etc.

Sounds like your going to have a lot of fun
 
Good evening gang.
Im researching the idea of stepping up into the tech world. Ive done several deep wrecks over the years, and I'm often wishing I had more bottom time 90-130 ft range eats up NDL even on Nitrox.
what would be a good starting point to get more bottom time out of this dive range? I often dive the Spiegel grove and the Duane down in the keys, and I want to get into the North Carolina wrecks, but id love to figure out what step I need to have better bottom time. I have good air consumption, but still can't win that fight against NDL, even on Nitrox.
Id love to be able to truly explore, staying down 45+ on these dives at this range. I see several options for classes that are 'tech', but not sure where to start. PADI certified, but TDI or other outfits are just as open to me.

any thoughts?

When do you start getting narced? I’d suggest considering Adv Nitrox/Helitrox with TDI. You don’t have to use helium, but it’s good to have the option if you want to. That combo gets you down to 150ft and 35% helium. Other SBers have been very bummed after the fact when they found out they could have added Helitrox and didn’t. They didn’t know about the option or instructors didn’t tell them about it. Helitrox takes the place of Deco Procedures. You still do the DP bookwork, but don’t get the cert. It shouldn’t be an extra dives (there’s one instructor on SB who takes extreme pride in going way beyond standards) and additional class fees shouldn’t be too much, plus gas costs. The Trimix book is the Helitrox text.

I don’t know where in the US you are, but even with helium being $4-5/cft in my area of the Great Lakes, I’m still doing Helitrox and will dive it when needed. Narcosis is a very personal thing and I’m in a bad way at 130ft. It’s as much as a safety factor for me, as being able to remember the deeper wrecks I’ll dive!
 
Advanced nitrox/deco procedures. No need for trimix if you're already comfortable on those wrecks. If you plan on going past 130' regularly then mix may be something to consider after a while.

Exactly.

I did tech training for precisely that reason - to spend more time on wrecks in the 90-130 foot range. Narcosis susceptibility is variable, of course, but if you are doing dives in that range now and just want more time, no need for trimix.

I did my OC tech training with John Chatterton, and if you like wrecks, this is a great option - you will hear a lot of awesome stories and get good teaching. But of course, there are a lot of options for basic AN/DP. I did TDI, so I don't know much about the PADI offerings.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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