Are there too many unnecessary steps to get normoxic trimix certified?

[rivers]

GUE- Fundies pass and Tech 1 (tech pass) or Rec 3 (rec pass)
IANTD- enriched air and deep to take ART
TDI- AOW and enriched air to take advanced nitrox and helitrox combined

So none of these normoxic courses really requires anything besides the basics, with the exception of Fundies for GUE. But even then, you can take fundies straight out of OW

 

[Randy g]

I did AN/DP/Normoxic in one looooong 6 month class. My instructor made me dive an entire season in MHC with him before I got my cards. It made me a much better diver because of the number of dives we did and time spent discussing things. It was the best $ I have spent on instruction up to that point and he was very reasonable on his prices. I think he liked me and wanted a competent dive buddy for that season, in all honesty.

 

[waterpirate]

It is all about the instructor and the quality of training delivered. If you seek a fast track there are many available. If you seek knowledge and solid skills, it will take more time and money. The path you choose is your decision in the end. People learn differently. In my case I did a dive audition prior to the instructor agreeing to train me at all. It is a long slow process for me, but I will be a better diver out the other side. My trimix card will only be the 3rd card I have ever received.
YMMV
Eric

 

[rjack321]

With some of the agencies utilizing "many courses" each course is actually pretty short (2 days, 10 contact hours, 4 dives etc). Via of those agencies offering "one" course you'll find that course is generally much longer, like 5 days, 50 contact hours, and 10+ dives. Obviously price varies too. I think you need a certain critical mass of material to justify any particular course. E.g. advanced nitrox alone is short and quick but also pretty useless.

 

[ajduplessis]

i think the only prerequisite for my normoxic trimix class with iantd was that i had a nitrox certification

I believe Adv Nitrox or Technical Diver certs as prereqs for Nornoxic.

 

[Rainer]

I had to take an intro to tech class (GUE Fundamentals) before I could take my normoxic trimix class (GUE T1). That was the only prereq. As others mentioned above, though, that means the trimix class itself was longer and more expensive than what other agencies offer. Personally, I thought it was a good path.

 

[Sliver]

AN/DP combined into one class then normoxic seems about right to me.

Assumption: the diver doing the training already understands buoyancy/trim skills and has a grade school proficiency in math with high school level of understanding of physics and biology.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[steady1570]

I may be reading the OP wrong, but is the point not that Helium isn’t introduced to a diver until they have passed x number of courses, rather than giving the benefit of lower narcosis early on in a diving career?

To me, some experience is needed, along with some form of training. I don’t think many argue that you should have an END of much less than 30m, so for a beginner rec diver (no deco, single tank, realistically diving to 30ish metres max), the benefits of He are marginal and don’t outweigh the negatives. A big risk I see is that, with the ability to have (normoxic) He in your tanks, a diver might push a bit too far and find themselves in a situation where they don’t have the tools to cope – you don’t get very much time at 40m before going into deco, never mind the gas volume issues. So personally I think AN/DP with some light trimix mixes is a good spot – allows the beginner decompression diver to gain experience but with a much reduced narcosis risk. Then perhaps combine advanced normoxic and hypoxic into one course.

-Mark

 

[Redshift]

One really unnecessary step I see is dividing nitrox learning into nitrox and adv. nitrox.

 

[rhwestfall]

I started last week - NAUI - 4 classes (+ Nitrox and Technical Configuration pre-requisites) + dives/workshops, and some post-training dives the instructor hopes to do with us... this is over a month or so in time as the classes are 1 day a week with reading assignments/quizzes between.

being taught at 2 "classes" - so, essentially AN/DP & Tri-Mix. Will give you feedback when done.