Best agency for learning Tech diving - criteria given - honest :)

[PfcAJ]

So, what does "the best" mean?

GUE. Duh.

 

[kwinter]

Anything but GUE. Even more Duh.


iPhone. iTypo. iApologize.

 

[kr2y5]

Joking aside... if the OP mentions thrill, fun, deep, mixed gases while traveling much as his or her objectives, but does not emphasize safety in the post, then one version of "the best" would be "the agency that provides him with the earliest access to some of such experiences". Is this what the OP wants? If so, my impression was that TDI provides the fastest/cheapest early progression along this path. But maybe OP has a different idea of "the best".

 

[boulderjohn]

Joking aside... if the OP mentions thrill, fun, deep, mixed gases while traveling much as his or her objectives, but does not emphasize safety in the post, then one version of "the best" would be "the agency that provides him with the earliest access to some of such experiences". Is this what the OP wants? If so, my impression was that TDI provides the fastest/cheapest early progression along this path. But maybe OP has a different idea of "the best".

The assumption of this post is that if one agency gets you to your goal faster than another agency, then it must be unsafe. Isn't it possible that the faster agency is plenty safe enough? If I make a new agency that requires 10 years to get normoxic trimix training and another 10 years to get hypoxic trimix training, does it therefore follow logically that all agencies teaching today, including GUE, are horribly unsafe because they will get students there so much faster?

 

[rongoodman]

What practises does BSAC adhere to that you don't agree with? The only configuration we do NOT use during training is what people call the Hog-loop.

Exactly. What advantage would it be for a beginning tech diver to be steered away from the standard method of air sharing used by every other technical and cave diving organization?

 

[kr2y5]

The assumption of this post is that if one agency gets you to your goal faster than another agency, then it must be unsafe.

Not really... at least I was not making such assumption. I do believe, however, that if one explicitly wanted to OPTIMIZE for maximum safety (as opposed to "safe enough"), then one would go the GUE route, since that progression seems to be designed with maximum safety in mind.

Isn't it possible that the faster agency is plenty safe enough?

Of course it is. I think people disagree on the definition of "enough". Ultimately, it is up to the OP to determine what this means for them, how much they care, and what is "plenty enough". Personally, for me TDI training, despite some deficiencies, certainly was plenty enough to have early experiences that reinforced my passion to go further, but I for one have no reservations diving below 100 feet on Nitrox, since I never experienced the sort of debilitating impairment that would scare me away.

If I make a new agency that requires 10 years to get normoxic trimix training and another 10 years to get hypoxic trimix training, does it therefore follow logically that all agencies teaching today, including GUE, are horribly unsafe because they will get students there so much faster?

There is obviously the unnamed third person in this exchange that you are addressing... I will let them respond.

 

[Doppler]

... you just need a pinnacle black ice drysuit to complete the picture

Sorry to further derail a thread already well off the main line and in a siding, but what does that mean, exactly? Can you tell a diver's ethos from what type of drysuit he or she wears?

 

[ScubaInChicago]

So why ignore the elephant in the room of deep air diving. If fast (and cheap) is the goal to reach new depths, is safety something that should be put aside for the sake of diving deep sooner? Is 165' on air acceptable? Is 150' on air acceptable? Personally knowing the physiological impairments brought on by WOB and Co2 production is enough for me look down on any agency endorsing such nonsense.

 

[kr2y5]

So why ignore the elephant in the room of deep air diving. If fast (and cheap) is the goal to reach new depths, is safety something that should be put aside for the sake of diving deep sooner? Is 165' on air acceptable? Is 150' on air acceptable? Personally knowing the physiological impairments brought on by WOB and Co2 production is enough for me look down on any agency endorsing such nonsense.

Chess is safer than riding a bicycle, therefore all children should play chess... for once you accept that bicycles are safe enough for children, really, where does it stop? Base jumping, unprotected sex, cocaine abuse...

 

[TSandM]

You know, we have drifted far afield. The OP was going to Thailand. To my knowledge, the only GUE instructor in Thailand doesn't teach technical classes. The OP has not done Fundies, and wants to take a tech class right now . . . so he's going to have a problem with GUE training.

Do I think GUE does a really good job of training technical divers? Of course I do! But honestly, GUE probably doesn't fit the OP's needs very well, unless he steps back and rethinks his training course and timeline.

I think, for the OP (who has probably given up on this thread already, anyway), making contact with several technical instructors in Thailand and asking them the questions which were listed earlier in the thread, is probably the best strategy. My guess is that, outside of GUE, it is far more important who you get as an instructor than which specific agency you choose, so long as the agency you choose presents you with a reasonable sequence of classes to reach the goal YOU see.