Decompression Course

[fire_diver]

Hi All,


We would like to do a decompression course (we do not mind from which company) that will allow us to perform decompression dives up-to 40meters to enjoy the dives longer at that depth. If there is a simple add-on that would allow us to dive to 45 or even 50meters that would be good, but not per se required.

We would really prefer an easy add-on to our current status, rather than do 3 different courses to get our ranks-up.

It seems that TDI requires both advanced nitrox and decompression procedures, although certain website appear to offer decompression procedures as stand-alone without advanced nitrox as per-requisite.

In short, any help and advise is welcome ...

Any deco class worth a damn is going to either include AN, or require it as a pre-requisite. Using high O2 EAN deco mixes will greatly reduce your total run time compared to decoing on back gas alone. That also means you need a lot less total gas.

 

[TSandM]

Have you talked to the dive operators where you are considering going, to see if you will have the option of double tanks or decompression gases? When we dove Rangiroa, it seemed pretty clear that the dive operator we were with (Top Dive) was geared only for the typical single Al 80 kind of diver.

 

[tursiops]

The combination AN/DP course from TDI only requires 6 dives, only two of which must be deeper than 100 feet, can be done in 2 (long) days (but three is better), and qualifies you to 45m. It is kind of the sweet-spot in technical training.

 

[Diver0001]

Hi All,

Hopefully an easy question, but I have read some contradicting things on different forums hence the post.

My girlfriend and I (both PADI Instructors incl. Nitrox and Deep specialty instructor) are thinking of a holiday to French Polynesia to dive the Tiputa pass in Rangiroa and potentially some other area as well. From reading a bit about it, it seems that most diving is done deep 40 meters and sometimes beyond.

We would like to do a decompression course (we do not mind from which company) that will allow us to perform decompression dives up-to 40meters to enjoy the dives longer at that depth. If there is a simple add-on that would allow us to dive to 45 or even 50meters that would be good, but not per se required.

We would really prefer an easy add-on to our current status, rather than do 3 different courses to get our ranks-up.

It seems that TDI requires both advanced nitrox and decompression procedures, although certain website appear to offer decompression procedures as stand-alone without advanced nitrox as per-requisite.

In short, any help and advise is welcome ...

Read. Read. READ.

I've taken PADI, IANTD and TDI courses and frankly at the technical level you will be AMAZED at how bad the written material is.

PADI's are all "facts" and some best practices but tend to not take a stance on anything. You won't learn a best practice because they're not willing to make a value judgement on one way or the other. In typical PADI style their ascent strategies are based on "one size fits all" protocols that lack flexibility.

IANTD's materials look like they were written by a drunken man in "stream of consciousness". Massive amounts of information, but it's all disjointed with zero "connecting the dots" that will allow you to form a coherent picture of what you're doing.... or in some cases what the hell they're even talking about. They do, to their benefit, have a clear directive with respect to minimum deco but zero vision on ascent strategies. If you have the patience to grind through the books then, in my opinion, the IANTD courses will form a good foundation. The point being that they are the "least of all evils" as opposed to "best of breed" but probably give the most "grip" to new technical divers who haven't learned the ropes yet.

TDI completely confuses facts with opinion and throughout their material they make little "shin kicks" to DIR. Where as PADI is *too* much focused on presenting the facts, TDI seems like they're trying to push an agenda more than trying to train students to actually dive. For example, in their Trimix material they plainly state on several topics that if XYZ happens that you should have known better and probably deserved what you got. That's not ok. That's a really nice (Dirty Harry) standpoint but does nothing to help the student to avoid or learn from such an event. That said, what I really--REALLY--liked about TDI is that they keep all options open and VERY clearly steer students to thinking about what they're doing. This suits some people but you won't learn any particular "world view" from TDI. For an experienced technical diver who wants to push the envelope, TDI is the least "coddling" and the most likely to address the student as a thinking, functioning adult.

So....

The point is that it's best if you come into a technical course with a mind set that you want to challenge and/or refine. If you enter technical training "blank" then you probably won't learn enough to really know what you're doing. The written materials just aren't good enough for that and you'll end up with more questions than answers.

Hence my advice to read, read, read. Go in knowing 80% and THEN you'll succeed.

R..

 

[OtherHalf]

Searched through the OPs posts and couldn't find anything on his setup. Most courses are tech oriented, which makes since sense since deco is, by definition, not recreational. But OP didnt say if he has any experience in doubles, or any previous tech training for that matter. I'm by no means the expert, but thought it may be an important question...

 

[doctormike]

Read. Read. READ.

I've taken PADI, IANTD and TDI courses and frankly at the technical level you will be AMAZED at how bad the written material is.

I highly recommend Mark Powell's "Deco for Divers"

 

[NL1983]

Hi All,

Thank you so much for the generous replies! This was a lot more than I was expecting in such a short time... I need a bit of time (it is Sunday-evening here and it was a very long long day today) to read through this properly and post a proper reply.

Two short immediate replies:
1. Set-up & Experience
Very very limited to frankly non-existing. I dived side-mount (two tanks) for a whole 2 (! ) dives . I am basically a recreational diver with a PADI instructor certification...

2. Rangiroa dive-operators
What I understood from reading (not contacting the centers) is that the (smaller) centers are relatively flexible in what they'll provide to you, as long as it's according to your certification level. They will not let you go beyond your certification limits due to strict checks after dive-accidents by the Gendarmerie (at least that is what I read). It is a good point though to check what they can and want to facilitate.

Will be back at a later stage, thanks again for the responses so far

 

[NAM001]

I did my adv rec trimix and it was a peice of cake. If you dont have nitrox you only get the 130' course but with nitrox you get to do the 165' course with 50 and 100 O2 for deco. Toughest skill was changing the computer over for the deco gas. Very lgoopd course in my opinion . I did mine with IANTD.

 

[haijekov]

Tdi and tec rec are good options. Theoretically I studied both and the only difference I found is the catchy material PADI has to offer. Tdi books are too plain (I'm trivial like that) . In the end Tdi gives you an extra 5 metres allowed on the license. I chose to be certified with padi because all my other licenses are padi

 

[boulderjohn]

I've taken PADI, IANTD and TDI courses and frankly at the technical level you will be AMAZED at how bad the written material is.

TDI's instructional materials for Intro to Tech, AN, and DP are all completely redone since you experienced them.

I highly recommend Mark Powell's "Deco for Divers"

Mark Powell is a TDI instructor. The new TDI Decompression Procedures course uses a lot of the material from Deco for Divers.

---------- Post added July 27th, 2014 at 11:08 AM ----------

In my mind, the biggest hurdle to completing the technical diving courses is not the academic work but the physical skills required. When I took my Intro to Tech course, I was already an instructor. My first day with double tanks, learning the required buoyancy and trim, etc. was one of the most humiliating days of my life. I realized then how very much I had to learn.

About a week ago I worked with a student on Intro to Tech. He said much the same thing. He is planning to wait several weeks before our next session together so that he can get into a pool several times to work on his skills.