Does defining "technical diving" serve any purpose?

[Eric Sedletzky]

Good posts by DevonDiver and Thal:

I was first certified in 1971 in San Diego. First cert was a very complete NASDS course from San Diego Divers Supply. The SDDS crew were often former Navy Seals and the store was also the training location for NASDS instructors. I was then very fortunate to take a class taught by Lou Fead. Lou was teaching out of Chuck Nicklin's DIVING LOCKER in Pacific Beach. Both courses centered on divers being able to manage various situations and not be equipment dependent. We had no secondary regs, some had no pressure gauges, a few were using the Nemrod BC's. We were learning to be self sufficient in open water. Take what you need for that dive.

Today the "Tech" diver seems geared up for a space expedition even when they are diving at relatively benign dive sites. I see it here in Northern California when I dive Pt. Lobos or Breakwater, and in Seattle @ Edmonds U/W park and Cove 2.

Interesting evolution. I'm with Lou Fead the original "Easy Diver"

I see many of those types in Monterey too.
Come up here to the North Coast, it's not like that. There's a lot of ab divers but there are a lot of scuba divers too that just dive normal. There are a few of the can lighted hog looper types but most others found out that all that crap just gets in the way trying to do beach dives in thick kelp and where hikes are involved. The challenging conditions seem to be a good filter for those who have tons of gear and have to have things just so.
I've found that going back to a much simpler configuration similar probably to what you trained with, makes it a lot easier, safer, and more fun to dive the Sonoma and Mendocino coastlines.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Pretty soon if things keep going the way they are a basic open water card will be $99 and will only take one day in the pool and a few ocean dives to get.
All the book work will be online like it already is.
You will have a 60 foot max depth and you will have to be babysat by a dive master for all dives.
To become a divemaster babysitter you will have to take a three day course.
Anything beyond this will require a technical diving certification.

 

[Thalassamania]

Lou Fead's one of the best Instructors I know. Chuck Nicklin and the whole DIVING LOCKER crowd were a class operation.

 

[boulderjohn]

All the book work will be online like it already is.
You will have a 60 foot max depth and you will have to be babysat by a dive master for all dives.
To become a divemaster babysitter you will have to take a three day course.
Anything beyond this will require a technical diving certification.

I see many indications of the opposite trend. GUE and UTD, once teaching just tech, offer everything from basic OW on up, and it is a continuous approach. Skills and equipment that were once considered to be tech only are making their way into mainstream recreational diving. The DSMB is one example.

Pretty much all agencies do have their academic materials online now, but I am not sure why you think it is worse to read it online (compete with animations, videos, etc.) rather than in a black and white text book.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I see many indications of the opposite trend. GUE and UTD, once teaching just tech, offer everything from basic OW on up, and it is a continuous approach. Skills and equipment that were once considered to be tech only are making their way into mainstream recreational diving. The DSMB is one example.

Pretty much all agencies do have their academic materials online now, but I am not sure why you think it is worse to read it online (compete with animations, videos, etc.) rather than in a black and white text book.

The reason I think on line book work is not as good as sitting in a class is because there is a lot of student/instructor and student/student direct contact and immediate discussion that is missed. Many instructors also like to put in their own stories and examples to make the class more real and interesting which helps to cement the info into the brain better. I think good old fashioned face to face human contact is better. All that is missing online.
GUE and UTD are not mainstream and there are very few shops (if any) that use them as their primary certifying agencies. Until GUE and UTD reach the market share that at least NAUI has they will always be a fringe phenomenon popular primarily with internet connected divers. The exposure is changing somewhat since more and more of those types are being seen at beaches and on boats world wide, but the numbers are still in the single digit percentile.
I'm not saying that UTD and GUE training are not good, they are very good (for what they do), however the narrow gear configurations and the one style fits all beliefs (unless something has changed) plus the intensity of the class just to pass does not fit the business model of dive shops and resort destination training.

 

[Jaydubya]

They wear a flashy dive computer, because it helps them get laid in the beach bar after work.

That was never mentioned in the instruction manual! I'm skeptical, but if it works, maybe it's time to upgrade my computer

 

[boulderjohn]

The reason I think on line book work is not as good as sitting in a class is because there is a lot of student/instructor and student/student direct contact and immediate discussion that is missed. Many instructors also like to put in their own storiers and examples to make the class more real and interesting which helps to cement the info into the brain better. I think good old fashioned face to face human contact is better. All that is missing online.

Once the students have completed the online materials, they must still meet with an instructor to make sure they have understood it. How long that takes is up to the instructor. There is nothing stopping the instructor from providing all those stories and examples then. A shop in my area does nothing but online for the OW class because they feel that the learning experience is superior to reading, but there is still 3 hours of required face to face instruction to complete all the learning they think is important.

 

[DevonDiver]

That was never mentioned in the instruction manual! I'm skeptical, but if it works, maybe it's time to upgrade my computer

It only works if you can also dance to Euro-pop and convince girls that your 'Divemaster' rating means you get listed on Wikipedia next to Cousteau..

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Once the students have completed the online materials, they must still meet with an instructor to make sure they have understood it. How long that takes is up to the instructor. There is nothing stopping the instructor from providing all those stories and examples then. A shop in my area does nothing but online for the OW class because they feel that the learning experience is superior to reading, but there is still 3 hours of required face to face instruction to complete all the learning they think is important.

I'm still not fully convinced.
Maybe I'm old fashioned in the human contact and interaction concept.
The more time spent with other people makes for more buddies and friendships.

I thought internet is reading?

I know several people living up in the sticks and choose to live off the grid. Many have no internet access but they live near the ocean and have great diving.
If all book work eventually goes to e-learning does that mean they are SOL?

 

[Thalassamania]

I see many of those types in Monterey too.
Come up here to the North Coast, it's not like that. There's a lot of ab divers but there are a lot of scuba divers too that just dive normal. There are a few of the can lighted hog looper types but most others found out that all that crap just gets in the way trying to do beach dives in thick kelp and where hikes are involved. The challenging conditions seem to be a good filter for those who have tons of gear and have to have things just so.
I've found that going back to a much simpler configuration similar probably to what you trained with, makes it a lot easier, safer, and more fun to dive the Sonoma and Mendocino coastlines.

I dive the most minimal configuration that I possibly can.

I see many indications of the opposite trend. GUE and UTD, once teaching just tech, offer everything from basic OW on up, and it is a continuous approach. Skills and equipment that were once considered to be tech only are making their way into mainstream recreational diving. The DSMB is one example.

Pretty much all agencies do have their academic materials online now, but I am not sure why you think it is worse to read it online (compete with animations, videos, etc.) rather than in a black and white text book.

When we have a DVD that I can engage in a dialectic with then I will consider it as a replacement for a good human instructor. How you back that instructor up and provide more depth and breath, be it book or DVD I really don't care. BTW: I have not seen a black and white textbook in a long, long, time.

The reason I think on line book work is not as good as sitting in a class is because there is a lot of student/instructor and student/student direct contact and immediate discussion that is missed. Many instructors also like to put in their own stories and examples to make the class more real and interesting which helps to cement the info into the brain better. I think good old fashioned face to face human contact is better. All that is missing online.

That is true, and I do not expect there to be a on-line system that approaches what I teach, at least in terms of the scope of the material, so the discussion is moot.

GUE and UTD are not mainstream and there are very few shops (if any) that use them as their primary certifying agencies. Until GUE and UTD reach the market share that at least NAUI has they will always be a fringe phenomenon popular primarily with internet connected divers. The exposure is changing somewhat since more and more of those types are being seen at beaches and on boats world wide, but the numbers are still in the single digit percentile.
I'm not saying that UTD and GUE training are not good, they are very good (for what they do), however the narrow gear configurations and the one style fits all beliefs (unless something has changed) plus the intensity of the class just to pass does not fit the business model of dive shops and resort destination training.

Forget about the business model of dive shops and resorts, it doesn't "fit" a rapidly changing environment like the Ocean. I see it kinda like the story of the oak and the willow. UTD and GUE standards are high, their student's skills are excellent, but their approach is rigid with a limited suite of "right" responses. It is sort of like totalitarian central economic planning, I refer to it as "cave blind:" the promulgation of a single "best" response, descended from the single "best" response of diving in the ultra stable environment of the Florida caves. I much prefer a non-systematized approach that is less dependent on gear configuration and specific technique and more dependent on establishing the highest possible degree of comfort in the water combined with more generalist approach to gear and technique. As someone who stands rather to the side of the whole rec, tec, DIR thing, I understand how the DIR self-congratulatory attitude comes about, but I fear that it stems as much from comparing themselves to the abysmal failure of much of the recreational community to produce a quality product, as from anything else.