Excited to start my journey into tech diving

[jfe]

Good luck with your training. I remember some years ago sitting on a boat with a guy who was a tech diver and telling him why on earth would you want to go that route bla bla bla bla. Today I'm happy to say i didn't follow my own stupidity and went the tech way, all the way to CCR possibly doing my MOD 2 in a month's time. If for nothing else, the knowledge you gain and skill that gets tweaked it all make you a better diver in the end even if you never do "real tech" dives. Don't let anyone tell you your going to the dark side, you'll find you will come out of the dark into the light, scuba enlightenment.

 

[happy-diver]

and good luck to you too jfe

 

[Graeme Fraser]

I'm a pretty new diver, having done only around 35 dives after getting certified a year and a half ago. I wouldn't exactly call my initial OW certification dives "fun" or even enjoyable - it was cold (wet suit in Monterey), everything felt physically taxing, the kit felt foreign and cumbersome, I forgot to equalize, and I don't remember seeing anything that felt especially rewarding or exciting. But I nonetheless felt like I wanted to stick with it - that once I was a decent diver, things would click and I'd enjoy it. The idea of diving still held real appeal even if those initial dives were an uneven experience.

After getting some more dives in, getting my gear configured how I like (goodbye air source, hello octo + necklace), joining team dry suit, etc. I've found I enjoy diving a hell of a lot more than I did in those early days. It's interesting hearing people wax poetic about why exactly they dive and what it means to them. For me it's primarily about seeing incredible things and going places few can or do. Secondarily, I love the idea of actually acquiring skills and acumen in a particular field. I can satisfy my appetite for adventure by bungee jumping, too - but that's just going along for the ride and trusting someone else to keep you alive. With diving I feel like I can be good at something.

Diving brings out the perfectionist in me - I find myself OCD about trim, buoyancy, and the other fundamentals. I practice helicopter turns and backfinning for fun (and also because backfinning is HARD). I've watched hours of videos of tech divers demonstrating gas switching because I enjoy it.

So I finally bit the bullet and signed up for TDI advanced nitrox, decompression and wreck courses. I'll be traveling to Miami to work with James Blackman of Miami Technical. Between then and now I just plan on diving as much as possible, retaking all my SSI coursework, and studying the TDI textbooks. My new ScubaPro Jetfins just arrived, so I should at least look the part - well, almost. I got them in white because I like the high visibility. But I acknowledge that white fins mean that I may never be a "real" technical diver.

Anyway. I'm just so excited and well, I don't have any tech diver friends to share it with. Looking forward to the challenge!

Embrace your inner OCD!

Good luck on your course and don't forget to keep us posted on your progress.

 

[Wibble]

ANDP (advanced nitrox & deco procedures) opens up so much more for your diving. Not necessarily deeper, but longer and safer as you’ll have redundancy and begin to understand how things work.

Now the massive tip to help you on your way…. Sort out your core skills: buoyancy, trim and finning. Regardless of where you end up, sorting out those skills will not only make you a better and safer diver, but it’ll allow you to enjoy your diving.

Alas the entry level recreational courses are pretty much all as dire as each other in this respect.

The best place for sorting out these core skills is on and around a 6m/20' platform inland. It is hard work, especially learning how to fin correctly where you will need months of practice, not hours. For this investment you will reap massive rewards and for advanced technical diving techniques excellent core skills are an absolute requirement.

 

[RyanT]

Good luck with your continued growth. If you have a chance, look up Ryan @custureri of GetAqui in Fort Lauderdale. He is truly excellent at body mechanics and will give you a really solid foundation. I'm sure he will satisfy the OCD in you!

+1

 

[jlcnuke]

@Maxwelll

Good luck with your continued growth. If you have a chance, look up Ryan @custureri of GetAqui in Fort Lauderdale. He is truly excellent at body mechanics and will give you a really solid foundation. I'm sure he will satisfy the OCD in you!

I can also recommend Aqui Water Sports (the name you'll find on Google). Just did my trimix class with Landon there. You can read about that in my latest update over on the thread about my path to tech diving in this forum if you're interested. Great people there at Aqui.

 

[Swedinsidemount]

Anyway. I'm just so excited and well, I don't have any tech diver friends to share it with. Looking forward to the challenge!

Don't worry you'll meet plenty of new tech friends here in S FL <TG>

 

[NothingClever]

@Maxwelll

I think you’re on track and probably will do just fine without much advice.

I think white fins are a huge advantage in technical diving where limited visiblity is much more likely to occur. White fins are much more easily seen from afar.

I just dived this past weekend with a UTD and GUE qualified diver. He wears white fins and a white mask.

 

[KevinNM]

SOLAS tape on your not-white fins helps too.

 

[SlugLife]

So what on the white fins? I dive low viz water all the time and they really stand out. Plus my buddies can always tell which diver is me.

Don’t buy into the “all black, all the time” dive gear mentality. If you want color, go for it!

I’m just a wee bit past the beginning of my tech journey. Cavern/intro to cave at a mine in WI last fall. Just scheduled the first day of my AN/Helitrox class in a couple of weeks.

Good luck and keep us updated!

I recently dove with an instructor, who had a VERY BRIGHT fins and wetsuit in a murky lake. While that seemed wise even before we jumped in the water, after the first dive I was VERY thankful.

I did notice I often had trouble distinguishing which person was my dive-buddy underwater. I finally remembered my hood was blue underneath, so I decided to wear it inside-out & set my tank-light to blue since everyone else had red or white.

Since I'm working on a new harness, I decided to go with a relatively bright color that I find palatable & I'll probably attach some similarly-colored fabric to my wetsuit as well. I'm currently trying to find some decent inexpensive fabric (prefer stretchy) that is highly reflective, so I can sew or glue strips of it various places. I'm not necessarily trying to look like a glowing nuclear monster, but making myself more visible to other divers and boats is probably a good thing.