Halcyon Focus 2.0 vs Focus 1.0

[ginti]

At what point does one need to buy a primary. .?

I mean, it really depends on your needs.

Rec diving, only during the day? No need for any light (although I always bring it with me, sometimes you can use it to see inside cavities and holes)

Cave diving? Well, you better have three lights with you; a primary and two backups. If you don't need long battery time (that is, intro to cave level), you may want to opt for a cordless light.

Deepish deco diving? Maybe a primary and a backup; in this case, I prefer a primary with a cord even for short dives (if you drop the light by mistake, it will not fall 40 meters deeper than you - that is, you are not going to lose it)

Night diving? Again, at least a primary and a backup; same consideration for the tec-dives.

If you do dives that require lights - you better buy them.
If you plan to do dives that require lights - you can evaluate to buy them, depending on when you will do this dives and your budget****.

If you do NOT do these dives, and you need a light just for the course - rent the light, don't waste your money.
Again, this is not true if your goal is to get a tec-pass; in this case, even for the course, I believe you need to own the equipment, so check it with your instructor. But if you are going for a tec pass, most likely you are interested in tec/caves so that you will need your lights very soon - in other words, it's the time to buy; the question is: what to buy?

****I believe that the more you delay a purchase, the more you will know when you make the purchase; this is why I always suggest to take time before to buy something, except if you have a deal in front of you... but other people may think differently

 

[ginti]

By the way, @LanceRiley did you do the course in the end? How was it?

 

[LanceRiley]

By the way, @LanceRiley did you do the course in the end? How was it?

yes there were delays. And with covid restrictions we had to maneuver over the sched final assessment this weekend.

I hope i dont get to reasses. Were like a 3 person team. I find out that in the last dive i break trim when task loaded and my legs at rest looks like im doing a frog. Years of diving with no goal... you see we live in an island. Diving is like going to the mall . I should have taken this class early before bad habits formed. Back then costs were too prohibitive as you would need to fly in the instructor housed in a hotel. This time we found an instructor that’s based locally. I do hope i dont fail

who fails? Dont people fail?

The training was tuff. I do dive a backplate but never on doubles. Its a whole new world on doubles. Plus the concept of team diving with people you were just acquainted. I didnt expect training was this rigid. Starts 8am sometimes we finish 8pm. There was a day that we spent a total of 4hrs underwater, with several ascent and descent so each one could do the drill. This is a lot of diving in a short period of time!

pass or fail.... does it make me a better diver? Id say... it did. I thought i knew bouyancy and trim, i thought i know frog or flutter. Class taught me how its done. The knowledge is weight in gold by itself.

oh for the light, we use halcyon focus 2.0. The handle adjustible width is annoying. Some of the lights he screwed in place so width doesnt need to keep adjusting but there was one that kept moving. Yes i realized now... flashlight isnt just for lighting. I havent asked my instructor which one to buy.... somehow in every dive there was always something that i did that needed correcting, he inconspicously takes a video using a go pro and at the end of the day.... debriefing and you get to see where you did wrong... i did ask him at the end of class.... am i gona make tech pass.? He would smile and say you’re ok, just try your best.

 

[LanceRiley]

At this point the corded flare looks like a good deal. Its about close to 1000usd we have a halcyon dealer here. While halcyon 2.0 is 1500usd approx.

They have both at the halcyon dealer.

honestly there are only a few caves where im at. Caverns actually.... and theres a few deep wrecks id love to see with my new skillset.

I wana get the light AFTER i get the pass well actually maybe a month after... cost permitting that is

 

[ginti]

If I may... do NOT think about the tec-pass, really. If you get it, cool, if you do not get it - it's ok as well, just dive and enjoy the water. Think about the tec-pass will only make the process stressful and unenjoyable, which is not what you want. Think about having fun

About the light, if your instructor suggested to buy it after the course, that's ok. Otherwise, discuss the topic with him

 

[LanceRiley]

If I may... do NOT think about the tec pass, really. If you get it, cool, if you do not get it - it's ok as well, just dive and enjoy the water.

About the light, if your instructor suggested to buy it after the course, that's ok. Otherwise, discuss the topic with him

if i may ask... why is it ok NOT to get the tec pass? Isnt that required for tec1 ?

yes buying a corded light, ill definitely ask my instructor for this. But dont wana ask him now until the assessment is done.

although we need to sched the swim and hold breathe swim im confident i can donall that.

doing this in covid times is really frustrating. As our city is in quarantine status

 

[ginti]

if i may ask... why is it ok NOT to get the tec pass? Isnt that required for tec1 ?

Right, it is required. Still, I believe the best idea is not to think about it. I'll tell you about the experiences of me and some friends.

1 - STRESS
Focusing on the tec pass is really stressful. Every person I met who was diving just to get the tec-pass, at a certain point became a bit obsessed with it. Guess what? When people are obsessed with something, they stop having fun. Not nice to see...

2 - FOCUS
People who focus too much with the tec-pass, tend to practice a lot, focusing a lot on SKILLS, and forgetting everything else. And since awareness is a requirement for the tec-pass, basically they were not getting any tec-pass, sometimes even after multiple tries. In other words, no fun, no tec-pass, and not nice for them.

[EDIT: I mean, if you focus too much on performing, say, a valve drill, you will forget to be aware of the environment and the team, losing awareness... I hope it is clear]

3 - BEING READY
A better approach? Dive and enjoy your new set of skills, so that they will become automatic. It's only at that point that you are ready to go on with your training (tec-pass or not).
There is a post of John Kendall in this forum where he said that during a C1 course he doesn't even want to mention a back-kick - if he has to mention it, you are probably going to receive a provisional or a fail. So relax, take it easy, it requires time to make the new skills automatic, and it's necessary if you want to go on.

4 - PURPOSE
What's your purpose? Is it to tell everyone that you are a badass, or is it to have fun?
First case - you want to prove to others that you are stronger than Rambo: yes, maybe the tec-pass is a good point. Except that you are actually only a little bit more than a child in the world of technical diving
Second case - you want to have fun: well, just have fun! If you get it, you can continue with training and see new things, if you don't, you can continue to have rec dives with a new set of skills to improve. Both sound amazing for me.

That said, I haven't seen you underwater. Maybe you are way better than me and my friends, and I sincerely hope it for you. In this case, you'll easily get a tec pass. But if you don't, just realize that it's common not to get a tec-pass at your first try (https://www.gue.com/files/annualreports/2016_Annual_Report_GUE.pdf page 18 - if you make your calculation, only about 3 out of 10 students get a tec-pass), and enjoy the activity. On my opinion, it does not make any sense to stress for something that should give you happiness

 

[LanceRiley]

Hi thanks for the insight....

1.) Stress.... yep... the group is feeling the stress. 1 team mate declared she wasnt having fun.
2.) Focus . Actually youre right. And said it exactly the way it is. Instructor at one point called our awareness Poor. Too much skillset crammed in too short a time.
3.) being ready - somehow your getting everything right about my experience . someof the skills iv learned arent automatic yet. In fact takes a mental load on me . (My knees drop below trim unconciously) or at rest my knees move out and ankles inward forming a diamond. Resulting fins not flat and starts to destroy my trim.

4.) purpose - hahaha. Instructor warned us about this. Ive actually kept it from my diving friends. Although some found out about it already. I know taking this course has caused mixed reactions like what for? You dont nedd that! Anyway my purpose... wana do tech dives go deeper with mix gases. There are some wrecks that are below recreational limits.

ive got roughly 120dives before i started the course. I thought i had experience. All i can say i had to reset everything i learned. Even my kicks arent up to standards. Bouyancy and trim isnt as neutral or as trim as i thought i was. Being task loaded makes me lose trim... i never saw that comming. Made me realize.... i was just a child in the water.

as tired with all the studying and wanting to finish this already.... i am excited to where this new skillset will lead me. Diving doubles already gave me the excitement. I know it sounds bland to most of the people here. But this was the first time i did doubles

Oh yes when i got it under control i was having fun

3 out of 10 gets a tec pass? Ouch! If i may ask.... what is usually the reason not to get tec pass?

your probably better than me in water . All my dives prior to this were just fun dives. No purpose just sightseeing underwater and floating endlessly in midwater

so dont stress and just accept a rec pass?

 

[ginti]

Hi thanks for the insight....

1.) Stress.... yep... the group is feeling the stress. 1 team mate declared she wasnt having fun.
2.) Focus . Actually youre right. And said it exactly the way it is. Instructor at one point called our awareness Poor. Too much skillset crammed in too short a time.
3.) being ready - somehow your getting everything right about my experience . someof the skills iv learned arent automatic yet. In fact takes a mental load on me . (My knees drop below trim unconciously) or at rest my knees move out and ankles inward forming a diamond. Resulting fins not flat and starts to destroy my trim.

4.) purpose - hahaha. Instructor warned us about this. Ive actually kept it from my diving friends. Although some found out about it already. I know taking this course has caused mixed reactions like what for? You dont nedd that! Anyway my purpose... wana do tech dives go deeper with mix gases. There are some wrecks that are below recreational limits.

The reasons why I mentioned those points is that they are fairly common.

About your purpose, well - that's a good one! But, trust me, you want to arrive at that point with a solid base (you don't want to switch to the deco bottle if you don't have proper buoyancy control; during the tec1, you will do switches in the blue, without references, in current!). Now, building a solid base requires time, so in my opinion the best approach is not to rush

ive got roughly 120dives before i started the course. I thought i had experience. All i can say i had to reset everything i learned. Even my kicks arent up to standards. Bouyancy and trim isnt as neutral or as trim as i thought i was. Being task loaded makes me lose trim... i never saw that comming. Made me realize.... i was just a child in the water.

as tired with all the studying and wanting to finish this already.... i am excited to where this new skillset will lead me. Diving doubles already gave me the excitement. I know it sounds bland to most of the people here. But this was the first time i did doubles

Oh yes when i got it under control i was having fun

3 out of 10 gets a tec pass? Ouch! If i may ask.... what is usually the reason not to get tec pass?

I have no idea... I first got a provisional (not able to control an ascent in horizontal trim), then a rec pass, because of acceptable ascent control, but not to the level of a tec-pass, and poor awareness. Then I started enjoying the dives instead of thinking about the future, and the tec-pass arrived automatically after a while.

I believe the most common reasons are poor awareness and/or poor back kick, but I am not sure. Also, statistics are useful for GUE hq, not for single individuals... everyone is different, and you should focus on your way of diving

your probably better than me in water . All my dives prior to this were just fun dives. No purpose just sightseeing underwater and floating endlessly in midwater

There is no competition between you and me

so dont stress and just accept a rec pass?

Yes, but I really wouldn't *accept* it. It's your hobby, I would *enjoy* it

 

[mc42]

I did Fundies on my 3rd dive in doubles and a brand-new doubles setup that I wasn’t fully comfortable in. It was tough but I eked out a rec pass while also learning what I needed for the tech pass. A fellow teammate was on her second attempt at Fundies rec, and the third got a rec provisional. Passing is a huge deal in itself, so be prepared for any outcome. Fixating on a pass rather than relaxing and doing the skills slowly and smoothly may have a negative effect.

Even getting the rec pass was hard enough because of having to undo and relearn new habits, and there is very little time to practice and consolidate during Fundies. Post-Fundies I spent on concentrated practice and getting comfortable in the new rig. Most of my issues were around controlling ascents with both BCD and drysuit.

About two months later with lots of practice in between I did the tech upgrade and passed (and the provisional teammate got his rec pass at the same time). So all is not lost if you don’t pass right away if you use the experience to direct your skills development.