how many dives/time from beginning techdiving till full trimix did you take?

[victorzamora]

I don't think Taliena is a proponent of racing through certs. She said she had 500 dives from the time she began her tech route until she finished up Full Trimix. That's a LOT of diving.

I, personally, will probably never dive Helium. The cost, logistics, planning, hassle, and length of deco just don't seem worth it to me. I'd LOVE to do a couple of "benchmark" dives, like a long while around the bottom of the O or hitting the Doria....but those require so much build up they simply wouldn't be worth it to me. I'm kind of going the way of Ste Wart....but prematurely so: before I even get Trimix certified

So, to answer the OP: All of them

 

[boulderjohn]

Dave Shaw completed a grand total of 335 dives in 6 years!! 95% of these dive was in high viz and little or no current environments. Starting as recreational diver, moving onto very dead eCCR Full Trimix Cave Diver. 330 dives is not a lot of experience, nor is it a lot of dives per year. Remember he went down to 280m (900ft) in a cave to recover a body with 335 dives under his belt. Lack of practical experience was the contributing/sole factor that lead to his death. Dave IMO had the knowledge and skills to do these dives but his experience let him down. We should all learn from this.

I fully agree with this.

When I read the Bringing Up the Dead, the story of his demise, I came to the part where he made the fateful decision regarding what to do with his canister light head while doing the body recovery. When I read his decision, I felt like screaming "No!" into the pages of the book. (Actually, it was a Kindle, but you get the idea.) You just don't do what he did, and the worst part of it is that he planned it.