I don't know what to do?

[dori fish]

I would like to start my tech training in a couple of months, I am not sure what courses are necessary or not. I want to do advance nitrox and cavern to start, but do I need to do the intro to tech first?
What kind of gear do I need, I have a regulator, bp/w, and your basic gear.

 

[Jonny boy]

Hang on, didnt you post a couple of days ago and the general concensus was to concentrate on simply improving your skills until you were a little older? Not trying to be patronising in any way, just trying to see if my memory is working I always thought that you had to be 18 to start adv nitrox anyway?

 

[Doc Harry]

Get at least 100 dives and at least 18 birthdays and then ask this question again.

 

[dori fish]

Shockingly no. I found out you only need to be 15 to do the following: TDI Nitrox, Intro to Tech, Advanced Nitrox, Semi
Closed Rebreather, Cavern and Intro to Cave courses. I plan on working on my skills and trying to avoid doubles, unless I am told I can, but this is what I plan on doing now. The agency is TDI

 

[TSandM]

If you have a good instructor, Intro to Tech is a great class. It will show you how much higher the standard is on skills for technical and overhead diving, and give you some goals you can work on reaching during all your diving in the meantime.

I did GUE Fundamentals with 60 dives. I had about 300 when I did NAUI Helitrox, and about 500 when I started my cave training. I'm really glad I took the introductory course when I did -- it set me up for a much better experience when I started my truly technical training.

Look for an Essentials, Fundamentals, or Intro to Tech class. Take it, and spend about a year diving and working on those skills, and then go on. And have fun doing it! And don't worry about the time . . . at my age, I have to worry about whether I will HAVE the time to do the things I want to do in diving, but you don't.

 

[tstormdiver]

If you have a good instructor, Intro to Tech is a great class. It will show you how much higher the standard is on skills for technical and overhead diving, and give you some goals you can work on reaching during all your diving in the meantime.

This statement is the absolute truth about technical diving. I was very humbled when I was going through my Intro to Cave & the part of my Full Cave course that I have. Control & buoyancy must be perfect. I know it's hard not to be in a hurry, but what the others have posted is very wise. Enjoy your diving for now, practice & become proficient at your skills. I will side with the others that there's no need to rush.

 

[japan-diver]

No need to rush and for equipment considerations talk to your local tech instructor who will be teaching the class as he/she can make the best recommendations based on the type of diving you will be doing and other factors.

 

[bamamedic]

Shockingly no. I found out you only need to be 15 to do the following: TDI Nitrox, Intro to Tech, Advanced Nitrox, Semi
Closed Rebreather, Cavern and Intro to Cave courses. I plan on working on my skills and trying to avoid doubles, unless I am told I can, but this is what I plan on doing now. The agency is TDI

I would double check that one, if I were you. I've got a friend who had to get a special waiver at age 17 in order to take TDI Advanced Nitrox and Deco, and evidently, waivers are fairly rare, as she was the youngest female to take the course.

She also had to wait until age 18 in order to take TDI's Intro to Cave.

 

[dori fish]

According to one of the employees at TDI who emailed me what I could do with parental consent at 15, but b/c of the deco i think they wouldn't let her

 

[bamamedic]

*sigh* After screwing around on the 'net, sounds like you're probably right. It's the "Deco" portion of AN/Deco that they have an issue with...

Dori Fish, what do you think about going diving sometime? I have no idea where you live, but if it's anywhere close to the Panhandle, we could probably meet up at Vortex and go for a dive or two. I dive a tech rig, and I'm certified to the AN/Deco and Apprentice Cave level...while I'm no where as skilled or as experienced as I want to be, it might be beneficial to you to see what is going to be expected of you when you start tech classes. I could show you what your buoyancy and trim needs to look like, and we could work on that some.

If this helps, I knew I wanted to dive caves after only a handful of OW dives...I think that my desire to become cave certified started at around dive 7 or 8. I immediately traded my BC for a backplate/wing and a primary/bungeed backup regulator set. Then, I hooked up with a very gracious tech diver, and we spent dive after dive just working on things like holding horizontal safety stops, shooting lift bags, frog kicking, and all that good stuff (we had lots of fun, too!). I didn't take Basic Nitrox until around dive 50, and Advanced Nitrox/Deco until around dive 100 (and I still felt like I was just barely ready for the AN/Deco class!).

It might be a wonderful idea to just stick with an Intro to Tech class, then spend fifty or a hundred dives or so working on those basic skills. No need to rush for those certification cards...they don't do anything except fill your wallet if you don't have the skills/experience to back them up.