Initial tec decompression diving/trimix course – advertised vs. actual duration

[seeker242]

For ISE, UTD or GUE Tec 1 – apart from passing fundies or the equivalent I would need to travel outside of the country whenever that becomes possible again.

Not necessarily. Some instructors travel extensively. Any of the European GUE Tec 1 instructors would travel there I bet. Of course you have to pay for that though.

 

[ToneNQ]

..........I live in Switzerland and could take TDI Helitrox with a local instructor (and easily book extra days for any necessary remedial training)......

Rory,

If you have a good understanding with the local instructor, I'd do the TDI course. You don't have to drink beers with them, what is key is can you respect and learn from them. Go with what you think is right, change your mind if you need to. For me, my family, job etc; I just cannot do 100 dives per year to be silky smooth in the water every time. First few dives back each time are a bit rusty, lots of extra effort. Having a local instructor is really useful in my situation. My red flag for instructors is equipment, I won't work with instructors that demand $500 of new gear to replace serviceable gear that I already own. What instructors see is relevant, but its also based on their perspective and experience and background and the brands in their stores.

Many instructors are certified across several agencies, the agency is not key. Instructors are also quite variable. Some will certify you when you are competent and give you advice to keep working on. A few instructors seem to want mastery to pass your course, I've always seen mastery as a sign you are ready for the next course. I dive with my instructor at various times. Its good because my skills get rusty, its bad because I'm too easily able to defer to him as the lead diver. A local instructor will be able to put you in contact with local decompression divers that you can dive with and practice together.

 

[arthurng311]

Hi,

I am considering taking an initial “light trimix” technical decompression diving course sometime in the future (typically covering light deco with a max of 15-30 minutes duration, light or at least normoxic trimix, diving with back gas deco or a single deco gas to depths in the 45m-50m range)

Examples here – from various agencies would include TDI Helitrox, IANTD advanced recreational trimix (ART), PADI Tec 40, GUE Tec 1 and the equivalent courses from CMAS, ISE or UTD.

While most of these course take 4-5 days and encompass a minimum of 6-8 dives or so – I have heard anecdotal comments from various tec instructors to the effect that many (most ?) of their clients don’t pass with the minimum dive or time requirements.

This is of course different to say OWD where almost all students that don’t drop out pass and get certified.

So here’s the question – I’d be interested in what the average experience is from both instructors and technical divers – do most students in these initial tec courses take longer than the normal allotted course duration to get certified?

The reason I ask is not because I want to get certified with the minimum effort and expense on my part – but the logistics of taking such a course.

I live in Switzerland and could take TDI Helitrox with a local instructor (and easily book extra days for any necessary remedial training)

For PADI Tec 40, CMAS, IANTD ART I would need to travel within the country and probably devote a week or several continuous weekends to this.

For ISE, UTD or GUE Tec 1 – apart from passing fundies or the equivalent I would need to travel outside of the country whenever that becomes possible again.

It is for that latter option I am trying to understand the realities beyond the agencies advertised minimum requirements. If I did travel then failing to pass with an instructor in another country would probably leave me unable to complete the course.

Any tips or shared experience welcome,

Regards,

Rory

Hi,

I am considering taking an initial “light trimix” technical decompression diving course sometime in the future (typically covering light deco with a max of 15-30 minutes duration, light or at least normoxic trimix, diving with back gas deco or a single deco gas to depths in the 45m-50m range)

Examples here – from various agencies would include TDI Helitrox, IANTD advanced recreational trimix (ART), PADI Tec 40, GUE Tec 1 and the equivalent courses from CMAS, ISE or UTD.

While most of these course take 4-5 days and encompass a minimum of 6-8 dives or so – I have heard anecdotal comments from various tec instructors to the effect that many (most ?) of their clients don’t pass with the minimum dive or time requirements.

This is of course different to say OWD where almost all students that don’t drop out pass and get certified.

So here’s the question – I’d be interested in what the average experience is from both instructors and technical divers – do most students in these initial tec courses take longer than the normal allotted course duration to get certified?

The reason I ask is not because I want to get certified with the minimum effort and expense on my part – but the logistics of taking such a course.

I live in Switzerland and could take TDI Helitrox with a local instructor (and easily book extra days for any necessary remedial training)

For PADI Tec 40, CMAS, IANTD ART I would need to travel within the country and probably devote a week or several continuous weekends to this.

For ISE, UTD or GUE Tec 1 – apart from passing fundies or the equivalent I would need to travel outside of the country whenever that becomes possible again.

It is for that latter option I am trying to understand the realities beyond the agencies advertised minimum requirements. If I did travel then failing to pass with an instructor in another country would probably leave me unable to complete the course.

Any tips or shared experience welcome,

Regards,

Rory

Hi Rory, i believe you have a local GUE instructor, Irene Homberger teaches in switzerland and has a fundamental course scheduled in june in Zurich, maybe its worth a shot, i always tell people this is the best course i have taken.

 

[R.Chisholm]

Thanks for all the tips.

By way of background I thought I'd share the following:

In Switzerland I almost invariably dive a 8.5l or 12l steel twinset in the classic DIR configuration (backplate and wing, long hose, single piece harness, tank lamp etc...) while wearing a drysuit and dry gloves.

I have over a hundred dives in this configuration in our cold water lakes & understand the need to getting certified in the configuration one regularly dives in. Typically we do a maximum of two dives a day & account for the
altitude of the lake (& the need to drive over mountain passes) although most of the large and deep lakes are at altitudes lower than 700 m above sea level (where Buehlmann, CMAS and the like suggest an alternate set of tables)

I can do most of the tech skills adequately or at least after a fashion - although perhaps not to a standard that would get me certified in a tec course - hard for me to tell.

I am probably weakest on skills that require a buddy to practice such as a safety drill - most of the people I dive with are convinced that given their large number of logged dives they have nothing to learn and show no interest in practicing.

There aren't actually a lot of good decompression diving destinations in Switzerland outside certain caves - mostly there is nothing to see at depth. We have one big wreck the "Hirondelle" at 60m in lake Geneva.

I asked a local tec instructor on lake Thun who regularly goes to trimix depths what there was to see - he said that starting at 80m the water was invariably clear which was only the case for part of the year at the surface.

Somehow clear water doesn't seem a good enough justification for 300 USD of gas costs + 1hr plus of decompression in cold water. I could have that a lot cheaper in warmer water by renting (part of) a public pool.

Still - I do a little underwater photography now and then including taking pictures of the arctic char spawning in the Bodensee lake at 45m in January - it did occur to me last time that this would be a lot safer with Trimix and accelerated decompression.

Thus the question.

regards,

Rory

 

[ChuckP]

Thanks for all the tips.

By way of background I thought I'd share the following:

In Switzerland I almost invariably dive a 8.5l or 12l steel twinset in the classic DIR configuration (backplate and wing, long hose, single piece harness, tank lamp etc...) while wearing a drysuit and dry gloves.

I have over a hundred dives in this configuration in our cold water lakes & understand the need to getting certified in the configuration one regularly dives in. Typically we do a maximum of two dives a day & account for the
altitude of the lake (& the need to drive over mountain passes) although most of the large and deep lakes are at altitudes lower than 700 m above sea level (where Buehlmann, CMAS and the like suggest an alternate set of tables)

I can do most of the tech skills adequately or at least after a fashion - although perhaps not to a standard that would get me certified in a tec course - hard for me to tell.

I am probably weakest on skills that require a buddy to practice such as a safety drill - most of the people I dive with are convinced that given their large number of logged dives they have nothing to learn and show no interest in practicing.

There aren't actually a lot of good decompression diving destinations in Switzerland outside certain caves - mostly there is nothing to see at depth. We have one big wreck the "Hirondelle" at 60m in lake Geneva.

I asked a local tec instructor on lake Thun who regularly goes to trimix depths what there was to see - he said that starting at 80m the water was invariably clear which was only the case for part of the year at the surface.

Somehow clear water doesn't seem a good enough justification for 300 USD of gas costs + 1hr plus of decompression in cold water. I could have that a lot cheaper in warmer water by renting (part of) a public pool.

Still - I do a little underwater photography now and then including taking pictures of the arctic char spawning in the Bodensee lake at 45m in January - it did occur to me last time that this would be a lot safer with Trimix and accelerated decompression.

Thus the question.

regards,

Rory

With that many dives in that configuration already and your confidence is good - read deco for divers and go take the class - sounds like you’ll be fine!!

 

[Panther1880]

I'm not a Tec diver but recently passed my cave 1 from GUE in Mexico. I live in the Netherlands so my approach to this logistical problem was to book additional days for buffer. Up front to acclimatize with the environment and the team (at first I was to dive with a diver unknown to me from a different country) and afterwards to either gain experience with the diving with my own team or to make additional dives to pass the course.
I figured that the trip as a whole was costing me a lot of money anyway so a few days more wasn't making a big difference. I was buying peace of mind here too.
At the start our instructor got sick so we delayed for a day and got a replacement for one day but in the end it was no big deal.