Lessons learned?

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The difference between rec and tech is adding deco bottle(s), rigging and carrying them. Rec SM gets your rig set up and tanks trim. The usual recommendation is to do 20-25 dives in the configuration before going tech.

So you’re just doing the tech SM class as your first SM class?

Thanks, I will reach out to the instructor.
 
Lessons Learned, you ask?

My father's favorite lesson: "Everywhere you bleed, the world hangs a bucket".
 
+1 on getting some rec training / experience before going tech SM. I have around 75 dives SM and did solo in this configuration; after about 50 and it was a wake up as far a skills go. I don't dive tech but if solo was challenging then I would assume tech would be more so.
 
+1 on getting some rec training / experience before going tech SM. I have around 75 dives SM and did solo in this configuration; after about 50 and it was a wake up as far a skills go. I don't dive tech but if solo was challenging then I would assume tech would be more so.

I am playing it by ear. The instructor said he has seen people who struggle with just getting through rec, and others that it clicks and you can move on to the technical. We have extra dives planned for either additional help with rec sm, or to move on depending on how it is going. From the answers here, I would assume it would not work, but I guess we shall see, since this is all new to me. If I do not get through the technical portion, I will just plan on doing that once I start down the tech route.

I appreciate all the comments from everybody here.
 
Is your dive count accurate? If it is I would hold off doing any tech stuff. Tech is not about strapping a deco bottle and doing deco. Its more about becoming a thinking diver and learning how to handle failures and having great awareness. Your other skills, handling equipment, buoyancy, trim, propulsion, timed accents should be your second nature. Things like valve shutdowns are to be done midwater with no reference maintaining depth within 3 ft.
If you are learning your equipment in this class still you ate wasting your money trying to add tech stuff. Just focus on dialling your rec skills. Adding another bottle will amplify problems and you will be struggling more that you need. The path of learning should be gradual to be the most efficient.
 
Is your dive count accurate? If it is I would hold off doing any tech stuff. Tech is not about strapping a deco bottle and doing deco. Its more about becoming a thinking diver and learning how to handle failures and having great awareness. Your other skills, handling equipment, buoyancy, trim, propulsion, timed accents should be your second nature. Things like valve shutdowns are to be done midwater with no reference maintaining depth within 3 ft.
If you are learning your equipment in this class still you ate wasting your money trying to add tech stuff. Just focus on dialling your rec skills. Adding another bottle will amplify problems and you will be struggling more that you need. The path of learning should be gradual to be the most efficient.



I did not say I was starting tech yet, planning on in a year or so, but no set plans. I also already said I was playing it by ear. I have 1:1 instruction at this point, with several extra dives included. Whether we get to some simulated deco/stage is all up to how it is going. More than likely will just be rec, but we shall see. I am trusting that the instructors knowledge and guidance.
 
I did not say I was starting tech yet, planning on in a year or so, but no set plans. I also already said I was playing it by ear. I have 1:1 instruction at this point, with several extra dives included. Whether we get to some simulated deco/stage is all up to how it is going. More than likely will just be rec, but we shall see. I am trusting that the instructors knowledge and guidance.
Ok , I would spend expensive 1:1 time for nailing different hard topics like timed ascends, precise buoyancy, basic task loading - smbs deployment with no reference and get used to your equipment.

Also practice building a tech mindset. I am not trying to nick you or being rude, just trying to share mu experience, but phrases like “playing by the ear” and tech diving are totally incompatible:) you must know exactly what you want and have a plan. Several dives are not that much, actually.

The reason why I would not recommend putting another bottle (even if it’s simulated) you need to first learn and build good understanding and reasons why certain protocols exist, gas analysis, why it’s important especially with adding extra gas like deco and all the stuff that goes with that. Its a whole subject and you do not know what you do not know.
We did deco simulation in my tech class before using a real gas but we learned all the other elements of it before that.
 
Oh, heck, forget about the other tech stuff, just adding a deco bottle itself when you’ve don’t have any SM experience can be quite a hot mess.

Adding a suit bottle on top of that? Oy vey. I speak from experience this summer.
 
Ok , I would spend expensive 1:1 time for nailing different hard topics like timed ascends, precise buoyancy, basic task loading - smbs deployment with no reference and get used to your equipment.

Also practice building a tech mindset. I am not trying to nick you or being rude, just trying to share mu experience, but phrases like “playing by the ear” and tech diving are totally incompatible:) you must know exactly what you want and have a plan. Several dives are not that much, actually.

The reason why I would not recommend putting another bottle (even if it’s simulated) you need to first learn and build good understanding and reasons why certain protocols exist, gas analysis, why it’s important especially with adding extra gas like deco and all the stuff that goes with that. Its a whole subject and you do not know what you do not know.
We did deco simulation in my tech class before using a real gas but we learned all the other elements of it before that.


When I said play it by ear, that is what the instructor suggested- start out doing rec sm, and depending on how this are going, we may add in some/all of the tech sm. He has done this in the past, so I am trusting his knowledge and experience. If it does not make sense, then I won't. Even if I do it, I would probably redo it if/when I start down the tech tree in the future. Was just following the suggestion of the instructor who teaches this often.

The point of the post was not - should I do tech or rec sm? I was hoping to get some basic info that people learned when they first got started. I apologize to all for wasting your time, if I could delete the whole post, I would. I will not be following it anymore, as it has gone off on a tangent that was not the point of the question.
 
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