Devon offered alot of great advice.
With that being said I will tell you how my progression began and where I find myself now.
Got certified for OW, dove twice a week for three months and decided I wanted to add Nitrox to the mix. Continued to dive twice a week (if not more) and decided to add AOW to the mix.... Got the brain thinking about going deeper and staying longer.... Started reading everything I could get my hands on (books) and looking on boards in the Tech Relm. Still diving at least twice a week. Started looking at gear configurations for Tech and decided to change my whole gear setup.... Spent (what I thought at the time) was a lot of Money.... Still diving twice a week... Started to look for someone who was a Tech diver to buddy up with and beg for free and advice.... Still diving twice a week, still tweaking the now 2nd set of gear... Found a great mentor in the Tech diving community and started paying attention to not only their gear, but the general philosophy they approached diving with. Huge change from the recreational crowd. Still diving twice a week.....Sold almost all the "Tech" gear I prematurly bought, and out fitted myself once again.... Didnt blink an eye at the price tag this time (understood the justification of each piece of gear I purchased, and the reason why that was the exact piece I wanted. Mentor helped a bunch here, letting me try this, and that, try "his" buddies this or that, and then disscussing with me the differences in each). Still diving twice a week.... Totaly consumed with tech at this point.... Decided to take Rescue for the knowledge it offered and hey, at this point I am still a new diver...Still diving twice a week. Comfortable in my "third" setup of gear and genearlly feel good handling myself underwater...Have had to deal with real life situations and issues. Had equip problems, personal circumstances, and buddy issues to deal with. Still diving twice a week. Decided to go Tech with the recomendation of my instructor that the skills he has seen underwater were sufficient and was ready to begin.
Took the TDI Adv Nitrox and Decompression classes.. Diving three times a week.... This class and the underwater skills associated with it added a whole new level of skills that needed to be practiced and feel like second nature. Finshed the class and looking back now, realize that the skills and knowledge I possessed before the class were not near the level I "thought" they were.
The pay off.
Doing a wreck dive off the coast of NC on dive boat with 16 other dives. 12 divers were doing recreational profiles and had bottom times of 10-20 mins and were doing two dives. My self and three other divers all had bottom times of an hour+ with a total dive time (run time) of 80+ mins. Comming up the line and nailing everyone of my stops, planning my dive and diving my plan down to the min. and seeing my spg read exactly what I thought it would.
Going tech was the best decision I personally ever made. The world it opens up is unbelivable, what I hope you can take away form it is:
There is no subsitute for spending time diving
Talking to Tech divers who come highly respected, are activly doing tech dives, and are willing to help you along your path to training.
The selction of an instructor is crucial
Having the right gear is not only nice, but required. You are entering a world where the surface is not the salvation it once was
