New (late 2023) PADI Tec Diver Program vs. TDI
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That is not what the inDepth article says.
The Way The World Will Learn to Tec: Exploring PADI’s TecRec Update
By Michael Menduno. The views and opinions expressed are strictly my own. Photos courtesy of PADI unless noted. This October at the annual Diving Equipment & Marketing Association (DEMA) tradeshow, PADI released a long-awaited update to its open circuit “TecRec” program, which was originally...
gue.com
It says:
I'm not saying that it is necessarily correct. It is not a PADI standards manual. But, that IS what it says.
Is it possible PADI has changed this as part of the 2023 update?
PADI has Tec Basics. It and TDI ItT are neither one required. So, count them both or don't count either.
AN/DP are virtually never taught as separate classes. In terms of the student's experience, they are taking one class. It is 6 dives and generally offered at one price (for the combo). In other words, it is only one class (except on paper).
And PADI Trimix is a 100m cert? So, 4 classes required to get to a 100m qualification and cert for PADI. 3 classes required to get to a 100m qualification and cert for TDI.
TDI instructors (suitably qualified) can include helium in all the TDI tech classes, too. I.e. Helitrox can be combined with AN/DP. It does not add any dives - still 6.
And PADI's option for training to be able to dive wrecks >50m but less than 75m is to do Tec 65, or full Trimix? So, divers who want to dive those wrecks, but don't want to jump all the way from a 50m cert to a 100m cert, would end up taking 5 classes along the way, to end up at 100m? Versus 3 for TDI?
Side note: I think it is a HUGE leap to go from diving 50m dives to diving 100m, without any intermediate experience. 40 -> 45 -> 50 -> 100 just seems crazy. 45 -> 60 -> 100 seems better. 45 -> 75 -> 100 seems even better.
My personal "line" is hypoxic mixes. To ME, when you need a hypoxic mix is when you are crossing the line into "proper deep" territory. I do not carry hypoxic mixes EVER, unless I actually need a hypoxic mix for the dive I'm doing. I've used hypoxic mixes lots of times and they still make me just a little nervous.
I strongly support a training program that allows divers to be trained and qualified to go as deep as possible on normoxic mixes. Let people do as much diving as they can - have access to as many sites as possible - without making them use, or even train for, hypoxic mixes.
Honestly, part of that is setting that training barrier to demotivate people to use hypoxic mixes. They add a risk that does not exist without them. Make it where only people who actually need hypoxic mixes are getting trained on and using them. People who just want to go deeper than 50m should not be put in a position where they are deciding "do I take this 65m class or do I just go ahead and do the full trimix class instead, since I'm allowed to and then I won't ever have to come back and do another OC class for more depth?"
That is why I am really excited about TDI's new Trimix 75 program. IANTD has long had Normoxic Plus, which is roughly the same and which I have steered people to, over TDI's Trimix (60) program - even though I am a TDI instructor and not IANTD.
Technically, PADI's Trimix does not have a certification limit since there is no higher cert. Exerpts from the Trimix manual (which I don't believe were impacted by the recent changes):
The Tec Trimix Diver certification qualifies you to initially dive to a maximum of 90 m/300 ft or the maximum depth at which you trained (whichever is shallower) [...] As a newly certified trimix diver, you should stay well within your experience and training limits [...] Extending your limits -- depth, duration, and complexity -- requires many dives. Build your experience gradually and conservatively.
[Emphasis mine.]
Just because you have a cert (any cert) doesn't mean you have to dive to its limits. My son didn't drive on the interstate immediately after getting his driver's license either. Know your own limitations.
I agree with you, but just a couple of minor points:
- It is possible to do deco procedures without AN, and do it on just air (or maybe 21-40%). I'm not sure why you'd want to do that, but it's an option...
- There's no requirement or limit of 1 deco cylinder. I could teach students to do deco with say a Nitrox 50 and 100%, but generally managing one extra tank at that level is enough...
Understood on all counts. I was just laying out a "normal" path for comparison purposes.
Interestingly one of the “warm water” shops in the Chicago area that’s never shown any interest in tech diving (used to get air fills there) is now suddenly offering PADI “tec” classes. This shop never even offered to do nitrox fills. Would have a couple of tanks filled with nitrox at the local quarry for their nitrox classes.
That is easily explained by the hiring of an instructor who was not on staff before. The first shop in which I taught had exactly that happen when one of their instructors got certified to be a TDI instructor. The second shop where I worked had that happen when I became a TDI instructor. They then they became a PADI Tec instructor when I switched from TDI to PADI.
This happens all the time. It's not some miracle. In 100% of the cases in which someone becomes a tech instructor, they were not a tech instructor the day before that.
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