mnjhuz76
Contributor
Every agency has its own core market.
I guess that is, what it breaks down to in the end.
I'd rather choose my trainer based on skills than on the agency.
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Every agency has its own core market.
It takes 50-100 hours. Is that too long? It took me 3 months from user level and buying my own unit to full trimix and 128m dives on ccr. Yes I know, some divers need more time, and some will never get the level needed. But some feel and look okay after the first dive on ccr. But 50 hours can be done fast, 100 hours takes a little bit more time. But if you really want, you will do. If I only look at the minutes I dove last week in just 4 dives, then it can go fast: 440 minutes. I did this now in monkey diving single tank sidemount oc. But I could did it on ccr if I wanted. That where then 440 minutes. Already 7.3 hours. The weekend before I did 6 dives. Around 600 minutes. So I dove 17 hours in 2 weeks. And I have a fulltime job. But if you really want it takes let's say 6 months from nothing to full trimix. And as oc full tx diver you don't need to do the normoxic trimix level at 25-50 hours. User level mod1 can include trimix and some deco to 51m with iantd (adv. rec. trimix ccr diver can be the first level). Yes, you must feel confident with ccr to do trimixdives, and yes for some it goes too fast. But if you want, go for it. I know you cannot look only at hours. But if you are more or less a natural, and you do the hours, then it is possible. With some agencies it is 50 hours for full tx and some others say 100 hours.I'm happy you're not in charge.
My technical diving career will likely end in not too many more years. I don't want to spend a significant fraction of those years (not to mention $15K-20K+) to regain the capabilities I have today.
That said, were I ten or more years younger, it would be a no-brainer to switch to CCR. Or, if they were to come out tomorrow with an eCCR that requires considerably less training and fewer dives to advance *safely* back to the hypoxic trimix level some time soon, I might reconsider.