I’m in Florida! I’m from Chicago, I brought the cold with me this weekend, and you’re welcome to blame me for it. Everyone at the dive shop did, anyway.
I’ll in High Springs, Florida for the next fourteen days on training spree. I’m working towards NSS-CDS Full Cave and will be completing TDI Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures along the way. This is a lot of training in a short period of time. I probably would have chosen to spread it out if my work schedule allowed (alas, it did not).
My dive background: I finished Open Water in 2013 and have averaged about 60 dives per year since. I completed a lot of OW-level specialties in 2014 to get additional supervised dive time. For 2015, 2016, and 2017, I focused on skill development through independent diving. In 2018, I started preparations (Drysuit, Sidemount) to go into tech. After a really successful summer dive season, I decided to take the plunge on my winter vacation.
We always have people at the cusp of tech training, and I've been asked to chronicle my experience for those coming up. (Cough, @Marie13).
Pre-Arrival: Instructor Choice
I started searching for an instructor in early October 2018. I decided to restrict my search to NSS-CDS instructors based on the agency’s reputation for turning out high-quality instructors. My first-choice instructor wasn’t available, but he directed me to Reggie Ross. A few cave-certified friends asked around for me and reported wonderful things. Reggie and I also had several productive conversations about how the courses could meet my goals, so I decided to schedule with him.
Pre-Arrival: Academic Prep
I used the NASE xtEK Cave Diver Manual and e-Learning for cave academics. This textbook is the very best instructional material I’ve ever seen in scuba diving, and it’s a damn sight better than many of my college textbooks. The content is presented in clear language, logical order, and useful supporting graphics and charts.
For the TDI courses, I used the standard TDI e-learning. For courses as information-dense as these, I felt like e-learning wasn’t my best option. I would have preferred a book to flip/reference/annotate. I ended up creating my own e-books in Word.
Expect to put college-level study effort into learning the material. (Caveat: I am not a STEM major and needed to spend extra time on the physics. If you have prior high-level exposure, you might need less time). There is a tremendous amount of information to digest and it’s all safety-related, so you need to be prepared to retain it. I've read through and taken notes on each of the manuals twice, and I expect to revisit them frequently during training.
Coming next... Training Day 0.
I’ll in High Springs, Florida for the next fourteen days on training spree. I’m working towards NSS-CDS Full Cave and will be completing TDI Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures along the way. This is a lot of training in a short period of time. I probably would have chosen to spread it out if my work schedule allowed (alas, it did not).
My dive background: I finished Open Water in 2013 and have averaged about 60 dives per year since. I completed a lot of OW-level specialties in 2014 to get additional supervised dive time. For 2015, 2016, and 2017, I focused on skill development through independent diving. In 2018, I started preparations (Drysuit, Sidemount) to go into tech. After a really successful summer dive season, I decided to take the plunge on my winter vacation.
We always have people at the cusp of tech training, and I've been asked to chronicle my experience for those coming up. (Cough, @Marie13).
Pre-Arrival: Instructor Choice
I started searching for an instructor in early October 2018. I decided to restrict my search to NSS-CDS instructors based on the agency’s reputation for turning out high-quality instructors. My first-choice instructor wasn’t available, but he directed me to Reggie Ross. A few cave-certified friends asked around for me and reported wonderful things. Reggie and I also had several productive conversations about how the courses could meet my goals, so I decided to schedule with him.
Pre-Arrival: Academic Prep
I used the NASE xtEK Cave Diver Manual and e-Learning for cave academics. This textbook is the very best instructional material I’ve ever seen in scuba diving, and it’s a damn sight better than many of my college textbooks. The content is presented in clear language, logical order, and useful supporting graphics and charts.
For the TDI courses, I used the standard TDI e-learning. For courses as information-dense as these, I felt like e-learning wasn’t my best option. I would have preferred a book to flip/reference/annotate. I ended up creating my own e-books in Word.
Expect to put college-level study effort into learning the material. (Caveat: I am not a STEM major and needed to spend extra time on the physics. If you have prior high-level exposure, you might need less time). There is a tremendous amount of information to digest and it’s all safety-related, so you need to be prepared to retain it. I've read through and taken notes on each of the manuals twice, and I expect to revisit them frequently during training.
Coming next... Training Day 0.