Path to tech diving

[Efka76]

Just curious - what is their philosophy towards tech diving that you like?

Thanks,

Reasons why I choose TDI:

1) This is a largest technical diving agency. I know quite many divers who are TDI certified.
2) RAID, IANTD and others are more niche organisations - personally I do not know anybody who was certified by them.
3) When I read various forums and discussed with technical divers that I know they praised TDI over DSAT or other organisations.
4) When I reviewed TDI website, read about their courses I really liked structure, pricing, etc.
5) Most technical divers are certified by TDI... for me this means that this agencys programs are good if many tech divers choose them.
6) I like GUE.... but only Fundies part. Regarding further courses I think that this organisation still lives in last century (e.g. only one possible configuration of equipment, no computer diving, etc.)

All these thoughts are very subjective and are based on my personal belief. And yes, I know that instructor is the most important and that instructors usually work for various agencies There is no need to tell m that.

After enrollment in few TDI programs I was very satisfied with theoretical and practical part of courses. Also, had internal feeling that this organisation is not so money greedy as PADI despite the fact that TDI courses were much more expensive than PADI courses.

 

[sigxbill]

Hi @Efka76 - thanks for your response. You still didn't answer my question though. You said you liked their philosophy; what is their philosophy? I am genuinely interested.

I don't want to sidetrack from my original question, but I will comment on a few of your comments:

It is interesting that you categorized both RAID and IANTD as niche, because they actually have very little in common. IANTD was the first technical agency and predates tdi by 8 years. IANTD certifies a lot of divers.

I personally disagree with your conclusion that largest / most divers equals "good" (and by "good", since your usage suggests you mean most preferable, I assume that is what you mean).

Your comment about gue makes me think you may not understand, as part is inaccurate. For the other part, I would suggest that you might be surprised if you were to try it ...

I would never suggest that the instructor is most important - as you presumed. I have always argued the opposite ...

They must be doing something right though, since they were able to charge you more, but you still have the feeling that they are not "money greedy", and you are satisfied.

looking forward to your answer to my original question,

cheers

 

[kensuf]

Fundies is expensive, both in money and time and commitment. It is on my "to do" list but I have insufficient of all three right now. When I was younger and new to diving I would have benefited from Fundies and had the time and commitment and I guess could have found the money if I really tried. If the OP can, then why not? I doubt anyone would see it as a bad investment over time. It is only a dumb thing to do if (like so very many people) you stop diving after a few years for some reason.

The time commitment was what kept me away from Fundies. Giving up 5 days of my life in one shot was quite a bit to ask given my schedule. However, GUE now allows Fundies to be broken up into two parts, which you can even do with two different instructors and I found that more palatable time-wise.

Having just completed part 1, I'll say that for someone that has only normal recreational training, but wants to progress into technical diving, Fundies may be a good option for introducing you to technical gear, key skills, and mindset. I'll even go out on a limb and say (from the perspective of a guy that's been a cave instructor for 7 years) that experienced technical divers may also pick up a few things from a Fundies course.

 

[kensuf]

Actually, I find being the SMB-less one much easier, since the SMB buddy is a lovely reference.

This.

One person handles the SMB, one person runs the deco. It's about teamwork.

 

[W W Meixner]

Reasons why I choose TDI:

1) This is a largest technical diving agency. I know quite many divers who are TDI certified.
2) RAID, IANTD and others are more niche organisations - personally I do not know anybody who was certified by them.
3) When I read various forums and discussed with technical divers that I know they praised TDI over DSAT or other organisations.
4) When I reviewed TDI website, read about their courses I really liked structure, pricing, etc.
5) Most technical divers are certified by TDI... for me this means that this agencys programs are good if many tech divers choose them.
6) I like GUE.... but only Fundies part. Regarding further courses I think that this organisation still lives in last century (e.g. only one possible configuration of equipment, no computer diving, etc.)

All these thoughts are very subjective and are based on my personal belief. And yes, I know that instructor is the most important and that instructors usually work for various agencies There is no need to tell m that.

After enrollment in few TDI programs I was very satisfied with theoretical and practical part of courses. Also, had internal feeling that this organisation is not so money greedy as PADI despite the fact that TDI courses were much more expensive than PADI courses.

EFKA...

In defense of the responders to this thread who are not being negative but offering ''constructive criticism''...

I've always thought there are two kinds of divers...those who gain knowledge through training...and lots of practical application...and become truly proficient...and those who just take courses to collect cards...and never become proficient at anything...

I'm a service tech by choice...and will gladly involve myself all day long in discussions relating to cylinders...regulators...and dry-suits...

I'm also a rebreather diver...I wouldn't even think of getting into deep detailed rebreather discussions because there are so many out there who are far more experienced and proficient than I am...

Never discard constructive criticism...and do your best not to over-comment on your knowledge and experience...because your mistakes and mis-information will trip you up every time...

I would also strongly recommend against spending money on any courses...if all you're doing is collecting cards...''A little knowledge is not necessarily a good thing''...

Deep water is full of natural challenges ready to fight you relentlessly...and unless you are thoroughly prepared...you won't survive a fight with any of them...

Best...

Warren

 

[Efka76]

Hi @Efka76 - thanks for your response. You still didn't answer my question though. You said you liked their philosophy; what is their philosophy? I am genuinely interested.

I don't want to sidetrack from my original question, but I will comment on a few of your comments:

It is interesting that you categorized both RAID and IANTD as niche, because they actually have very little in common. IANTD was the first technical agency and predates tdi by 8 years. IANTD certifies a lot of divers.

I personally disagree with your conclusion that largest / most divers equals "good" (and by "good", since your usage suggests you mean most preferable, I assume that is what you mean).

Your comment about gue makes me think you may not understand, as part is inaccurate. For the other part, I would suggest that you might be surprised if you were to try it ...

I would never suggest that the instructor is most important - as you presumed. I have always argued the opposite ...

They must be doing something right though, since they were able to charge you more, but you still have the feeling that they are not "money greedy", and you are satisfied.

looking forward to your answer to my original question,

cheers

@sigxbill I already provided my arguments why I selected TDI over other agencies. By saying philosophy I actually meant the way how TDI courses are structured, they availability. Maybe I used slightly incorrect wording which confused you.

I am not familiar with RAID or IANTD as I personally do not know anybody who is certified by these organisations. When selecting tech courses personal recommendations for me were the most important. I am sure that they are really great and produce very competent tech divers as well.

Let me ask you what part about GUE I am not correct? I already read Jared Jablonski's book about GUE and pretty sure that I understand their way of thinking and how things are done. Yes, I will try GUE Fundamentals as I think this course will add a lot of value to me and make me a better diver.

 

[Efka76]

EFKA...

In defense of the responders to this thread who are not being negative but offering ''constructive criticism''...

I've always thought there are two kinds of divers...those who gain knowledge through training...and lots of practical application...and become truly proficient...and those who just take courses to collect cards...and never become proficient at anything...

I'm a service tech by choice...and will gladly involve myself all day long in discussions relating to cylinders...regulators...and dry-suits...

I'm also a rebreather diver...I wouldn't even think of getting into deep detailed rebreather discussions because there are so many out there who are far more experienced and proficient than I am...

Never discard constructive criticism...and do your best not to over-comment on your knowledge and experience...because your mistakes and mis-information will trip you up every time...

I would also strongly recommend against spending money on any courses...if all you're doing is collecting cards...''A little knowledge is not necessarily a good thing''...

Deep water is full of natural challenges ready to fight you relentlessly...and unless you are thoroughly prepared...you won't survive a fight with any of them...

Best...

Warren

@Warren

If you read my original post you would see that I very clearly indicated that I have intention to dive a lot in order to get more practical experience. I like to learn, like to get knew things, every dive I want to have even small improvements in order to be a better diver. If I would be a "card collector" I would stay in PADI and collect numerous cards by getting so called specialties (I think there are more than 20 of them). Also, if I would be card collector I would enroll in other agency courses. As everybody, I started from recreational diving, took PADI way to become a diver. After collecting few useless "specialties" I saw that they do not add so much value as I expected. I already understood that and stopped collecting cards.

In a few months I might move to Scotland and there I am planning to get enrolled into BSAC or Scottish sub-aqua club and take some courses... in order to get familiar with drysuit diving and conditions that are specific to UK. You might called it a card collection, however, I am looking at it from additional experience point of view.

I am always open to constructive criticism. That's why I liked TDI courses as my instructors were clearly pointing to me my weak spots and where I need to improve and how I can do that. In such way I can progress really well. I am not a milenial who wants to listen praises and does not accept any critics. Regarding "over-comment on your knowledge and experience". let me disagree with you on this point. My experience is still very limited, I have less than 100 dives, just completed foundational technical courses. I never over commented on my knowledge or experience. I just provided my own subjective opinion about my personal experience in relation to courses taken. I would accept your point if I would be arguing with experienced tech divers over some practical aspects of diving.... but that's was not the case.

Thank you for your advice for not spending more money on courses I already mentioned in my previous post that currently I have sufficient courses and intend to dive more and more in 2019 and upcoming years. I intend to do diving in UK (get experience in cold water), to do liveaboard in Red Sea and Maldives, maybe to visit other places. I intend to buy my own sidemount BCD and rigs in order to have improvements in sidemount diving which I enjoyed so much. Of course, I will be reading books about diving in order to get more familiar with various deco algorithms application, better understand Buhlmann, RGBM and other algorithms because it is very interesting to me.

 

[Edward3c]

@Warren
...
In a few months I might move to Scotland and there I am planning to get enrolled into BSAC or Scottish sub-aqua club and take some courses... in order to get familiar with drysuit diving and conditions that are specific to UK. You might called it a card collection, however, I am looking at it from additional experience point of view.
...

Where in Scotland will you be based? On the East coast you’ll have to drive over to the West when weather stops you diving.

See here for the BSAC course available. SSAC don’t publish or provide anything like that.

 

[Efka76]

Where in Scotland will you be based? On the East coast you’ll have to drive over to the West when weather stops you diving.

See here for the BSAC course available. SSAC don’t publish or provide anything like that.

I will be based in Edinburgh. Really interested in finding good BSAC or SSAc club with experienced and active divers. Heard that there are many interesting wrecks around that area.

 

[Germie]

Here IANTD is bigger than TDI. So you see it differs from country to country. Because IANTD was bigger here I decided to do IANTD courses and later became instructor also.
I have TDI certs, but that was because I did a course in a country were no IANTD was available. The differences are small, even with other agencies. I have certs from more different agencies. But for me it was mostly IANTD because of a lot of instructors available.

At the end you have to choose an instructor that fits you and then after the course it is up to you to develop skills or practise. If not, the diver will loosing his skills again. And all divers breathe from the same regulators and have the same physics under water.