Rec to Tek, best transition???

[chrisch]

At this point it is important to note that the instructor makes the difference not the agency.

If you are interested in mixed gas there is an intermediate stage with the IANTD Advanced Rec Trimix course. This is a 45m (err.. 150 ft I think in imperial?) qual. Gue have a similar triox thing as do Naui I believe.

Most people go Adv. EAN and Normoxic Tx.

The advanced EAN courses are a valuable way to stretch your skills IMO whether or not you are going deeeper.

Chris

 

[Boogie711]

I find it really sad that people continually stress "it's the instructor, not the agency."

How sad is the dive industry that all the 'major' training partners have their own customers continuing to harp a line about "well, their standards aren't good enough, so remember, the individual working on their own is going to be a far more important barometer of competency than whatever agency happened to give them a license to teach other people."

In short, this is why GUE was created. Because there needed to be an agency with high standards. I know there's a lot of DIR and antiDIR crap around here... but the simple fact is that I have yet to meet a GUE instructor I would hesitate to take training from.

That's not Koolaid speaking. It's honest fact. And it's proof that sometimes, yes, it is the agency.

 

[chrisch]

I find it really sad that people continually stress "it's the instructor, not the agency."
........<snip>
In short, this is why GUE was created. Because there needed to be an agency with high standards. I know there's a lot of DIR and antiDIR crap around here...

To be honest a lot of us say this to avoid the usual BS that tends to follow the noise created by the DIR/GUE thing.

I don't think its because we want to dis' the agency we trained with.

Chris
(PADI Rescue & IANTD Trimix should you wish to know)

 

[BigJetDriver]

What would be your recomendation on the best route to move into tek diving?

I am somewhat amused by the challenges to your decision to move on to the next level in your diving. If YOU want to, why the heck not, for Heaven's sake???

My suggestion would be for you to go to IANTD's website, pull up the list of instructors in your area, and have a chat with one or two.

Go here: www.iantd.com

Have fun, and by the way, didn't you get eaten by sharks???

Rob Davie

 

[matt_unique]

Well, Ive shot thousands of pics it seems and while I still have a way to go, they are pretty good. I know most of the fish here. I can find my way around just fine and my BC is also just fine.....I don't have any one specific goal by going to the next level, it's just something I do. I do have some vague ideas for the future though. It's just something I want to do...I was going to start my flight lessons but decided to wait untill I make it back home where it's 1/3rd the price, so Im looking for something else to work on.....So back to the original question, what route would y'all recomend? Thanks for the input.

TDI has a good set of courses as well. As with every agency, it's all instructor. Do that research first then make your choice. You don't need to be on doubles to begin the tech journey. You can also start out on a single 120 with H valve for example. Eventually you would need to move into doubles. You would find the cost pretty close in terms of gear believe it or not. A few hundred bucks more gets you into doubles.

--Matt

 

[Diver0001]

That's not Koolaid speaking.

Sigh.....There you go walking into the light again..... And just when I thought the therapy was starting to help too....

R..

 

[Boogie711]

Go ahead and ridicule, Diver0001. You have that right.

But I also have the right to explain that it ISN'T just the instructor, and sometimes it IS the Agency. Look, I'm not trying to be a GUEvangelist. I'm just relaying my personal experience.

 

[JS1scuba]

What would be your recomendation on the best route to move into tek diving?

First decide if tek is really what you want.

You need to ask yourself the following questions.

1. Are you getting into tek too soon?
Do you have at least 75-100 really good practical dives completed.

2. Are you getting sufficient information?
Talk to the pros who do this all the time and find out what's involved.

3. What is your real motivation for tech?
Is it just to look cool or is there something you really want to see?
Have you exhausted the recreatonal path ?

4. Are you physically strong enough?
Are you in shape and able to manage the gear both in and out of the water ?

5. Are you disciplined ?
Are you prepared to stay in shape and stay up on all the developments ?

6. How big is your bank balance ?
Expect you will spend $3500-5000 on equipment and another $2000 on initial training, Then you have to go out and do the dives beyond training.

7. Do you understand your pysiological limitations?
Can you work well under stress and time limitations?

8. Do you understand your emotional limitations?
Do you understand that this is the most dangerous type of diving and that small mistakes can have large disaterous results ?

9. Is it deep that you want or is it long ?
Some folks just want to do deep spikes to be cool. Others have
a need/desire to explore which takes both time and depth.

10. In what environment were you trained ?
If you started out in warm clear water the transition to colder, darker, more challenging enviroments does not get better with tech. Where you train will be critical to the ultimate sucess of your diving.

If you can answer those questions honestly and with your family understanding and accepting the risks and then you really want to get into tech diving seek out the absolute best people from each training agency and have a nice discussion. Get all the particulars up front. Pathway, costs, equipment required etc. Oh a few more question you need to ask. Ask the guy you are talking to who trained him/her, how many tech dives they do when not training, and this is the best one. "If I was to pick a trainer other than you who would it be?"

Regards,

 

[Diver0001]

Go ahead and ridicule, Diver0001. You have that right.

But I also have the right to explain that it ISN'T just the instructor, and sometimes it IS the Agency. Look, I'm not trying to be a GUEvangelist. I'm just relaying my personal experience.

I don't want to let the thread get derailed but I'll explain what I meant behind what I hoped you would take for what it was.......

Standards are process and I just don't see how simply following process -- even GUE process -- can automatically lead to quality.

I will accept your claim that your chances of getting a good GUE instructor are pretty good (I won't contest the quality) but in my mind, process is like a machine and I just can't accept that a machine knows what's good for every student all of the time. It takes human judgement for that..... IN other words, it still comes down to the individual instructor.... If that weren't the case you could make any bozo into a GUE instructor by simply giving him a copy of the standards and taking away his snorkel.

Now with that said I hope we can let the point rest.

R..

 

[BigJetDriver]

What would be your recomendation on the best route to move into tek diving?

Joel Silverstein of Tech Diving Limited: http://www.techdivinglimited.com

has some very good points to consider. This is not to dicourage you, or to chase you away from tech diving. It is just that these are reality check points. Technical diving is still fun, and challenging. Just in a somewhat different way from recreational scuba. If you want to raise the level of your diving knowledge, "Como no?!?" as we say here in the Republic of Tejas!

Rob