Some motivation needed.....

[Triton]

All,

I'm looking for a little motivation. Technical diving has been at the back on my mind for some time now but I never seem to be able to take that next step.

I guess I'm asking to find out what got you started. What was that one thing or things that made you decide that recreational diving was just no longer enough.

Do you do wrecks, caves other ?

I know it's a lot more work and can be a bit more expensive, so has it been worth it ?

Anyway, hope some of you feel like sharing and maybe next year I can finaly take that next step.

Thanks,

 

[Rainer]

it... can be a bit more expensive

Hilarious.

In any case, if YOU can't come up with your own reasons for wanting to "move on", could that be a sign? Just saying...

For me, it was some local wrecks..

 

[UCFKnightDiver]

Hilarious.

In any case, if YOU can't come up with your own reasons for wanting to "move on", could that be a sign? Just saying...

For me, it was some local wrecks..

I agree with Rainer! What got me into it was the caves and springs nearby.

 

[Rhone Man]

I drifted into tec diver training largely because I wanted to continue my diving education and I had nowhere left to go. No regrets at all, even though most of my dives are still "recreational" rather than "technical" - the training was invaluable.

It is obviously significantly more expensive than recreational diving - the training, the gear, the gases. There are ways to ameliorate those costs, but I don't want to hijack the thread with two dozen posts lambasting me for proposing unsafe practices.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

Tech diving is cool because drysuits actually look pretty sexy on women, better than wetsuits, I think.

And, I like how nice and simple it is. I love my backplate and wing over a BC, and I think the regulator setups are easier to use. As soon as I switched, I decided that the "OW" setups just weren't comfortable enough for me.

Springstraps on fins was a nice step too, got that idea from tech divers.

I do it for the caves... but even if I were only diving OW, I'd use all the same gear.

 

[Rainsey]

Triton,

I have just started my Tec training. What got me interested was 3 factors, firstly, in April next year we will have an FFG (Guided Missile Frigate) sunk off my local dive site and, being that I used to work on it in a past life, the thought of going back through it after all these years has got me going.

Secondly, my LDS has just taken on a jet of an instructor that has the full DSAT instructor qualifications, is a comercial diver and a swag of other qualifications. I started with my gas blending and now started my Tec training.

Lastly, after years of Rec diving you do get a bit blase' with the same old stuff. The tec training is giving me a totally different perspective on saftey, procedures and kit set up that has been lost in the typical tick in the box type rec instruction. FYI, I did my open water 28 years ago. My kids have recently done their OW and AOW and things that I was taught when I did the training is not even mentioned now. It seems that to get the extra level of competancy, tec is the natural progression.

I do not plan to be hard core perse' but to move into the longer bottom time and deco type diving today, tec is the way to go. I'd say do it, if only for the extra security and knowledge it gives you should (albeit extra expense) you just stay in the rec realm.

Cheers

Rainsey

 

[K Mejean]

The ANDREA DORIA!!!!!! Thats my dream dive. I am still a few years off but thats my goal.
I have been functioning as a DM for a while and I had lost some of my excitement toward it. The only time I was getting in the water was for working dives. I was going back and forth between doing instructor training and getting into tech training. So I started down the tech path. I didn't relize at the time how much it would cost me in gear because I had to replace and upgrade everything I was diving with but it was soooo worth it. Tech training has renewed my excitement about diving. Wouldn't go back thats for sure.

 

[DevonDiver]

You gotta have a reason for doing tech... its more risk, a lot more money...and those decompression hangs are boring... But it does open up a whole new world of potential dives.

 

[Rick Inman]

I had absolutely no desire to move into technical diving. I didn't have the money and I was honestly afraid of the deco obligation factor (being "trapped" underwater).

Then a tech instructor moved to my town and, after a couple dives with him, he "informed" me that I was going to become his new tech buddy. Over the next two years he slowly moved me from recreational (just a DIR fundies class under my belt) to full trimix cert to 330'. He didn't charge me for the instruction, and he got me fantastic deals on gear (also as he upgraded, hes sold me his used stuff cheap. I still dive some of his cast-downs).

Talk about changing my diving life-style! I've done dives I'd never dreamed I'd do, like penetrating deep into a wreck at over 200' ij the St. lawrence River, diving a wall to 300', scootering along a wall at 200' seeing things no human has ever seen... And now I'm mixing my own gases at my house, servicing my own regs, even DM-ing technical diving classes that bring others in our town into the tech diving family.

Yes, I've been bored during deco hangs before. But usually I'm just surprised how quickly the time goes. It can be like making two dives: The deep one, and then kicking around shallow looking at the fishes (which I still enjoy) or practicing skills. Or just hanging on the line, getting into that zen-like meditative state that is probably the most relaxed I ever get.

I'll tell you though, every time I've advanced my skills I've always been nervous. I was nervous about deco obligations. I was nervous about being deeper than 200'. I was nervous about how I'd feel ("trapped!") penetrating inside a wreck. I was (still am) paranoid about going rebreather. But my instructor always moved me at a pace that was just right for me, and sometimes I'm still amazed at how calm I feel doing these dives, even when something goes south I have to deal with - how relaxed I am and how much fun it is. I am always truly suprised to find myself feeling so at ease when something hits the fan. And that calmness has only come from the excellent training I received, and continuous skills practice.

A lot of what is technical diving takes place above the surface, and you have to enjoy that part, too. It's gear intense, with additional equipment, dive planning and gas prep time requirements. There is no doubt it cost more in both time and money.

I also like the people who tech dive. Most of them are head-strong, have good healthy egos, are opinionated, intelligent, interesting, self-educating, self-motivated, and share the same desire to explore the underwater world at a level I really enjoy. I never fail to learn something form them.

There is a good book out that I think someone interested in technical diving should read (although not specifically diving related) called Deep Survival. Good insight into the type of person who enjoys this type of experience, and who will do well at it.

Good luck!

 

[BabyDuck]

on my first non-class ow dives, i was at ginnie springs with a group from nc (who are ncdivers & still my buddies in every sense). three were taking cavern, and 4 or so were tooling around in open water, and one is a cave diving god. first dive with bobby, i knew, *knew!*, that this was my path, this was what i wanted to look like under water, cave diving was for me.

so at dive 100, i was taking cavern/intro, and by dive 225 full. it was always my path & i love it more every dive.