TDI v. IANTD

[gfking19]

I am looking into getting my advanced nitrox and accelerated deco certs and was wondering if anyone recommended one certifying agency over the other. I am not really sure of the differences between the two or if there are any so if anyone can help I would appreciate it.

 

[ScubaTricky]

As far as I can tell, the courses from the two Agencies are pretty similiar. Instead of choosing a course, find a good instructor and go with whichever Agency they're affiliated to.

 

[PerroneFord]

There are some significant difference between the two course. If you can find an instructor you like, I recommend the TDI course. I say that having done the IANTD course, and having seen the TDI materials. Of course, this is just my personal opinion.

 

[Caver95]

There are some significant difference between the two course. If you can find an instructor you like, I recommend the TDI course. I say that having done the IANTD course, and having seen the TDI materials. Of course, this is just my personal opinion.

99% of it is to the instructor. The course is almost the same.

 

[PerroneFord]

TDI Adv. Nitrox covers all the way to O2, IANTD stops at 50%. To me, thats a significant difference especially if you are doing deco procedures.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I took TDI Advanced Nitrox and Deco Procedures courses, but the instructor also used supplemental IANTD materials in addition to the TDI books.

One thing I did not like was the use of US Navy tables in the course. US Navy tables and proceduces simplify things greatly, but given the ready availability of newer, more conservative and more accellerated deco freindly tables, software, etc, I thought it left a lot to be desired to stay wit US Navy tables. Having only taken the course once, having never taken the IANTD equivalent and not being intimately familiar with the course standards for both, I can't say if this was a course weakness or an instructor weakness.

I can say at least one of the divers left the course believing strongly in US Navy tables and not seeing the value of deep stops, etc. Personally, I was glad that I was well versed before attending and that I was attending primarily to get the cards to certify me for the accellerated deco diving that I had already been doing. I would not have wanted the course content to have been all I knew about the subject.

In short, I agree that far more depends on the instructor than the course material or certifying agency.

 

[PerroneFord]

In my IANTD course, we used Navy Tables also, though we did discuss Pyle Stops, Oxygen windows, and so forth. My instructor is very progressive, being a rebreather instructor also, so we got exposed to alot.

The TDI course materials that we used were vastly superior to the IANTD materials. We supplemented both of those with the NOAA diving manual. I also agree that a LOT has to do with the instructor, but limitations such as the 100% vs 50% for the same cost of class are things that should be considered in my opinion.

IANTD also appears to be having some "issues" with getting in materials and cert cards (at least in the US), so if you're in a hurry, you might seek other options.

 

[Hyper-limits]

If the TDI materials is better than the IANTD materials, the IANTD material most really really suck. Again with all those thread GUE VS TDI, IANTD VS TDI, GUE VS NAUI, ANDI VS TDI and on and on and on, what really matter is the instructor.

Cheers

 

[Diver0001]

In my IANTD course, we used Navy Tables also, though we did discuss Pyle Stops, Oxygen windows, and so forth. My instructor is very progressive, being a rebreather instructor also, so we got exposed to alot.

The TDI course materials that we used were vastly superior to the IANTD materials. We supplemented both of those with the NOAA diving manual. I also agree that a LOT has to do with the instructor, but limitations such as the 100% vs 50% for the same cost of class are things that should be considered in my opinion.

IANTD also appears to be having some "issues" with getting in materials and cert cards (at least in the US), so if you're in a hurry, you might seek other options.

I agree with part of what you're saying. The IATND materials are in desperate need of structured presentation. They're an absolute grinder to read. I don't know about the TDI books but from what I've heard the PADI Books are the best.

I think there's something to be said for *not* certifying new tek divers directly for O2. I think the main thing for newbies is making sure that the protocols are 2nd nature. You're only getting 15 or 20 minute decos anyway with technical nitrox so efficiency of decompression can take a lower priority than the extra margin for safety 50% gives you.

In other words, it`s good to get some experience first and then add O2 to the game once you`re mostly through the learning curve.

R..

 

[MikeFerrara]

The IANTD advanced nireoc course stops at 50% O2 unless it's combined with other courses like the deco specialist course or whatever it's called (a classroom only thing. The tech diver course though does use 100 O2 and is more in line with the TDI course of the same name I think.

I've done courses from both agencies. I prefer the content of the IANTD materials to TDI but niether are designed well as tect books IMO.

PADI materials are pretty and designed to be text books but the content sucks. They know lots about designing pretty books, just not much about diving. LOL

PerroneFord, I don't know when you took your IANTD classes but they haven't used navy tables for a long time. They were using Buhlmann for a long time (that's what's in all the texts) and now I think they even use RGBM or VPM (not sure which).