Tec Questions

[Kevrumbo]

Good questions. I'm currently a DM and want to complete Tec training and then perhaps go on to become an instructor. I don't know how many Tec dives I'd do in a year, will figure that out after I'm certified. However, I live near DC so I don't have the same opportunity as those in NC or south FL, but I'll be sure to get there, won't not use the new certifications. I'm not loaded but do have the resources.

As for hesitation many years ago, I'm not sure. I ended up doing a lot of recreational diving, travelled to many places and was having fun with that. Now I want to come back to it, want to continue progressing as a diver. Who knows, maybe one day I'll go full retard and start some kind of dive business!

Highly recommend talking in-person to UTD Instructor Jonathan Edwardsen over there in Rockville/North Bethesda: Maryland scuba diving classes and dive shop serving MD, VA, DC at Submerged - Submerged Scuba Shop in Maryland

His shop is looking for Instructor/Instructor Trainees as well. . .

 

[Centrals]

Additionally, I have questions about gear. Like, what all do I need? A Perdix seems like an obvious answer for a computer, but getting into regs, it quickly becomes an alphabet soup - DST, FST, DS4 and that's just one brand! My current gear is a little older now (~10 years) but has been well maintained. I'm using a Dive Right bpw (recwing) and breathing off an Apeks ATX200 with an ATX40.

There is nothing wrong with your regs, mine(Apeks) are a lot older(18yrs).
DST and the latest FSR 1st stage offer 5th port(extra cost).
DS4 has been around for yrs.
FSR is the only one that the valve seat can be replaced.

 

[sunshower]

Steve is asking a lot of good questions here. You should have good answers before you go much further. I would absolutely not go out and start buying gear as a first step.

If you really decide you want to go the Tech route, start thinking of where and how you will be trained. It can make a real difference in the equipment you ultimately buy. For example, you talk about going out and getting a Perdix. You may find out when you start instructing that your instructor does not want you using any computer of any kind for your initial training or even forever. There are other differences in training philosophies between both agencies and individual instructors that will have a severe impact upon your diving.

When I started my own tech training, my tech instructor flat out said that although we were going to be getting certified under agency ABC, he would actually be training under the standards and procedures of agency DEF. Frustrated after a while, I contacted the leadership of agency ABC and discovered that they didn't care about that one bit--as long as the standards of agency ABC were covered somewhere in the process, the instructor was free to follow the DEF curriculum completely. When I later took classes from a different instructor from agency ABC, I entered an entirely different world of technical diving philosophy--and that very much included equipment choices. I have now had formal technical training from 5 different technical instruction agencies and an equal number of instructors, and I have watched several others at work. The varied philosophies and approaches made my experience quite like being the ball in a pinball machine. As a tech instructor now, I teach the ones that make sense to me and don't teach the ones that don't.

I suggest you make a decision about both the agency and the instructor you will train with, and don't make that decision lightly. Make sure that the agency has a path to your final destination that makes sense. (That issue was the reason I abandoned an agency with which I was training--the instructional path ahead of me looked to be absurd.) Make sure you find an instructor that you trust and want to work with, someone who can guide you through the process for at least the first few classes. Once you have decided that you really do want to get into technical diving, and once you have decided you have picked the right agency and instructor, then ask that instructor for guidance in the questions you asked above.

Thanks for this feedback. Thinking about the instructor and agency are high on my list; trust and a good relationship are vital. Training around the DC area isn't the most readily available, so I'm figuring on needing to travel but would like to keep it reasonable - southeast or maybe Caribbean. I've heard the program at Buddy Dive in Bonaire is strong but they haven't exactly blown me away in their willingness to get on the phone and talk. I'd love recommendations on instructors and a comparative matrix on agencies' training programs would be awesome; great if someone has something like that at their fingertips but I may need to build my own.

 

[sunshower]

Highly recommend talking in-person to UTD Instructor Jonathan Edwardsen over there in Rockville/North Bethesda: Maryland scuba diving classes and dive shop serving MD, VA, DC at Submerged - Submerged Scuba Shop in Maryland

His shop is looking for Instructor/Instructor Trainees as well. . .

Thanks for this tip, I will make a point of getting over there.

 

[beester]

Don't start out with equipment questions, because if we talk about OC technical diving it's all about the same (bp/wing, drysuit, cable light, double set of regs, computer or bottom timer, etc). And while the details might be different they are all basically the same.

What I would start out with is identifying what your goals are. What are your dream dives? What do you really want to see/do? Then identifying what you need to do to be able to do those dives. To do means , getting training, building experience, gaining a network of likeminded divers, etc, etc. This is much more important than saying I want a normoxic ticket, or I want a full technical cave ticket... or or. This is a generalisation, but people chasing just a cert, will often stop diving once they reach the cert. I have a lot of trimix cert diving friends who are not doing of tx dives. They got the cert tho, and can mention it to all noobs looking for a story

A far away goal could be: " I want to dive eagles nest, with scooters", another goal could be "I want to dive this or this wreck on the North Atlantic seaboard", and then work towards that goal. I would also look for some more close by goals. If you don't live close to caves and you know you are only going to be able to spend 1 week a year cavediving I would think long and hard before going that route. If on the other side, you have an active wreck diving community close by, why not take that route.

Once you've identified this, I would start looking at how to get the training for this kind of diving, in small baby steps. That's where an instructor comes in, and chosing the right instructor (and agency in some cases) might be the most important decision you'll make. (search scubaboard, a lot has been written about this).

As a final advice, I would suggest some sort of initation course for technical diving, which will give you already some ideas of where to be if you want to advance in this part of diving. GUE fundies is a very good example (as are some essentials classes from UTD or IANTD).

Good luck!

 

[boulderjohn]

GUE fundies is a very good example (as are some essentials classes from UTD or IANTD).

Those skills are part of the training of all technical diving agencies.

 

[beester]

Those skills are part of the training of all technical diving agencies.

Does every agency have a specific workshop/course related to basic skills, needed for further technical training? I didn't think so.

And I'm not pushing a specific agency (that's why I mentioned others).

 

[thatmark]

Thanks for this tip, I will make a point of getting over there.

I'll second the recommendation for Submerged. I'm planning on finishing my Essentials of Rec course with them next weekend and they are great people to learn with. Already thinking about my next class with them.

Mark

 

[JeepinDiver]

I third the recommendation for Submerged and Jon E. I've taken two (2) tech classes there and am scheduled to take another one later this year. There is a group of guys with whom I dive that have all taken multiple classes through Jon and Submerged. It's a good group (none have gone full retard yet) and they have organized 2-3 tech trips and 2-4 cave trips to FL each of the last several years, in addition to the trips that Submerged organizes.

I would suggest getting in touch with Jon and going to speak with him in person. He is usually in the shop in the evenings. It might also be helpful for you to talk to Tanya, who runs the shop with Jon. She is also a technical/cave diver and instructor, and very personable, in case you wanted a female perspective.

 

[KevinNM]

Those skills are part of the training of all technical diving agencies.

In theory, but maybe not so much in practice. I had a guy with full cave (no idea what agency) get the same provisional rating as me in a fundamentals course (all 3 of us in doubles). He had a smaller and different set of things that were not right, but none of us were willing to even try to argue how we met the standards of a rec pass, much less a tech pass.