Technical Diving

[Spectre]

I understand what you are saying... but it's just the blanket statements that I was addressing. It really -does- come down to the instructor; and one shouldn't just disregard an instructor because you'll end up with a PADI card at the end of it.

 

[TwoTanks]

I think Matt is right, There are a lot more to tech diving than just taking classes. For recreational diving you can just take classes and go diving but for technical diving you need better (well above average) diving skills. IE; Buoyancy, Low vis comfort, gear familiarity and no mask comfort just to name a few.
Also there is a lot of physics and physiology to know. At sixteen you probably havn't even taken high school physics yet. To dive recreational nitrox you can do a padi class and you only (generally) need to watch your MOD, But when you even look at Tech diving you really need to know and understand all of the details of enriched air/multi gas diving.
You really can't just tear through tech classes like you can with PADI classes.
Take it slow, dive a lot and learn the material. Your life will depend on it, much more so than in recreational diving.
Take the nitrox class, the advanced nitrox class and the cavern class. Learn the material and practice. By then you should be 18 and you can move on.
I don't know anything about cavern/cave diving, so I have no input there.

Note: this is not PADI bashing, IMO PADI classes let you skim over material that is not really inportant in recreational diving but are important in tech diving.

TT

 

[MikeFerrara]

I understand what you are saying... but it's just the blanket statements that I was addressing. It really -does- come down to the instructor; and one shouldn't just disregard an instructor because you'll end up with a PADI card at the end of it.

No not always and that wasn't my point. My point was that if I was to go shopping for a cavern class that I wouldn't be looking in PADI dive dive shops. I would be looking for experienced cave divers who were cavern instructors that were trained to be cavern instructors/cave instructors.

I would also prefer that the cert fee that I pay goes to an agency who understands the environment.

NACD, NSS-CDS, GUE and IANTD all require an internship and far more cave experience to teach cavern than PADI does. They also require skills to be taught that PADI doesn't.

While I wouldn't discount a good instructor because they were a PADI instructor it would be a point against them. I'd rather have a caver instructor who met the requirements of the other cave agencies rather than one that sent off in the mail for a quick PADI cavern instructor card. All things being equal I think there's a better chance of getting a real cavern instructor.

 

[Spectre]

While I wouldn't discount a good instructor because they were a PADI instructor it would be a point against them. I'd rather have a caver instructor who met the requirements of the other cave agencies rather than one that sent off in the mail for a quick PADI cavern instructor card. All things being equal I think there's a better chance of getting a real cavern instructor.

We're pretty much in agreement. I was thinking about it last night, and I have to admit; I've got no idea what I would have been really looking for in an instructor when I took the class. Right off the bat he sent me his diving resume, references, his instructor number and encouraged me to check up on him.

Now how I would have reacted if he came back with 'intro certified, 50 cave dives' I have no idea. I may have thought that was fine, but I'm not sure as it was 1/2 a dive lifetime ago . But seeing as my initial query on class availability was answered with "1257 dives, NSS-CDS full cave, GUE cave 1 & 2".. I figured I was covered

 

[MikeFerrara]

We're pretty much in agreement. I was thinking about it last night, and I have to admit; I've got no idea what I would have been really looking for in an instructor when I took the class. Right off the bat he sent me his diving resume, references, his instructor number and encouraged me to check up on him.

Now how I would have reacted if he came back with 'intro certified, 50 cave dives' I have no idea. I may have thought that was fine, but I'm not sure as it was 1/2 a dive lifetime ago . But seeing as my initial query on class availability was answered with "1257 dives, NSS-CDS full cave, GUE cave 1 & 2".. I figured I was covered

Me too. It's one of those things that you don't have an educated opinion about until you've done it.

I think I know who your instructor was...(William?)...I think you did good. He's not exactly your average PADI instructor though.

 

[Spectre]

Me too. It's one of those things that you don't have an educated opinion about until you've done it.

*nod* that catch-22 of not knowing what questions to ask until you learn what questions you should have asked...

I think I know who your instructor was...(William?)...I think you did good. He's not exactly your average PADI instructor though.

Yes, and very true. I learned later that not only did we do cavern, but we covered almost all the skills involved in Intro.

 

[junior diver]

They teach advanced nitrox at 15 with parental consent? How old do you have to be to have basic nitrox training? Even with parental consent? My parents don't understand what nitrox is so...

 

[jlayman800]

If you are a DAN member, there is some good data from DAN at: https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/report/

 

[jlayman800]

oops, posted to the wrong thread. Sorry

 

[cornfed]

If you are a DAN member, you can provided some good data to our student friend from: https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/report/

I was going to join just now but found that DAN has taken the insurance benefit out of the membership cost and the cost of insurance is WILDLY CRAZY in addition to the membership dues.

<rant>I'm sorry but this is total bull****. The purpose of DAN is not to provide dive insurance so I don't see why membership should include it. DAN is a research and educational organization dedicated to promoting diver safety. They are funded through membership dues and donations.

If you call them they will not only provide emergancy information but also answer pretty much any dive related question you have. Earlier this year they provided me with a list of journal citations for something I was searching for. They only asked me if I was a member after providing all the information I requested.

Furthermore, If you compare the insurance DAN offers to that offered by diveinsurance.com you'll see the later is more expensive. You can't make a direct comparision but roughly equivalent coverage the DAN insurance is cheaper.

Sure, if you include the cost of a DAN membership then total cost to get insurance will be more, albeit not wildly so like you suggest, but a significant portion of that money is going to support research and education.

I choose to support DAN. You're free make other choices.</rant>