Technical training and recreational diving.

[cstreu1026]

I have been thinking that, in the future when I hvae enough experience, that taking some tech diving classes might be beneficial to my recreational diving. I have no plans to get into deep diving, wredk penetrations, or cave diving. Anyone have nay thoughts on how benficial tech skils are for the average diver?

 

[MechDiver]

IMO *most* training will be beneficial to you in one way or another.

As far as "tech skills", that would depend on what your definition of those skills is I guess. If you mean using heavy doubles, decopression planning and diving, mixed gas diving, then no, I would not think that would be a benefit to you, especially in light of the cost of that type of training.

Nitrox, advanced nitrox and any type of rescue training on the other hand, would have a direct bearing on recreational diving.

Tek training, in most cases, also involves purchase of quite expensive toys, err...I mean equipment, that would have little if any benefit to purely rec diving.

It would be easier to answer your question if you listed a specific class you wanted to know about.

MD

 

[Diver0001]

cstreu1026 once bubbled...
I have been thinking that, in the future when I hvae enough experience, that taking some tech diving classes might be beneficial to my recreational diving. I have no plans to get into deep diving, wredk penetrations, or cave diving. Anyone have nay thoughts on how benficial tech skils are for the average diver?

I have the impression that you're a beginning diver. I'd start by just doing a couple of hundred dives and moving along to advanced and rescue courses. These courses (especially rescue) will give you important skills that are directly relevant to recreational diving. The way I see it you don't need to look to tek courses to improve your basic dive skills. You know the most important skills already and you can do a lot to sharpen these skills without taking more courses.

Take buoyancy control. This is, in my opinion, the most important skill for any diver. If your buoyancy control is excellent then you will look excellent in the water. Practice until you can hover motionless for as long as you like. Motionless is much harder than swimming. If you're buddy gets bored with not going anywhere then make your safety stops a little longer and use this time to practice hovering motionless.

And you can use your safety stop to practice other skills too. Why not? You have 3-5 minutes of golden opportunity at the end of every single dive. Practice removing and replacing a mask during a safety stop (probably the second most important skill). Why not? Just tell your buddy first .

R..

 

[The Pirate]

You don't take tech classes to improve your skills. Its the other way around. Dive several hundred dives or more to improve your skills; then consider taking tech classes to explore new boundaries.

 

[JamieZ]

If you want the skills that you need to tec dive but dont want to tec dive take the DIRF course. I have never taken it but I'm sure others on the board that have, will agree that this might be just what your looking for. You need to learn what your doing wrong before you can practice. Whats the sense of doing a thousand dives if all your doing is practicing poor skills deveolpment.

 

[cstreu1026]

I am relatively new to diving, but I am already advancing my training. I did my advanced last summer and am doing my nitrox course ihn a few weeks, with the rescue course scheduled for this summer. I am just really wondering if there practical apllication of technical skils to recreational diving? Of course if i get comfortable enough I may get into deep diving, atleast deep enough to get me to Bikini, but I just can't get to too excited about caves and wreck ponetration pretty much scares me to death....too many possbile problems there.

 

[The Pirate]

cstreu1026 once bubbled...
I am just really wondering if there practical apllication of technical skils to recreational diving?

I don't know where you people keep coming up with the idea that technical diving requires different skills than rec diving. Diving is diving and the skills to dive do not differ regardless of whether you are rec diving or tech diving. Tech diving by its nature involves more task loading due to extra equipment, more demanding environment (deep, overhead, etc.), and deco obligations, but the diving skills are the same.

 

[cstreu1026]

The Pirate once bubbled...

I don't know where you people keep coming up with the idea that technical diving requires different skills than rec diving. Diving is diving and the skills to dive do not differ regardless of whether you are rec diving or tech diving. Tech diving by its nature involves more task loading due to extra equipment, more demanding environment (deep, overhead, etc.), and deco obligations, but the diving skills are the same.

There are definitely skills taught in technical courses that are never even mentioned in rec classes. Decompression theory is a perfect example. From what I remember from my PADI OW and AOW classes, decompression is never even mentioned except in terms of no decompression limits. Then there are the higly specific classes and skills that pertain to wreck penetration and cave diving. Of course the fundamental skills are the same, but there are new skills that are taught in technical course.

 

[The Pirate]

cstreu1026 once bubbled...


There are definitely skills taught in technical courses that are never even mentioned in rec classes. Decompression theory is a perfect example. From what I remember from my PADI OW and AOW classes, decompression is never even mentioned except in terms of no decompression limits. Then there are the higly specific classes and skills that pertain to wreck penetration and cave diving. Of course the fundamental skills are the same, but there are new skills that are taught in technical course.

Decompression theory is not a diving skill. It is knowledge and information that a diver uses to avoid getting bent on deco dives, not a skill. The only skills per se that you would learn in a cave or wreck course that are different or additional to basic scuba skills are environment specific survival skills.

 

[Diver0001]

scubanarc once bubbled...
<snip> Whats the sense of doing a thousand dives if all your doing is practicing poor skills deveolpment.

How incredibly arrogant to suggest that if it's not DIR/GUE then it must be poor. I hope you didn't mean to say this.

R..