those who have taken tech1

[limeyx]

Congratulations on passing Tech 1, Looks like your practice paid off! I will be looking for pointers from you guys.

Phil

biggest pointers:

1) team team team -- this means finding the people you want to take the class with ASAP and practice with them. Do NOT go into the class with strangers is my advice
2) then do the drills above in the thread over and over until you get them right. I would not bother with valve failures, but you should do
- ascent descent drill
- endless valve and S-drills at 20 feet, keeping the line and the team together without losing buoyancy. Make sure you go deeper (say 60) and then ascend to 20 so you get to manage getting the gas out of your d/suit
- get comfy in mid-water with no mask, and then being guided to the surface
- be able to do a 6 min ascent from 20 feet
- all with good trim (get someone to video you) and using lights and signaling with lights
3) once you get (1) and (2) you can practice laying some line a few times, although T1 doesn't really evaluate line-laying (thank goodness in my opinion)
4) go diving with a stage attached, but dont deploy it. Get used to dumping gas, checking SPG and having it along for the ride.

that took us about 4 months this year, diving most weekend for 2 hours at a time.

When you think you are close, it's important for a second opinion of what you need to do. But luckily for you, you have plenty of people locally who can take a look at you in the water and let you know if you are close.

(1) is critical tho -- i cannot imagine passing this class (or at least having a good chance of passing) if I had had to take it with strangers.

 

[limeyx]

Hey Carlo,
If you haven't already, read and study Jason's ("Darkpup") excellent & comprehensive report on AG's Technical Diver Course (NAUI-Tec). Sobering, but a definitive and informative account on what to expect from the similar GUE Tech 1 Class:
http://forum.5thd-x.com/viewtopic.php?t=1283
http://forum.5thd-x.com/viewtopic.php?t=1462
BTW, Gideon Liew who was just here in Los Angeles two weeks ago to teach the Tech 1 Class is a protege of AG; an intelligent articulate instructor and all-around good guy! Recommend taking the Class with him & Martin should he come by the PI. . .

Yes, Gideon is an excellent instructor who always pushed us to get as close as we can to perfection, and not settle for "good enough" He is amazing in the water, and really really good in the lecture portion of the class.

 

[dbulmer]

LimeyX,
One wee question - were you having to use the rear dump a lot (ie and I mean a lot) on ascents or were you allowed to use the inflator?

 

[globaldiver]

LimeyX,
One wee question - were you having to use the rear dump a lot (ie and I mean a lot) on ascents or were you allowed to use the inflator?

In our Tech 1 class they did not want us to use the inflator at all to dump gas during the dive, (except on the surface at the beginning of the descent off course).
You should be able to use the rear dump without issues during the dives, with or without task loading. If you use dry gloves, you can replace the string at the dump valve with a slightly thicker version. That is a fairly common practice among cold water divers.

Anders

 

[dbulmer]

Anders,
Thanks for the reply - I was simply curious.

 

[limeyx]

In our Tech 1 class they did not want us to use the inflator at all to dump gas during the dive, (except on the surface at the beginning of the descent off course).
You should be able to use the rear dump without issues during the dives, with or without task loading. If you use dry gloves, you can replace the string at the dump valve with a slightly thicker version. That is a fairly common practice among cold water divers.

Anders

It wasn't a discussion point in our class, but all 3 of us use the rear dump almost exclusively. There were a couple of occasions when front dump was used, but that was not really brought up in class.

Using the front dump is far preferable to losing buoyancy, so if you have to, you have to, but you really want to minimize that as much as possible except for initial descent.

I think had we all been using the front inflators, it would have been "discussed" during class.

 

[Jasonmh]

-- get comfy in mid-water with no mask, and then being guided to the surface
- be able to do a 6 min ascent from 20 feet

Thanks for all the good info. I have some questions though, if you can explain:
1- can you explain how you are guided to the surface?
and
2- what is a 6 min ascent from 20 feet?
Thanks

 

[lamont]

Using the front dump is far preferable to losing buoyancy, so if you have to, you have to, but you really want to minimize that as much as possible except for initial descent.

i hate to be heretical, but why?

if you're ascending and venting out your shoulder dump, you'll naturally have to be slightly head up with the gas bubble in your wing near your head. why not just use the front dump instead of going head down and shifting the gas to the rear dump? i understand if you can't do it, or have difficulty using the rear dump that you should practice. but once you've got it down, why the focus on it?

 

[Jasonmh]

i hate to be heretical, but why?

if you're ascending and venting out your shoulder dump, you'll naturally have to be slightly head up with the gas bubble in your wing near your head. why not just use the front dump instead of going head down and shifting the gas to the rear dump? i understand if you can't do it, or have difficulty using the rear dump that you should practice. but once you've got it down, why the focus on it?

I know I can't remember all the reasons my instructor gave, but some were:
-To be prepared and build muscle memory for a time when you are either in an overhead or near the bottom,
- Because if you are venting on ascent and have trouble (or start of a runwaway ascent), it is better to be in a slightly head down position as opposed to slightly head up. The head down position being better to be able to kick down slightly if you have to slow or stop your ascent

 

[MonkSeal]

We were allowed to dump from corrugated at last stops (6m and 3m - 20' and 10'). However, I got provisional - maybe I was using this too much