ianr33
Contributor
OK, I'll ask a troll-like question, just to keep it going.
I have no training whatsoever for diving with any form of helium - recreational, technical or otherwise (although ironically I am certified to blend it). However, when I look at it, I always think - how hard can it really be?
Calculating an END is pretty simple, so you know mix you need to order or blend. And you are always going to run your profiles through deco planning software if you were planning to dive beyond NDLs, so there is no real change in the way you cut your tables and plan your stops. The dive itself is presumably not executed any differently, except perhaps one takes greater care over ascent rates.
I can accept if you do really deep trimix dives, where one has to consider HPNS and nitrogen steps, that would call for further training and guidance, but I have to wonder what additional risks that I am supposedly not trained for. If someone offered me the chance to do a 180' dive on 18/35 instead of on air, would I be safer by declining on the basis I don't have the card?
Totally agree with you.
Have never understood why trimix courses are so expensive or why they are even needed. Plug the numbers into software,follow the plan and don't screw up.
My trimix course was pretty feeble. I basically bought a card. I knew it was going to be that way beforehand and was O.K. with it. Pay to play.
Seems to me what is most important for deep dives is experience and a cool head. I'm not sure either of those come from a course.
If you can do nitrox on line these days why not trimix?