Training tips for Tech1

[boomx5]

Make sure your fundamentals are squared away. Then, move off the bottom and practice mid water with no visual reference to the bottom. Also, get comfortable without a mask since it will probably spending more time on your instructors arm than on your face. Another thing to get comfortable with is controlled ascents and doing them without a mask while airsharing. In fact, that is what we practiced the most when we were preparing for T1. We started all this stuff shallow, and then gradually worked our way down to doing this stuff from about 80' to the surface. We'd taking turns and doing it several times each time we would go out to practice. These are things we worked on prior to T1 and they all helped when we got to the class.

Good luck,

 

[Ben_ca]

And find good mentors to dive with... (Like Scott)


Ninja edit: Mark 50 what's your 20?

 

[Vie]

I haven't taken T1 yet, but from the people I know who took it, mastering the basics from fundies is important and managing your buoyancy/trim while task loading. They guys I talked to took it from AG. He was taking stage bottles from students, people losing masks and going OOA while shooting a bag, and all kinds of fun stuff.

Why were they using stages for a Tech 1 level dive?

 

[Snowbear]

Why were they using stages for a Tech 1 level dive?

They're not. They're using deco bottles. Some folks just get hung up on terminology

 

[Mark50]

Ben Ca - I'm currently in Atlanta.

 

[jamman85]

Congrats on going into Tech1. I took the course is July and really learned alot. As mentioned earlier, the instructor will be constantly trying to look for loopholes in your diving system. We lost our deco cyls a few times, scout lights, backup masks, reels etc. Not only are they trying to simulate lost gear, but they are also trying to distract you from the task and cause you to loose your focus (usually resulting in another more serious type of failure). The best thing you can do is develop a system to be constantly checking your gear. Every few mintutes, run your hands through your gear and make sure everything is present and stowed properly. They usually go after gear that isnt stowed properly. It never hurts to double check anything. Valves gear etc. Hope this helps and feel free to contact me with more questions.

 

[Snowbear]

One of the things to remember is that no matter how many distractions they throw at you, your team needs to stay cohesive. If the team breaks down, things will get much, much worse for you :11:

In my class, we found that if we looked out for each other as a team and let our teammates look out for us (there were 3 of us), things that could have become problems were really non-issues.

 

[Mark50]

Thanks for all the tips. Six more weeks of practice and off we go (Nov 10th). I'll post a report, assuming I survive.