What's Next...

[Patoux01]

Ok just my opinion but i know the padi machine will weigh in here but wtf.

Nah, it's about the PADI machine. There's huge morons in both agencies, and no, TDI is nothing "more onerous on the qualifying criteria". Their programme is nowhere near "rigorous training" or whatsoever.

About "get a TDI or IANTD instructor and you will probably get someone dedicated to teaching technical diving", well, my OW instructor was a RB diver, he also was a TDI instructor up to at least ANDP, he's considered a good instructor in the area, and he didn't know how to calibrate his RB. Scary huh? Oh, his RB cert was also from TDI.

IANTD... maybe, but they're a step above TDI in the difficulty of becoming an instructor from what I understood, hence you're less likely to find a crappy instructor there. I said less likely, not impossible. Even GUE could **** up.


Long story short, look up who your instructor would be, does he master the skills he's supposed to teach, and does he teach them well? The agency doesn't matter that much imo.
I also honestly won't care about the "find an instructor that does only technical diving way beyond the level he teaches". Many deep divers look like some sort of seahorse-octopus and are considered to be very good, I know that I won't train with them as their view on diving doesn't align with mine...

 

[OMANDIVER]

Nah, it's about the PADI machine. There's huge morons in both agencies, and no, TDI is nothing "more onerous on the qualifying criteria". Their programme is nowhere near "rigorous training" or whatsoever.

About "get a TDI or IANTD instructor and you will probably get someone dedicated to teaching technical diving", well, my OW instructor was a RB diver, he also was a TDI instructor up to at least ANDP, he's considered a good instructor in the area, and he didn't know how to calibrate his RB. Scary huh? Oh, his RB cert was also from TDI.

IANTD... maybe, but they're a step above TDI in the difficulty of becoming an instructor from what I understood, hence you're less likely to find a crappy instructor there. I said less likely, not impossible. Even GUE could **** up.


Long story short, look up who your instructor would be, does he master the skills he's supposed to teach, and does he teach them well? The agency doesn't matter that much imo.
I also honestly won't care about the "find an instructor that does only technical diving way beyond the level he teaches". Many deep divers look like some sort of seahorse-octopus and are considered to be very good, I know that I won't train with them as their view on diving doesn't align with mine...

Your point is?

 

[Patoux01]

That your PADI bashing and TDI promoting is pointless and stupid. There's a difference in how they do things, but TDI is not necessarily superior to PADI as you try to imply.

 

[Woolfie19]

What's the advantage of AN/DP over the PADI Tec courses. From my understanding, they are more or less equivalent, though I could be wrong.

I am a PADI DM, so nothing against the agency. Altough when going the tec route I decided to do Advanced EANX with a IANTD instructor (who is also a GUE diver).
Seemed logical to me to pick a tec agency for tec diving.

PADI course is longer :
Tec 40 is deco max 50% and only for conservatism... Then Tec 45 is actually equivalent to Adv EANX (or AN/DP with TDI).

 

[stuartv]

I think what Woolfie said really nails it.

TDI AN/DP gets you to 45m with up to 100% O2. No limit on deco time. Just carrying one bottle of deco gas.

To get the equivalent with PADI you would have to do Tec 40 and then Tec 45.

From TDI AN/DP you can go straight to TDI Trimix. I think from PADI Tec 45, there MAY be 2 steps before you get to full normoxic trimix. Both agencies have the details of these courses on their websites...

 

[Michael Guerrero]

PADI is more (unnecessary) courses to get to trimix. I'd look for a TDI instructor for that reason. But...as with anything, the instructor is the most important variable in the equation. If you get a guy who doesn't know anything, and there are plenty of them around, you get a cert without knowing much of anything either--danger! If you get a person whose knowledge is deep, you will walk away with something more valuable.

 

[DevonDiver]

PADI Tec40 (4 dives) + Tec45 (4 dives) =45m depth, unlimited deco using 1 deco gas >100%

TDI AN (4 dives) + DP (4 dives) = 45m depth, unlimited deco using 1 (-2?) gas >100%

What's the big deal?

It's ludicrous and unfair to compared Tec40 (a single course) with AN/DP (two courses). People think of AN/DP as a single course, only because AN as a stand-alone courses gives you nothing much to use (can use >100%, but no decompression).

Also - do note that PADI now offer a normixic trimix extension (2 dives) to either/or Tec45 and Tec50. This can get a diver onto TMX in as little as10 training dives. (But since when was tech training about how quick/easy you could get a pissy piece of plastic...?)

Here's a barn-stormer..... TecSidemount/Tec40 combo (6 dives) + Tec45TMX (6 dives).... awesome capability in an efficient and logically structured program... minimum 12 dives of training, giving >4 tanks sidemount, unlimited single-gas deco to 45m using >100%O2 and normoxic trimix (<18%O2).

PADI versus TDI/IANTD etc etc.... it's a non-arguement. Most of the quality technical instructors I know do, or have, taught for multiple agencies. Most of the mediocre instructor only have experience of a single agency. Any instructor incapable of doing more than regurgitating the materials given to them by their own agency, or unable to comprehend different methods of achieving a goal, or different concepts, philosophies or approaches are unlikely to offer the subject matter expertise needed to teach great technical divers.

What matters is that the instructor, regardless of agency, is a passionate, active and involved technical DIVER.... not just a card-carrying salesman trying to cash in on the latest 'trend' in diving. A passionate technical diver is one whose interest extends beyond teaching a syllabus... someone who analyzes and absorbs the latest trends and keeps abreast of the cutting edge approaches.... someone who spends their own time, money and motivation fuelling what... to them... is a passion and obsession. Find someone like that..... and who cares what stupid initials are on a plastic c-card??

 

[Germie]

First: Sidemount can be within sportsdiving limits and can be used in technical diving. So you can do a sidemount course and never do any technical dive.
Second: Not all sidemount instructors know what they are teaching. Some agencies allow to teach sidemount only if you have done a course yourself. So ask your instructor if he has more experience in sidemount diving than only the course.

Then: Technical diving does not mean only deep diving with decogases. You can go to cavediving too. Or maybe rebreather? Do you think cavediving is nice? Then try that way too. Officially you can do a cave course without any knowledge of diving outside ndl's, but I think that is not the best way. Do at least an adv. nitrox course.

And find an instructor as written above: a real technical diver, not an instructor who only teaches diving. The best ones are not the narrowsighting followers, but the divers who do real dives.