Tech came after being an instructor for me, but being an instructor was not necessarily a help. Realizing how much I had to learn in tech after thinking I knew it all as an instructor was one of the mot humiliating experiences of my life.
When did you begin Tek training?
- Thread starter EricTheDood
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I know of an instance in which a tech instructor did a Discover Doubles pool session for a dive shop's manager, a Master Instructor who had certified thousands of students. I had seen that instructor teach many times when I was a DM, and I had dived with her on dive trips to tropical occasions several times. Her performance both as an instructor and as a diver in tropical locations was outstanding. She had tremndous control of all the skills required for OW instruction.
The tech instructor got her into horizontal trim and began doing basic skills. He demonstrated a simple mask clear and signaled for her to do it. She swung upward, settled to her knees, and cleared her mask beautifully. He indicated that she had to give it another try, and he demonstrated it again. She did the same thing. Eventually it became clear that she did not know what she was doing wrong, and he had to take her to the surface to explain to her that she had to clear the mask while staying in horizontal trim. She had been teaching scuba classes on the knees for so very long that the need to get her body vertical was so completely ingrained in her that she did not even realize she was doing it. Even while doing a fun dive, if she cleared her mask, she would swing her body to a kneeling position in mid water to do it.
The tech instructor got her into horizontal trim and began doing basic skills. He demonstrated a simple mask clear and signaled for her to do it. She swung upward, settled to her knees, and cleared her mask beautifully. He indicated that she had to give it another try, and he demonstrated it again. She did the same thing. Eventually it became clear that she did not know what she was doing wrong, and he had to take her to the surface to explain to her that she had to clear the mask while staying in horizontal trim. She had been teaching scuba classes on the knees for so very long that the need to get her body vertical was so completely ingrained in her that she did not even realize she was doing it. Even while doing a fun dive, if she cleared her mask, she would swing her body to a kneeling position in mid water to do it.
I was already an instructor when I started tech diving. My first course was GUE-F which gave me the basic trim, buoyancy and propulsion skills that made learning tech and cave diving easy with NACD, NSS-CDS, TDI, IANTD, and PSAI. Without the traditional training, I'd only be half the diver I would be if I was just GUE trained. Without GUE, I probably wouldn't have the precision I do today.
I'd recommend becoming a tech diver before becoming a DM because your training and experiences will exceed recreational KSA's.
PfcAJ
Contributor
I generally think it's terrible advice but I lucked out.
Really? I'm kind of wishing now I had gone with the sports car!
I did scuba....my wife did the sports car...
Best of both worlds but the car was cheaper!
Best of both worlds but the car was cheaper!
This is an interesting one..
My first decompression dive was a required dive in the Advanced class I took in 1982. We did a 150' dive on the wall in Roatan with a 15 minute deco stop. Before anyone gets their panties in a twist, an Advanced course in 1982 was a lot more intense than a modern Advanced course, in 1996 the courses were re-structured and the course I took back then was renamed "Master Scuba Diver".
At any rate, I wouldn't necessarily call that "tek training" for a large number of reasons.
In the summer of 1994 I took cavern, I took intro to cave that fall and in January 1995 I completed full cave. I would say that those courses were my first real "tek training."
The "basic" nitrox course I took around that time was the same material given in your modern advanced nitrox and gas blender classes. The lecture included tracking the CNS clock, discussions about pulmonary toxicity and OTU tracking, information on how to do oxygen gas breaks, and because it was expected we would be blending our own nitrox, a crash course in partial pressure blending.
By the end of 1995 I started diving deep with trimix. The guy who taught me that wasn't an instructor, but he had quite a bit of experience. He eventually became a rebreather instructor, but that only lasted a year.
In 1997 I became a trimix instructor. My IT and I had a great week driving around north Florida diving some cool places.
I took a break from all this silly stuff in 2001. When I left, tek training was still in the closet a bit, but when I came back it was more commercialized.
I'm personally of the belief that technical training should be made available to those hell bent on doing those type of dives, but I also firmly believe that tech instructors should not encourage people that have not expressed an interest to take tech courses. A web-site showing that they can get training, and explaining what kind of training they need to engage in those types of diving safely is acceptable, but encouraging someone that they're "not a real diver unless you're 300' on trimix" is not.
My first decompression dive was a required dive in the Advanced class I took in 1982. We did a 150' dive on the wall in Roatan with a 15 minute deco stop. Before anyone gets their panties in a twist, an Advanced course in 1982 was a lot more intense than a modern Advanced course, in 1996 the courses were re-structured and the course I took back then was renamed "Master Scuba Diver".
At any rate, I wouldn't necessarily call that "tek training" for a large number of reasons.
In the summer of 1994 I took cavern, I took intro to cave that fall and in January 1995 I completed full cave. I would say that those courses were my first real "tek training."
The "basic" nitrox course I took around that time was the same material given in your modern advanced nitrox and gas blender classes. The lecture included tracking the CNS clock, discussions about pulmonary toxicity and OTU tracking, information on how to do oxygen gas breaks, and because it was expected we would be blending our own nitrox, a crash course in partial pressure blending.
By the end of 1995 I started diving deep with trimix. The guy who taught me that wasn't an instructor, but he had quite a bit of experience. He eventually became a rebreather instructor, but that only lasted a year.
In 1997 I became a trimix instructor. My IT and I had a great week driving around north Florida diving some cool places.
I took a break from all this silly stuff in 2001. When I left, tek training was still in the closet a bit, but when I came back it was more commercialized.
I'm personally of the belief that technical training should be made available to those hell bent on doing those type of dives, but I also firmly believe that tech instructors should not encourage people that have not expressed an interest to take tech courses. A web-site showing that they can get training, and explaining what kind of training they need to engage in those types of diving safely is acceptable, but encouraging someone that they're "not a real diver unless you're 300' on trimix" is not.
You begin with identifying why you want to expand your diving beyond no-stop time limits. Ask yourself what do you want to see and why? Where do you want to go and why? And most importantly "am i willing to take significant risks knowing that it can turn bad?" And, if you have a family "do i have sufficient financial resources for my family should this tech diving kill me?" And, do i have sufficient disposable income for equipment, training, travel, and breathing gas?
If you can answer those questions honestly and make the provisions necessary before you engage in the training then you can move forward.
My experience in tech diving and training technical divers says for a new tech student to be successful they should start out with having the following MINIMUM requirements and experience
--- 100 minimum dives outside of training during the previous 2 years 25% of them deeper than 75 fsw
--- Advanced Open Water, Rescue, First Aid, Oxygen Administration, full Nitrox (TDI, ANDI, IANTD, etc )
--- Have access to dive at least 10 dives a month
--- Must own all own gear -- not a renter
Then next step is to find the best technical instructor around who has significant actual experience outside the classroom. Ideally someone who has been diving tech for 5-10 years and teaching it no less than 5 years. Begin with Nitrox, Advanced Nitrox, Decompression Procedures. Then put in another 50-80 dives in the 130 fsw range with dives running in the 60-90 min run time range -- after that move to next level of a small helium based course to put you to 185-210fsw -- then after that put in 30 dives on that level before moving to full trimix.
Good luck!
If you can answer those questions honestly and make the provisions necessary before you engage in the training then you can move forward.
My experience in tech diving and training technical divers says for a new tech student to be successful they should start out with having the following MINIMUM requirements and experience
--- 100 minimum dives outside of training during the previous 2 years 25% of them deeper than 75 fsw
--- Advanced Open Water, Rescue, First Aid, Oxygen Administration, full Nitrox (TDI, ANDI, IANTD, etc )
--- Have access to dive at least 10 dives a month
--- Must own all own gear -- not a renter
Then next step is to find the best technical instructor around who has significant actual experience outside the classroom. Ideally someone who has been diving tech for 5-10 years and teaching it no less than 5 years. Begin with Nitrox, Advanced Nitrox, Decompression Procedures. Then put in another 50-80 dives in the 130 fsw range with dives running in the 60-90 min run time range -- after that move to next level of a small helium based course to put you to 185-210fsw -- then after that put in 30 dives on that level before moving to full trimix.
Good luck!
RandomGuy1
Contributor
I did the first dive for my advanced nitrox and deco procedures at dive #110. I had also done GUE fundamentals at dive #47. I did fundies in a single tank / wetsuit, and it made a huge difference in my abilities. Once I started diving dry / doubles the control I learned in the fundies class put be ahead of the curve. Just finished up my final dives for an/dp today at dive #145. I feel like so far this has been a good path for me. No plans to do DM or instructor as for me it just isn't worth the money.
Michael Guerrero
Contributor
Dive 124 was my first Adv Nitrox/Deco Pros dive, with 30 deco dives under my belt by then. This was after taking OW, AOW, Rescue, and Nitrox.
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