When to go tech...

[windapp]

Your buddy is not just your spare air. In my meager 50 dives, I have been in 3 entanglement situations (once when I had a line caught on my tank valve, and twice when others were caught in line) where what could have easily turned into a serious problem was no big deal precisely because I was diving with a buddy.

 

[Mustard Dave]

I'm not a fan of the term 'technical diving'. Diving is a continuum with a shallow water single tank bimble at one end and a deep water dive with multiple stages and deco bottles at the other. When you get to the point where you no longer have a direct ascent to the surface as an option is when you have to start thinking more about what to do when the excrement meets the ventilation equipment. You should make sure your kit configuration, training and personal discipline allows you to deal with a problem alone, however, in a drysuit soiling situation, the more options you have at your disposal the safer you are. Be self sufficient but don't forget the value of diving with an attentive, disciplined team.

 

[PfcAJ]

As in your buddy cannot do much for you at depth or in enclosed spaces. Buddies can only do so much at a certain point without comprising themselves. I took a hit after I saved my buddies life at 145' and did a free ascent, so that's why I say buddies can only do so much, which is why self reliance and solo mindset is a good to have.

I bet your buddy is glad you were on that dive, and your story kind of makes my point. You CAN help someone on technical dives.

I'd call 2 bent better than 1 dead any day of the week.

 

[waterpirate]

Without completely dr railing this thread, buddy diving is flawed by definition/team diving is not. While simmilar they will never be the same.

Only you will know if you want to persue tech, a good instructor will evaluate you and tell you if you are ready for the training or not.

Overhead diving revolves around planning, execution, and resource management. A team will definately give you more resources available to help manage any given situation.
Eric

 

[absolute_mess]

Hi all,

Many thanks for your thoughtful comments and recommendations. Apologies also for my disappearing act - I've been camping in the bush for the last few days and (thankfully) completely without email!

You've definitely all given me a lot to think about and I particularly appreciate the tips on reading materials and videos which I can get a hold of to improve my knowledge and guide my decision as to where to go from here.

To be quite honest, many of your comments have made me rethink things. I still plan to get into tech diving at some point in the future, but perhaps I'll slow down a bit and wait a couple of years until I've got 200+ dives and a bit more experience under my belt. It's also probably a good tip to try diving dry and diving with twins - I should probably try to master those asap as I'm planning a move to the UK at the end of next year and a drysuit will be an absolute necessity!

I'm not convinced by the GUE route, although I definitely understand that it has some merits. The training sounds particularly good, but I'm not fully behind the idea of completely re-kitting myself (especially since I've just made quite an investment on a new BC and other bits and pieces) and it does sound as though the highly prescriptive nature of that aspect of their philosophy would not sit well with me. Perhaps I'll give it a bit more thought and talk to some GUE divers/instructors before I make a final decision.

Anyway, thanks again. Great forum this - I really appreciate you all taking the time to give me your thoughts.

 

[randytay]

Hi all,

This is my first post, so please don't flay me if I inadvertently ask something that's been asked before or make some awkward faux pas.

I'm just trying to get some peoples' thoughts on the right time to get into tech diving. I've done somewhere in the region of 80 dives, but having been going as much as I can for the last couple of months. I'm rapidly nearing Master Scuba Diver status (for the little that it's worth - just one more cert to go) with PADI and have done deep and nitrox certs. The more I dive, the more I'm bitten by the bug and the more I'm interested in both the science of diving and in developing my own knowledge and capabilities.

I've recently started to consider doing TDI deco procedures/advanced nitrox. I was hoping to do it towards the end of this year or start of next year, once I've bumped up the number of dives I've done to somewhere around 100-120. Does that sound like a reasonable goal? I'm very comfortable in the water and am used to diving in temperate conditions and in surge/currents (such is the diving in Victoria, Australia). My goal is really just to get the knowledge I feel I lack of decompression procedures, to learn to dive with a twinset and to extend my bottom time on deep(ish - about 40m) dives. I'd then hope to refine those skills for another hundred or more dives before moving onto the next stage (trimix?).

Am I rushing things? If so, how should I continue to expand my knowledge in the meantime?

Many thanks for your thoughts.

Contact UTD (Unified Team Diving - Progressive Training & Equipment) and discuss your interest with them. I would recommend you take an essentials of recreational diving course with them and add on other "minis" until you are ready for Tech. The essentials course will give you an idea if you are too soon.

---------- Post added March 12th, 2013 at 01:04 PM ----------

Hi all,



I'm not convinced by the GUE route, although I definitely understand that it has some merits. The training sounds particularly good, but I'm not fully behind the idea of completely re-kitting myself (especially since I've just made quite an investment on a new BC and other bits and pieces) and it does sound as though the highly prescriptive nature of that aspect of their philosophy would not sit well with me. Perhaps I'll give it a bit more thought and talk to some GUE divers/instructors before I make a final decision.

You will have to re-kit once you go tech, regardless of which agency you go with. I suggest selling your BC while its still new and get a BP/w. this way you have the same rig for both rec and tech

like I posted above, get in touch with UTD and discuss your interest with them. Ask them all your questions.

 

[TSandM]

At least according to their website at present, UTD has no instructors in Australia.

 

[James R]

I haven't read every paragraph here, but rather than parrot what 20 people already said I will bring up something I probably missed along the way.

Your budget for scuba better be pretty healthy. Technical diving is not for the budget-challenged diver.

 

[absolute_mess]

You will have to re-kit once you go tech, regardless of which agency you go with. I suggest selling your BC while its still new and get a BP/w. this way you have the same rig for both rec and tech

Randy - I already dive a harness and wing - Hollis HTS2, which I bought hoping not to have to buy another one for tech. I can add a backplate easily enough and buy a new wing for doubles, so hopefully I won't need to sell it at the moment. It's not DIR-compliant though (too many bells and whistles, I think), so that's part of what puts me off the GUE route. I'm also just not convinced by a philosophy which is so rigid. Maybe I should be, but that's something I'll do a bit more research into, including by reading the millions of threads on here which give the good, bad and ugly sides to GUE.

---------- Post added March 13th, 2013 at 09:56 AM ----------

Your budget for scuba better be pretty healthy. Technical diving is not for the budget-challenged diver.

Ha! Thanks for the concern! I'm not rich, but I do ok. And no kids to spend money on yet, so I may as well spend my salary on diving!

 

[boulderjohn]

I went into tech when I had maybe 400 dives. I wish I had done it sooner. I learned a lot of new skills, improved my buoyancy, etc. It made me a much better diver than I would have been if I had just gone on repeating the first 400 dives with the same skill set.

The world is changing, though. The divide between tech and rec is being filled by new courses and new training that will enable you to learn a lot of tech skills while still in a recreational environment. I will be making a presentation on such a program tomorrow evening. Maybe some shops near you are offering something similar.