advanced training

[DRE]

Tom,

sell your house, buy the biggest cargovan you can find, go live in it by the river, and you'll have plenty of money and room for for all your diving needs.

[Groovekitty]

tbrown,

I agree, it is a big investment, but lets not forget that we are investing in life support equipment. If you were to go bungee jumping for the first time and had your choice of the $15.99 special bungee or the super, never-gonna-break, bungee for $150.00 which would you choose? Besides, what the heck else do we have to spend our hard earned cash on that's as great as diving????

It sounds like you have a good plan in mind for training and acquiring gear. Stick with it and do everything at your own pace and within your comfort levels.

p.s. you're wife sounds like a pretty swell gal! I'm psyched to take my cave class this summer - hope I feel the same as she did when I experience caves for the first time!!!

Safe diving,
~groovekitty*

[beeger]

I'll add my two cents here as FMT mentioned my name. I agree with his comments. I have found SDT to by my shop of choice of technical training, and can recommend them without reservation. That being said I would encourage anyone prior to taking ANY "technical" class to read as much as much as possible about more advanced diving, and ask as many questions as possible. For example, go to SDT and GUDC and talk to them about their philosophies on teaching technical classes: what skills their emphasize, what basic gear configuration they support, general comments about types of gear, experience levels of their instructors, etc.. - whatever you want to know more about ( I think you will see a distinct difference). By doing your reading/research first you will know what questions to ask – don’t rely on the shop to tell you what questions to ask. Get to know the people a little bit and ask yourself if these are the individuals you want to learn from/dive with. Go out to Wazee and watch their classes/their divers in action. From there you can make a more informed decision.

I think this thread has called out one of the problems in many agencies' current perspective on dive training: the supposed fine line that divides "recreational" diving from "technical" diving. This is a false concept. Many of the skills that are only taught (or hopefully taught) in a advanced class should really be emphasized more, or just addressed, in "recreational" classes. In fact the diving industry would be better served by losing those two terms completely and focusing instead on what is learned in a given class. The question should not be, "Do I want to remain a recreational diver or become a technical diver." The question should be, "How do I build upon my existing skill set to enable me to safely go to that slightly deeper wreck, or get more bottom time, or dive a bit deeper on that neat wall." There should be no relearning involved - just another layer built on existing foundation. A foundation that applies to all kinds of diving. .On a related note: that's one of the beauties of the backplate/harness/long hose system - it can be used equally well for both recreational/open water diving, as well as more advanced/aggressive/technical diving. All I have to do to my kit is switch out my single tank wing for a larger wing and I'm good to go. The basic gear positions, attachment points, fit, etc.. does not change. This allows me to practice consistent skills for all my diving.

[jasondbaker]

Tom, you are very fortunate to have a wife that likes cave diving. You are now the luckiest person I know (for today at least

Beeger, thanks for the advice. I think the "foundation" approach makes real sense. DRE's comments about taking your time also makes sense. The recreation agencies really want push hard for additional training. The problem is that most divers take this training too quickly. For example, I am shocked when I see new instructors certified with only 100 dives. I took rescue diver with only 6 dives. I probably could not rescue myself -- let alone anyone else. Nothing can take the place of time in the water.

Has anyone considered taking the tech training from shops outside the cities? My understanding is that you could go down to Florida and take the GUE Tech 1 class. You would then be trimix certified. Even with the travel+hotel I wonder if the cost would be less than going through other agencies. Of course my understand is that Tech I is not easy. Would you be able to get trimix locally with this certification?

[PJS]

I will have to agree with beeger on the losing the Rec-Tec
names. There seems to be this fog on what exactly Tec diving is and when the Diver is ready to progress into Tec diving.
If a diver is honest in considering any leval of training, He or she needs to develop a real picture of there current state of compitance in the water. Instructors are here for teaching the fundamental skills for each class. The diver needs to keep their skills up to par to progress to more challenging Dives.

What is a Tec dive? Mixed gas? Doubles? Pony bottle?
Stage Bottle? Wreck Penatration?, Deep? They are all dives requiring training beyond the Advanced Open Water Course.
Tec is a term used to scare or inspire Open Water Divers
depending on the person telling the tale. Groovekitty stated she is tired of looking at anglefish, try a 200'+ wall Dive?
or Sea Cavern penatration. Every dive can be a challenge nomatter where or what your intrusts are. Study marine creature behavior, or look into the macro world for something to keep you pumped. Each and every Dive is a time to explore your personall comfort leval or relax and enjoy whats
going on around you.

If you keep your gear configured so it can adapt to your diving needs from the start, safety and confidence in your
abilities will grow with each dive. I have owned 4 BCD's
in the quest for the perfect setup. During that time I watched
DRE dive singles & doubles with a Backplate and harness at Square Lake and Wazee. I gave him alot of grief to say the least.
Now 2 years later I will have to apologize to DRE,
I now dive a Backplate, harness and long hose and would never consider going back to a BCD. I do not have any "Tec"
certifications. I will some day but diving this system will allow
my diving to grow when I feel ready. Not to mention the cost savings of owning one system that will grow with me.

Take Pictures leave bubbles
Paul

[DRE]

Prerequisite to the GUE training is the Fundamentals class, which will run you about the same as the Adv. Nitrox class. Tech 1 certifies you to use normoxic trimix, which would be the same as entry level trimix. Once you get into trimix, you also have to check on the cost of gasses - I know of quite a few shops (in Fl) and instructors who'll jack you on gasses, which at $75 per fill will start adding up very quickly. Compare that also to the prices from local shops when figuring out costs.
And BTW, GUE isn't the only agency with instructors who maintain high standards.

[tcjtn0]

PJS Said:
I now dive a Backplate, harness and long hose and would never consider going back to a BCD. I do not have any "Tec"
certifications. I will some day but diving this system will allow
my diving to grow when I feel ready. Not to mention the cost savings of owning one system that will grow with me.

Hopefully, once I get a chance to try the backplate/harness etc. at SD&T I may get hooked on it. If it works much better than my BCD, thats great (I have a feeling it will). Also, I like the idea I can also dive with this system now and that it will grow with my future needs, whatever they will be. So yes,
drop the Rec and Tec Names. I was always intimidated by "Tec" divers in the past. Now with more information stuffed in my little brain and many more dives to my credit etc...I know better!!!!
Thanks for all the enlightenment...
Jean 8)

[tbrown]

DRE, I'd already considered the cargo van option but got turned down. Heck, I even offered to go as high as a fifth wheel trailer! My wife insists on wasting our money on food, electricity, and other so called "essentals" Some people's misplaced priorities. ;D I offered to sell the house and buy an old mine sweeper (210 ft) from shipsrepo.com. All the comforts of home, plus it's own recompression chamber and 2 compressors. Didn't think that I could find enough people to chip in for gas (tank holds 60,000 gal diesel) to make it a go. :-[

[Dirt]

For anyone who's been reading these posts and is interested in looking into decompression diving, I'm taking the Advanced Nitrox/Deco class at Scuba Dive & Travel set to start on Thursday, April 10th.

If you're interested give Richard a call at 612-823-7210. Seems like a pretty cool class.