CuzzA
Wetwork for Hire
Today I had the luxury of attending a six hour seminar put on by two well known, respected and experienced commercial spearfisherman. One of them now manufacturers spearfishing guns/gear and the other still dives/operates a full time technical spearfishing boat. I was in awe of some of the things they were seeing and doing on these deep dives from 200-400 feet as they shared a number of videos with the group. On my drive home I began to ponder where I wanted to take my diving and it was pretty clear to me, I want to do what these guys do.
I realize I have a long ways to go before I will be prepared to take on the added risk of what they're doing, but I'd like to get some feed back on the best path to get me there. I am currently certified AOW/Nitrox and have only been diving since August of last year. My diving goals this season is to do 2-4 dives per week with the hopes that I'll actually do half those dives considering weather and life.
Prior to today, my plan was to do the PADI Deep Diver course and then Advanced Recreational Trimix, but from there I'm not sure where to go or if that is even the first two steps I should take. My instructor is a full cave/technical/rebreather instructor and teaches under PADI, TDI and IANTD and the Hollis Prism and Explorer. Looking at his flow chart for training progression it would appear my next steps from ART would be Technical Diver then Normoxic then Full Trimix. At some point I would probably do Cavern for the added training of working in and around wrecks. I am also curious about CCR's and if I should forgo some courses and just go the CCR route. Of course cost is a consideration.
Finally there's the aspect of spearfishing which I believe adds a whole other set of risks and considerations. I would love to hear from any technical spearfisherman. I believe they deviate from some of the gear configurations due to the activity. For example, although on some dives they were carrying 3-5 gasses, none of them were slung in front of them. Unfortunately, I didn't get the opportunity to discuss that with him and at this point for me I don't think it really matters. When I get to the point of being able to touch those depths I would obviously look to the gentleman I met today for some guidance as well. In fact, I was offered the opportunity to dive with them once I attain the training I need.
I know I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but I'd like to begin researching and have some direction and information from those who've done this before me and can offer the do's and don'ts. Especially the don'ts. I found today's seminar very informative because they were illustrating, mostly with video, of what not to do. I thought it was a great approach and shows being humble and admitting your faults serves as a great educational tool. I'm not trying to be zero to hero either and plan to take a methodical, calculated approach to this.
So that said, what does the board think?
I realize I have a long ways to go before I will be prepared to take on the added risk of what they're doing, but I'd like to get some feed back on the best path to get me there. I am currently certified AOW/Nitrox and have only been diving since August of last year. My diving goals this season is to do 2-4 dives per week with the hopes that I'll actually do half those dives considering weather and life.
Prior to today, my plan was to do the PADI Deep Diver course and then Advanced Recreational Trimix, but from there I'm not sure where to go or if that is even the first two steps I should take. My instructor is a full cave/technical/rebreather instructor and teaches under PADI, TDI and IANTD and the Hollis Prism and Explorer. Looking at his flow chart for training progression it would appear my next steps from ART would be Technical Diver then Normoxic then Full Trimix. At some point I would probably do Cavern for the added training of working in and around wrecks. I am also curious about CCR's and if I should forgo some courses and just go the CCR route. Of course cost is a consideration.
Finally there's the aspect of spearfishing which I believe adds a whole other set of risks and considerations. I would love to hear from any technical spearfisherman. I believe they deviate from some of the gear configurations due to the activity. For example, although on some dives they were carrying 3-5 gasses, none of them were slung in front of them. Unfortunately, I didn't get the opportunity to discuss that with him and at this point for me I don't think it really matters. When I get to the point of being able to touch those depths I would obviously look to the gentleman I met today for some guidance as well. In fact, I was offered the opportunity to dive with them once I attain the training I need.
I know I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but I'd like to begin researching and have some direction and information from those who've done this before me and can offer the do's and don'ts. Especially the don'ts. I found today's seminar very informative because they were illustrating, mostly with video, of what not to do. I thought it was a great approach and shows being humble and admitting your faults serves as a great educational tool. I'm not trying to be zero to hero either and plan to take a methodical, calculated approach to this.
So that said, what does the board think?
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