Rec to Cave: Training and Equipment

[TSandM]

I've been cave diving in backmount for 8 years. The places I go, it works fine. The ONLY reason I took a sidemount class is that I want to go dive Abaco with Brian Kakuk, and he has told me that to get the best bang for my buck, I need to be sidemount.

I do sometimes think it's the "next new thing", and all the cool kids are doing it.

 

[tursiops]

I've been cave diving in backmount for 8 years. The places I go, it works fine. The ONLY reason I took a sidemount class is that I want to go dive Abaco with Brian Kakuk, and he has told me that to get the best bang for my buck, I need to be sidemount.

I do sometimes think it's the "next new thing", and all the cool kids are doing it.

I've been to Abaco three times to dive with Brian. Getting experienced in sidemount, even if ONLY to do those dives, is well worth it.

 

[BigTex1836]

The ONLY reason I took a sidemount class is that I want to go dive Abaco with Brian Kakuk, and he has told me that to get the best bang for my buck, I need to be sidemount.

Sounds like a great reason to me. I'm looking forward to my trip to Abaco this fall...and I'm already SM.

 

[Merica]

One again thank you, I'm glad to see that so many of you are willing to help work with me through this process. I feel like the most logical thing for me to do at this time is instead of booking the cavern/intro to cave classes in august as I planned, I will be booking a tec diving class. This in it's self brings up the one main question of which agency do i go with, do I do the PADI tech 40, TDI Advanced Nitrox (which im leaning towards), or the many other possibilities. Then after getting comfortable with the tec gear will i sign myself up for the caver/intro classes. Personally this seems like the best option for me, first getting to learn on the backmounted doubles and getting comfortable with beings in caves will make it easy for me to transition into the sidemount world if I find the need.

 

[TSandM]

I would highly, highly recommend GUE Fundamentals. The class will focus on basic skills, and make sure you are absolutely solid in them before you go on to either technical or overhead training. Unless you have made a firm decision to go sidemount, the class will serve you well, no matter what agency you use to pursue more advanced training.

 

[Lorenzoid]

One again thank you, I'm glad to see that so many of you are willing to help work with me through this process. I feel like the most logical thing for me to do at this time is instead of booking the cavern/intro to cave classes in august as I planned, I will be booking a tec diving class. This in it's self brings up the one main question of which agency do i go with, do I do the PADI tech 40, TDI Advanced Nitrox (which im leaning towards), or the many other possibilities. . . .

Keep in mind that some instructors will tailor a course to what you want to learn. From what I understand, TDI Advanced Nitrox is not inherently an intro-to-tech class, though I suppose a TDI instructor might be willing to add intro-to-tech stuff if you request it. Combining classes seems to be common in the TDI world. I believe TDI does offer a stand-alone course billed as Intro To Tech, but I'm not familiar with it. I suspect it often gets combined with another course, like Sidemount or Advanced Nitrox, which itself is commonly combined with Deco Procedures. (And the Cavern course includes a portion of the typical intro to tech material: buoyancy/trim/propulsion/control.) There is also PADI Tech 40 as you mentioned. GUE Fundamentals can be a serious intro to tech course if you opt do it in technical gear instead of recreational gear. I did it in rec gear and learned plenty that's applicable to more advanced diving, but as I mentioned in an earlier post I would need to go back for a Fundies "tech upgrade" if I want to continue along the GUE course path. The most basic skills aspect--buoyancy/trim/propulsion/control--is no doubt common to all of these courses. Again, you should set up a course with a specific instructor and make sure it is clear what will be taught and how that meshes with your goals.

 

[uncfnp]

You will see it a lot on SB, this recommendation to choose your instructor careful. This becomes especially true as you enter the advanced diving, technical realm. And even more so if you have specific objectives for the class. TDI Advanced Nitrox is a great course but alone will probably not help a lot in what you really need to start cave. In fact, you don't even need doubles for this course. I would recommend doing it as a combined course, Advanced Nitrox/Deco Procedures. And the combined course is the usual route and will be discounted from taking them individually.

But I can't stress this enough, especially if going back mount. Get your fundamentals down, either a formal course or a mentor. GUE is an option, also PSAI's ABC course. If you elect sidemount, PSAI also offers an Overhead Sidemount course that you can combine with cave (I did it with Intro to Cave).

 

[ucfdiver]

Might be worth asking your instructor how often they teach intro to tech type courses.

GUE seems to be the agency that promotes this course the most. I believe that their instructors are on average much better at teaching fundamental skills than other agency instructors.

 

[Doppler]

One again thank you, I'm glad to see that so many of you are willing to help work with me through this process. I feel like the most logical thing for me to do at this time is instead of booking the cavern/intro to cave classes in august as I planned, I will be booking a tec diving class. This in it's self brings up the one main question of which agency do i go with, do I do the PADI tech 40, TDI Advanced Nitrox (which im leaning towards), or the many other possibilities. Then after getting comfortable with the tec gear will i sign myself up for the caver/intro classes. Personally this seems like the best option for me, first getting to learn on the backmounted doubles and getting comfortable with beings in caves will make it easy for me to transition into the sidemount world if I find the need.

I may have missed your answer but where are you located and where are you thinking of traveling to to gain training/expeience?

 

[Merica]

I may have missed your answer but where are you located and where are you thinking of traveling to to gain training/expeience?

I would be doing the cave training in north central Florida and I can easily travel down to the keys for the tec trainning.