Trimix Certification Agencies

I have the opportunity to take an upcoming IANTD Normoxic Trimix Diver course. Reviewing the syllabus, part of the course appears to focus on cave diving techniques. While I think this additional material may be fun to learn, cave diving is not my objective, and the unrelated course work seems a bit distracting -- like someone trying to teach you Spanish in a wood-working class.

Reviewing the TDI Trimix course syllabus, it is much more focused.

What other agencies should I also be considering for Trimix? GUE? DSAT? Who else teaches it?

Could you give some examples of the cave diving techniques that you saw in the text?

Roak

Ya. What follows are quotes from the syllabus. Note: this syllabus was passed on to me electronically, not something I pulled off the web (although I assume it would be the same).

Normoxic Trimix Diver OC & Rebreather
A. Purpose
1. This Program is designed to train those who wish to dive to depths between 130 fsw (39 msw) and 200 fsw (60 msw)
...blah blah blah...

G. Waterskills Development
...
3. Become proficient in the following propulsion techniques: modified flutter, modified frog, modified dolphin and standard shuffle kicks.
...
12. Following a means of reference (pool wall, guide line, ship railing, etc.) with eyes closed, remove stage cylinder and swim a distance of at least 15 feet (4.5 meters). Reverse direction, return to stage cylinder and replace it on correct side.
13. Two divers approximately 60 feet (18 meters) apart, with blacked-out masks or eyes closed, and while simulating an out of air situation, locate each other (using side of pool, rail on wreck, guide line, etc. for orientation) and begin gas sharing via long hose.


That's it. I concede G.12 might be useful in some non-cave diving situations, but I don't see how any of them pertain to learning trimix.

don't bother with normoxic, go straight to advanced.

Tom

g2 once bubbled...
but I don't see how any of them pertain to learning trimix.

Click to expand...

So you want to *learn trimix*....
The quick and easy way....

No problem.... the trimmix part is the easy part... especially if you are only making a one way trip of it.

Get yourself some helium and prime your tank with some of that...
Hmmm.... you had better add some O2 as well... but not too much... have the LDS top your tank with air.... there...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Look... if you already knew what you were doing then you would understand the whys and wherefores of what is being taught... but since you still need to learn it is natural that you don't understand "how any of them pertain to learning trimix."

The gas is just a tool... but it is a dangerous tool... you need diving skills that will allow you to safely use the tool... and any cave elements in the instruction can only serve to make you a more skillful diver. If you really want to get your yourself run through the ringer on the skills under stress end of things (which I'm sure you don't) then take a GUE Tech class.

Hi UP, welcome back.

Uncle Pug once bubbled...
...No problem.... the trimmix part is the easy part... especially if you are only making a one way trip of it.

Click to expand...

Be nice now.

I am looking to gain the skills necessary to do this safely and responsibly. Recognizing that the required course(s) can be taught many different ways, I'm seeking the proper route for the type of diving I'm going to do. Your encouragement would be most welcome.

Learning "cave elements" would certainly help with many diving difficulties, but then so would a course that concentrates more on proper buoyancy and gas management. I want to be proficient at all these things, but you have to start somewhere.

As you know, different agencies concentrate on different aspects of training, as evidenced by the difference between IANTD and TDI's course work. My question is very simple: who teaches trimix?

is, what are you seeking to gain from trimix training?

In otherwords, what is your motive for such an advanced course?

TexasMike once bubbled...
is, what are you seeking to gain from trimix training?

In otherwords, what is your motive for such an advanced course?

Click to expand...

Perhaps I should describe the diving environment here.

There are patch reefs gently descending to about 90fsw. At that point it gets sandy and steeper until reaching 140fsw where the wall begins. Next stop: 6000fsw, with ledges at about 250 and 300+. Water temperature on the surface right now is about 90F, maybe 80-85 at depth. No surge, very little current (if any), and on a crummy day the visibilty can easily exceed 100ft.

According to several divers here, the biota "changes significantly" beyond 150fsw. I would like to see that -- this is my motivation. I do not feel comfortable doing it on air.

My diving style is relaxed, somewhat zen-like. I'm generally comfortable in the water regardless of vis, current, sharks, or whatever. If I have any doubts about my ability to handle a particular dive, I either won't do it or seek instruction from someone more experienced. In this case I want to go deep, thus my interest in learning trimix.

Cheers!

g2 once bubbled...
Be nice now.

My question is very simple: who teaches trimix?

Click to expand...

Actually... your question is simplistic... and I am tring to be nice.
See... I'm even smiling

Trimix is the gas... and you can learn everything about the gas in just a few hours of reading stuff on the web. Try Cobb's trimix site: http://www.cisatlantic.com/trimix/trimix.html

To quote myself: "the trimix part is the easy part"

What you can't learn so easily is how to dive trimix safely.

Once you enter the realm of trimix you are also entering the realm of staged decompression diving. At the depths you are talking any significant time spent at depth will incure a serious deco obligation.

Dealing with staged decompression is cookbook simple if you have the knowledge and skills to plan the dive, dive the plan and stick the deco stops.... IF everything goes perfectly without a hitch and neither Mr. Murphy nor Mr. Darwin find you out.

However... the most aggressive training always takes into account the worse case scenarios.... what happens when everything that can go wrong goes wrong? Is it realistic to make staged decompression stops without a mask sharing gas while your buddy controls both of your ascent rates and calls the stops that you must then maintain without visual reference? Not something any of us would want to have happen on a big dive but it is nice to have been trained to do that before the unthinkable actually happens.

The cave stuff may seem unimportant now... but it isn't.
And if you want the really aggressive *problem solving* approach do a GUE Tech class.

See... I'm still smiling

re-reading my 1st post I realize why g2 had to ask me to be nice.
re-reading g2's posts I realize that he/she has a serious inquiry.
re-reading my 2nd post I realize that it is a repeat of my 1st post.

And of course both point in the right direction...
Hopefully the second one was nice enough