What is more important for tec training, agency or instructor?

Hello,

As I begin my path into tec diving I was wondering, what is more important in training, agency or instructor? I know many agencies have very different reputations and training requirements/paths. I have looked at many options and while I like certain agencies, I also prefer certain instructors that incidentally do their training under a different agency. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

taiwanate

There are some tech agencies that are very similar in their approaches. You may find that a single instructor is certified to instruct in several such agencies.

There are some tech agencies that are very different in their approaches from those others.

If you look at my profile, you will see that I have tech training through 2 different agencies. I assure you that the two agencies are extremely different, both in what they teach and how they teach it. For a single instructor to teach in both (and I did experience this), that instructor would pretty much have to ignore one agency's requirements and stick with the other (which is what happened to me).

Before you start an agency, look at the entire path to the level of completion you want to reach. What are the requirements for each step? What is the availability of instructors for each step? What will it take for you to get where you want to go?

If you are choosing between two agencies with similar requirements, then go with the best instructor you can find. You may find that the best instructor will give you a choice of several different agencies.

If you start with one agency and then later decide to cross over to another, you may find that in some cases the crossover can be a major pain in the neck, with you having to repeat classes you already completed with the first agency. On the other hand, it might be a simple process. It all depends upon the policies of the agencies. (Believe me, I know what I am talking about on this point.)

Diver attitude and the instructor are the important considerations for tec.

Biggest thing for me is find an instructor who is doing the kind of diving you want to do. There seems to be a lot of instant instructors popping up these days, that barely meet the minimum requirements to teach the class. I like to learn from someone that has been diving that style for a while, and can teach from experience, not just regurgitate a book.

Thanks guys for your comments.

Boulderjohn, the crossover factor is definitely on my mind when it comes to agencies so I really appreciate your statements on that. In the long run I would like to make it into cave diving when I return to the states, but will be starting out in blue water tec diving over here in Asia. Therefore, I do see two agencies in my future as the primary agencies represented in my location are not cave specific like I might want when I reach that road. I will go ahead and look more into the crossover requirements for the agencies I have in mind before I start.

Ajduplessis and diverbob, I agree that the instructor is very critical which is why I would like to do the courses with one that I know very well over here and has a lot of experience and an extremely high reputation. The thing with agencies is that while he has been a certified tec instructor with many different agencies, he has decided in the last couple of years to teach under just one agency which he believes is the most progressive and has the higher quality for the tec diving in our area.

Again guys, thanks for your comments. It has helped verify a few areas that I need to look a little bit more into.

Take it easy,

taiwanate

In Taiwan you probably have the choices of ANDI, DSAT, IANTD, PSAI, TDI etc etc to choose from.
I am not sure if GUE has any instructor based on the island. If you are thinking on cave diving with GUE in the future then you ought to find out if there is such a thing as cross-over. You wouldn't want to spend thousands of dollars and wks of training and then being told that you still have to do a basic course in order to progress with GUE!!!!

Centrals:

If you are thinking on cave diving with GUE in the future then you ought to find out if there is NO such a thing as cross-over. You wouldn't want to spend thousands of dollars and wks of training and then being told that you still have to do a basic course in order to progress with GUE!!!!

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I assume you unintentionally left out the word I inserted above.

That is the sort of thing I as talking about. With other agencies, though, the crossover involving caves is not that big a deal. Cave diving agencies like NSS-CDS and NACD don't care where you started. I did my cave diving through NSS-CDS, and my previous tech training was very important because of the skills I had when I started training, but it really didn't matter what agency I had used for that previous training.

If you are planning to go through full trimix training, you may want to look at the FULL requirements for each level of training before making a decision. For example, an agency like UTD will get you using helium blends earlier in your training before an agency like TDI will, but it will then take more classes, much longer, and much more expense to get full trimix certification with them.

diverbob:

Biggest thing for me is find an instructor who is doing the kind of diving you want to do. There seems to be a lot of instant instructors popping up these days, that barely meet the minimum requirements to teach the class. I like to learn from someone that has been diving that style for a while, and can teach from experience, not just regurgitate a book.

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Excellent points.

I asked my deco instructor what his deepest dive was. "450 feet" Good enough for me!
My cave instructor has been diving caves for 30 years (and had a bad day a long time ago that brings some real world perspective into his teaching)

I want any instructor to be way ahead of me in both ability and experience.

I also want them to dive for fun,not because it's what they do for a living.That can result in burnt out instructors.

One of the biggest differences among agencies is at what point in their curriculum they introduce helium. If you are averse to narcosis, you might want to select someone who teaches for an agency that introduces helium earlier than the deep trimix class.

I believe that, other than GUE, most agencies give their instructors a fair bit of discretion in accepting students into classes, so that crossovers are very possible.

The point about taking the class from someone who is actually DOING the kind of dives you want to do is a good one; but it is also true that just because someone is doing those dives, does not mean they are doing them the way you would want to, or that they are doing them well

ianr33:

Excellent points.

I asked my deco instructor what his deepest dive was. "450 feet" Good enough for me!

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I did the same. My TMX instructor related the tale of a 120m dive where he had to swap stage regs over during the deco as one literally threw it's toys out of the pram. Anybody who can remain calm during is someone I want to be taught by.

I want any instructor to be way ahead of me in both ability and experience.

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Couldn't agree more.

I do believe the instructor is important, but after a bad course with A.N Other agency, I will only look for instructors who teach IANTD. Maybe that slims down the field in selecting instructors, but I do like the IANTD system and I find it's focus on diver mentality and health to be more in keeping with my day to day life style. Plus their motto of don't do the dive unless you could do this dive by yourself against speaks volumes for me. I like that there is a less team orientated focus on IANTD courses. This is not saying that they advocate solo diving, more that you should be a confident diver with or without the team.