Frustration moving into/towards tech

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jlcnuke

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Location
acworth ga
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Some of you may remember that I've been looking to move into tech diving (deco, cave, etc) for a while now. Last year I signed up for and started down the PADI tec-rec path, but have stalled (did classroom portion of tec-40 after ~5 month wait trying to get the class going, then had one scheduled weekend for the dives that had to get pushed off due to work, nothing from the instructor since then and still working on maybe finishing that class with them... we'll see). I also was looking to move towards cave certification earlier this year, my short-notice for a trip to Mexico coupled with my cavern certification being through PADI meant that I couldn't find any reputable shop in the area wanting to progress my training with an actual class at that time (other than a different agency's Cavern course), so I instead did a day of mentoring with an instructor down there. I also corresponded with a highly respected instructor in Florida before Coronavirus showed up, but we still haven't worked anything out in particular (not his fault, he's reached out and explained his situation/the world situation and I agreed it wan'st probably the right time there).

So, it might sound like that's my frustration, and obviously some of that is frustrating (mostly the instructor that I had signed up for classes with and 18 months later hasn't managed to arrange with me to do the dive portion of the class), but none of that is actually what frustrates me.

Having now talked to a number of instructors (cave instructors, tech instructors not for cave, etc), the "path into" tech diving is even more muddled than ever honestly. The person I worked with in the Cenotes told me I should have taken a class on doubles before moving into tech diving with them, but outside of "intro to tech" (or equivalent) I can find NO CLASS that actually teaches doubles, and THEN instructors tell me that "intro to tech" isn't teaching doubles (you can do it in any configuration YOU are comfortable with, sidemount, doubles, single tank with pony bottle, etc apparently) and "doubles skills" is apparently taught... well, no where.

Wanna do your tech training in sidemount? Great, take a sidemount course. Wanna do it in doubles? Well, "go dive doubles for a while and figure it out on your own so you're comfortable and competent in them before showing up to class" seems to be the "answer". Now, having done the book portion of tec-40, I'm aware that diving doubles isn't just "having another tank" and "valve drills" etc are a thing... so why isn't there a class to teach this stuff to people like there is for sidemount?

Sure, I'll go take my doubles to the local dive site and watch youtube videos and read books and do my best to figure it out by myself, but it seems like something as basic as "changing your sources of air, how to manage them, and how to work with them in an emergency" would be worthy of someone experienced and knowledgeable with a curriculum to explain it to you and make sure you understand it before you take any errors you develop on your own and carry them into technical diving...

/sigh, okay, got that off my chest.... so now someone can point out what I'm missing here lol
 
FWIW - The NAUI Technical program has a Intro To Tech prerequisite that teaches drills for doubles and kicks, and a few more items in preparation for advanced programs...
 
GUE offers a doubles primer that pretty much any non-smoking diver will satisfy the prerequisites for. I've heard of folks in my area taking it prior to fundies, or after having taken fundies in single-tank. Was planning to do that course myself to get a sense of both the doubles gear and GUE as an agency, but covid-19 of course has put that plan on the back burner for me.
 
You likely can get any available tech instructor to give you a workshop. Then get a set of tiny doubles to replace your single tank, as practice if you do not always want to carry a full set.
 
get in touch with @cerich he's on the other side of Atlanta, but is at least local and isn't going to steer you wrong.

That said, there are doubles courses out there.

NAUI teaches it
GUE/ISE/UTD teach it
It is SUPPOSED to be taught in all Intro to Tech type courses, hence the intro part.
 
FWIW - The NAUI Technical program has a Intro To Tech prerequisite that teaches drills for doubles and kicks, and a few more items in preparation for advanced programs...

Thanks for that info. Their website specifically discusses sidemount training, but their course description talks about single tank etc and makes no mention of doing any training on doubles configuration. Perhaps it's an oversight many agencies are making in their course descriptions though.
 
There are agencies and instructors that teach doubles primers if you just need that help. I did it on my own. Got doubles read the valve drill procedures and practiced. For me getting the hang of neutral buoyancy and proper trim took a few dives, as that is less something that can be thought and more feel, although I’m sure coaching helps.
 
GUE offers a doubles primer that pretty much any non-smoking diver will satisfy the prerequisites for. I've heard of folks in my area taking it prior to fundies, or after having taken fundies in single-tank. Was planning to do that course myself to get a sense of both the doubles gear and GUE as an agency, but covid-19 of course has put that plan on the back burner for me.

I admit that I didn't look at anything from GUE, as I have some fundamental things I don't care for about the agency and it's methodology as I understand it. While I think they have some great training for those who agree with them or have no feelings one way or the other about how they do things, some of their philosophy just isn't for me.
 
You likely can get any available tech instructor to give you a workshop. Then get a set of tiny doubles to replace your single tank, as practice if you do not always want to carry a full set.

that's kinda how I've been moving forward (that's what I did in Mexico in february pretty much), though I have a set of AL80 doubles (for versatility, though looking at steels for diving dry locally and maybe elsewhere). But the 1 day I did wasn't anywhere close to what I'd call "all-encompassing" and while I'm probably over-confident in my diving in general, I've always been a "take things progressively and learn it right" kinda person, and just jumping into my normal dives in a new configuration is something I'm probably going to be fine at, but there's always that "I don't know what I don't know" feeling in the back of my head. Having actual tech instructors say "just skip intro to tech" kinda makes me wonder about the overall curriculum sometimes though, ya know?
 
get in touch with @cerich he's on the other side of Atlanta, but is at least local and isn't going to steer you wrong.

That said, there are doubles courses out there.

NAUI teaches it
GUE/ISE/UTD teach it
It is SUPPOSED to be taught in all Intro to Tech type courses, hence the intro part.

I didn't realize he was teaching around here. The course listings I looked at (PADI, IANTD, TDI, ETC) had nothing about it. As I mentioned already, I'm not a fan of GUE from what I know of their philosophy, so I didn't look at them. I was told by instructors that "intro to tech" didn't teach doubles as it could be done in many configurations and "you should know the configuration before the class" was the info I've heard a few times now from different instructors. Hence the thread...

Thanks for your feedback though.
 
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