Got certified.Some SMALL questions

[samsumon]

Im 20,just left my teens,can't ya tell?

But awesome,well it does seem that what I want to do is the more dangerous adventure side of scuba,like deep wreck dives..So for now this is my goal

-Get out and Scuba.
-Start buying the right gear..And from my research halycon (spellcheck) seems to be the best,and from reading backplate bc's are far superior than jacket style bc's.

 

[Quero]

from reading backplate bc's are far superior than jacket style bc's.

There is a lot of debate about this topic, but certainly technical divers prefer the backplate and wing system. (I hold tech certs and as such I own both kinds of systems, but I personally prefer jacket style BCDs for most diving situations.) If you're aspiring in that direction, you may as well acquire the equipment you will need for it from the start.

 

[boulderjohn]

gue courses will allow me to be able to go down 140ft and check out wreks? or do I need to start building my courses there to like PADI.

Neither GUE fundamentals nor UTD Essentials will take you to 140 feet to check out wrecks. Both courses are designed to prepare you for further courses--a lot of them--that will get you there.

I am a product of UTD, so I know their system. If you want to be certified to dive to 140 feet with them, you will need to be Tech 2 certified, and completing UTD essentials will still leave you several very difficult courses short of that. Tech 2 is a very demanding certification, and I suspect it will take a typical diver who does not have immediate access to diving and an instructor several years to get there. It will also cost you much more than the $1,000 you quoted earlier.

Both GUE and UTD stress the use of helium for deep diving. Quero earlier mentioned her TDI deep air certification. Neither GUE nor UTD have deep air certifications because they don't believe in it, and they won't take you to depths like that unless you are breathing a mixture containing helium. You will also need to be diving with a different gas for decompression, not the same gas you were breathing during the dive, and they need to train you for that. Since that means a level of nitrox certification higher than standard, you will also need training in that.

In UTD, a tech 1 training will allow take you to 130 feet on double tanks with deco being done on pure oxygen. A tech 2 certificate will take you to 150 feet on a mix containing more helium and decompression on EANx 50. You will also need to carry a stage bottle for that certification, meaning that on your dives you will typically have double tanks on your back, an AL 80 on your chest with the same gas as the one on your back, and an AL 40 on your chest with your decompression gas in it.

Once you have that certification level, you can take the wreck diving courses.

If you go the real economical route and buy your equipment used, you might be able to get everything you need for only 6-7 thousand dollars.

I get a pretty good deal on my helium. I am able to make my own mixes and only pay $0.75 per cubic foot. I am about to leave to fill tanks for the weekend's diving. I probably won't have to pay more than a couple hundred dollars for the helium I will use.

In the meantime, there are plenty of wrecks at around 100 feet (or less) that are safe enough to enjoy with nothing more than AOW training. You can go to Truck Lagoon (Chuuk) for example and dive all those WWII wrecks, doing 4-5 dives a day for a week, without any technical training whatsoever. Why not enjoy those for a while until you get a feel for what you want to do?

 

[rollerboi]

GUE!!! I was told about that a few days ago and I saw their video on gear. Im going to set my gear up JUST like that..Reg around the neck,backplates ect..It seems like such a easy yet effective way to dive!

If that's the path you're interested in, I highly recommend that you buy the book "Doing It Right: The Fundamentals of Better Diving," by Jarrod Jablonski. It's important that, before you make any gear changes or choices, you clearly understand WHY you are making those changes.

Welcome to diving, and to ScubaBoard.

 

[Drewski]

Is it just me, or do "samsumon's" posts seem overtly worded to prompt replies?

C'mon now....

Dude(?), let's go back to one of TSandM's posts. Who are you and where do you live?

I'm Andy and I live in Virginia Beach.

Thanks...

 

[Aerosynth]

Disclosure - Haven't read the entire thread. Just responding to the OP.

I waited until I had 20 dives before I did my AOW, and honestly that was sooner than I originally had planned. I took it early because I was just dying to go on a specific dive where AOW was required. Had I not been itching to dive this one particular site, I probably would have waited until I had 40-50 under my belt.

As for decompression, you should not be worrying about that. Unless you are a tech (or very experienced) diver, you always want end your dive before you hit your no-deco limits, begin your ascent, make a 3-minute safety stop (what you were referring to), and then surface. If you accidentally exceed your NDL, and you use a dive computer, it will (depending on the model) alert you and tell you what depth and for how long you need to make emergency deco stops.

On gear: honestly, if you plan on making more than say 20 dives... and will be renting gear on a daily basis for those dives... it saves you money to buy your own. Consider that most shops will charge you $40 to $60 a day for gear (not including tanks, wetsuit, fins, mask, and all the little things)... do the math... it just makes sense.

I bought my gear in stages... all the small stuff... then the reg and the BC... then everything else I needed after that.

Good luck and safe diving.