DM or TEC certification route?

[rjack321]

Oh to response more directly to the OP...
I wouldn't just take Tec40. I would find an instructor (or mentor) doing the dives you aspire to do, go dive with them on a demo basis, and discuss your goals with them. Think about what you want to do, then decide on training and/or experience to get there.

If you want to deco dive obviously Tec40 is one possible path
If you want to assist with courses or on a charter boat then the DM course is a completely different thing...

 

[Dive the World]

Is there any reason for doing the PADI Tec40 course? Have you looked at TDI, IANTD etc?

Consider the advise.
What is the reason for doing tec40, 45, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55

Look into other agencies as well.

When it come time for helium, i plan on going re-breather route. Much more cost effective.

Good luck

 

[Mustard Dave]

Consider the advise.
What is the reason for doing tec40, 45, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55

Look into other agencies as well.

When it come time for helium, i plan on going re-breather route. Much more cost effective.

Good luck

Snap!

Some say 50m is pushing it on air, and with the cost of helium, it makes a lot of sense to get a breever if you are planning to do deep diving. Once Christmas is out of the way, I'll be looking to see how I can finance a shiny new YBOD!

 

[overseas]

no offense whatsoever, but not really digging the ybod hype.
also what i would like to get out of tech courses is the technique, not the depths...

 

[Mr. Willoughby]

I don't see the point in doing the DM course unless it is a stepping stone to becoming an instructor. Although I agree you will learn more about diving, there's nothing you can't learn by just joining a club and diving (apart from the PADI indoctrination process).



Somebody with 100+ dives, OW, AOW, RD, Deep and EANx should not need to become a dive centre's kit-bitch to learn to set up kit - you should know how to set up your kit by the end of OW. Also, the tech kit is different - why practice setting up a single tank and stab-jacket set-up when he is going to be setting up a twinset, wing, Hog-loop, deco-bottles etc?

Why learn to do the drills to demonstration quality? When he is doing tech training, he will be learning to donate a long hose while neutrally buoyant - not kneeling on the bottom and holding his arms up while somebody takes his octopus.

Time in the water can be gained by just getting out and diving, and in conditions that are a bit more challenging to those that students are usually taught in.



Maybe so, but is the discount going to cover the costs of training? How much do DMs get paid? Where I am it's nothing. If money's tight, you'd be better off doing a bit of bar work in the evenings to finance kit.



I've met many tech divers, one ore two are knobs but then again, so are some recreational divers. In general though, I have never thought the majority of them need training on how to speak to people in a helpful and considerate manner. They are great skills to have but if an adult has to pay PADI to learn simple courtesy, there's something wrong.

I agree with everything you've said here, but I also agree that doing the DM class is a good idea as well. When I did mine in the '90s I didn't go straight from OW to DM without any non class/course dives, being an active DM definitely made me a better diver. First off, the cold water environment that I usually dive in added to my dive skills a very great deal, but what I encountered as an active DM added so much more. Where else would I get the chance to regualary deal with freaked out, bolting divers (students), and HAVE to possess the skills to save them from themselves? Sure my rescue course taught me how but it was all simulated and we knew it in the back of our minds even though we treated it with the seriousness is certainly deserved. Having to actively stop folks from suffering an AGE or DCS hit a few times drives these skills and the point of them home like no book or class can.

I've thankfully never had a buddy on a "fun" dive have any issues more serious than loose weight belt or minor entanglement but it's very good to know that I can and have dealt with things much more serious that that.

That being said, I can't see how schlepping tanks and kit prepares you for tec either, and I too have seen some poorly skilled "professionals". All I can do is strive to be the best that I can because my life and my buddy's depend on it.

 

[*dave*]

also what i would like to get out of tech courses is the technique, not the depths...

As a working DM, your SA will certainly get a workout. That's a valuable asset, and one that can't be developed in as short a time as any course I'm aware of, so I wouldn't write off DM as a valid path to expanding your skill set.


What 'Technique' are you looking to improve or learn?

 

[overseas]

hmm, whatever is associated.... dive planning, equipment selection & preparation, correct use of mixes & gas management, deco procedures, superior buoyancy, positioning & trim, advanced finning techniques, overhead environments, situational awareness, problems' solving, to name but a few... ("technique" might have been too broad a term, you were right to ask...)

 

[TSandM]

Situational awareness, and stability under task loading, will definitely have to develop if one is going to function as a DM, whether it's herding cats or helping with students. But precision, elegance, planning, and teamwork will be better developed through technical training. At least that's my opinion, and I have done both.

 

[overseas]

a short update:
i finally went for the GUE fundies and IANTD Advanced Nitrox courses during this past year, and am presently doing my PADI DM (yes, i will be the local PADI center bitch for a while...) before moving on hopefully towards a tech-normoxic trimix then maybe cave training.
to be continued...