Thinking about going tec

[Angelo Farina]

In terms of safety, I was taught (and I did always teach) that a planned dive with short deco is much safer than a no-plans NDL dive "at the edge" of NDL.
In the seventies, the recreational limits were 50m, with air, with a buddy, and deco. And no more than two dives per day.
Then rules changed, and what we did consider recreational 40 years ago is now considered technical.
But I still think that planning properly a dive to, say, 40-45 meters, and being equipped for 15-minutes of deco stops is definitely much safer than going to the same depth with the idea, possibly wrong, to be able to stay in no-deco limits.
When a small trouble occurs, you find yourself suddenly out of NDL, and you are not equipped and set up for doing proper deco stops.
Much better and safer to be trained, equipped and planned for the stops.

 

[Marie13]

Here we call 10 foot viz really good. My coldest dive so far is water temp 31, air temp 15.

My last dive I could see my buddy at 1 foot, had to move my arms out of trim to read my perdix.

One bonus is the deep dives have better vis.

Was unsure if you were diving locally much or not.

 

[Marie13]

The nice wreck here is at 200 feet, that's why I listed that above.

I hope you realize you won’t be doing that 200ft dive on air. You’re going to have to get into helium at some point.

 

[formernuke]

Was unsure if you were diving locally much or not.

I've done one Caribbean trip. Can't right because of family so all my diving is local.

 

[Dominick Gheesling]

I've been sliding down this same slope for the past few years and enjoying every minute of it!

First certified back in 1991 (In my 20s). Stationed in Guam and went the PADI route through Dive Master and we were regularly doing stupid bounce dives on 21% to depths of 200' with single tanks. Yes it was stupid and yes I was narced!

Accidentally found my way back into diving a few years ago to assist a friend with a photography project he was working on in the Cavern Zone. It became clear to me that we should probably get some training for overhead diving as that Cavern Zone started mysteriously extending further away from the surface. We took NSS-CDS Cavern Course and I had absolutely no intention of ever Cave Diving. At Madison Blue Spring I reached the limits of my training and my primary light and I wanted to see more.

Enrolled in Intro Cave, again no real intention of seriously cave diving and I had long discussions with my instructor about potential educational paths that would prepare me for the possibility of making deep wreck dives, with significant bottom time, safely. He suggested either going through Tec (I was one of those poorly trained early 90s divers with no idea of trim), AN/DP, Extended Range, Heliotrox, Trimix or continuing through Full Cave, then AN/DP, Heliotrox, and Trimix.

I had been bitten by the Cave bug and decided on the Full Cave route and have absolutely no regrets. Knowing that I can work with a team in an environment where problems MUST be solved to return to the surface has instilled a great deal of confidence in my diving ability and most days my trim and buoyancy skills have advanced by light years. Knowing how to plan to avoid most potential problems has been incredibly valuable. I've been taking my time with the education and have been getting in lots of dives at each level before proceeding to the next certification level.

I just, like last week, finished TDI Heliotrox course. Again, I've been fortunate to have an instructor who dives regularly in many environments. Both the Heiotrox course and my AN/DP procedures course were conducted as no-overhead courses and I learned about SMBs (which were not a thing in 1991 PADI) and conducting deco dives in open water with no visual reference for depths, in currents, etc. (which is way more difficult than conducting deco in a cave!).

I am currently finishing my TDI Trimix certification. Yes, Helium is expensive. Spend the money!!! I am currently conducting the dives I dreamed of doing back in the early 1990s and I am not narced out of my gourd. And here's the huge difference, back in the early 90s deep on single tank and air, something as simple as a failed o-ring would have killed me; while today 160' deep, 900' into a cave, that same o-ring failure would suck (because it would end the dive) but probably would not kill me.

Spend the $$$ on the Helium!!! Having a clear head at increased depth is a HUGE advantage and I have noticed a very significant difference in reduced breathing resistance with trimix.

 

[100days-a-year]

My experience with the slippery slopes that I got trimix certified and dove some deep dives in doubles on mix. As all my diving is on boats and normally spearfishing the extra gear became a real PITA. The gas costs have gotten astronomical. For me to dive HE in all my deep dives would vary between $10K and $20K a year in addition to my 02 costs, compressor and compressor supply costs. So I dive only as deep as I can successfully do on air or lean nitrox with either backgas or single gas deco. In the warm mostly clear waters I dive in, that is 50 to 60 meters max. If I was diving in cold and dark waters, I'd be diving shallower.

 

[formernuke]

Here we have a german u-boat (the wreck that gets this started) at 130 feet to the sand and a "must see" wreck that about 165 feet to the sand. There are others in the 300 to 400 foot range but that pretty much means rebreather which I will not do.

Sigh time to start interviewing tec instructors and saving for regs.

 

[Marie13]

Here we have a german u-boat (the wreck that gets this started) at 130 feet to the sand and a "must see" wreck that about 165 feet to the sand. There are others in the 300 to 400 foot range but that pretty much means rebreather which I will not do.

Sigh time to start interviewing tec instructors and saving for regs.

Depending on what you have now, you might be able to repurpose for tech, and get one additional set. But then you have to figure out what to do for single tank.

Minimum - one set of doubles, regs, BP/W, deco bottle (usually AL40) and reg (deco bottle and reg must be O2 cleaned), plus other bits and bobs.

 

[formernuke]

I have a halycon and I have a doubles wing for it.

Tank wise I have 3 HP120, 2 HP100, 2 AL80 and one AL40. I will need regs for the deco bottle and likely I will be doing side mount (got rear ended a couple yrs ago and have back injuries from it so hauling around a set of doubles 120 is not good) and a side mount harness plus the regs for sidemount.

 

[Marie13]

I have a halycon and I have a doubles wing for it.

Tank wise I have 3 HP120, 2 HP100, 2 AL80 and one AL40. I will need regs for the deco bottle and likely I will be doing side mount (got rear ended a couple yrs ago and have back injuries from it so hauling around a set of doubles 120 is not good) and a side mount harness plus the regs for sidemount.

Try the HP100s doubled up, unless you’re an absolute gas hog.