AOW before Tech?

[Compressor]

I was under the assumption maybe mistakenly that most cave diving goes into deco thus I thought its extremely dangerous. Dangerous in my mind.... Can you do alot of shallow cave diving?

I'm not cave certified but I think the answer is yes.

My curent goal is full cave and deco and advanced nitrox emphasis on cave that is what i want most

My far out goal is advanced trimix in caves

Ok; As others have stated it might be good to get more experience. However your goals are noble.

 

[Compressor]

You've been given a skill set as an OW diver. It's up to you to decide if you've truly mastered them. Add new skills only as you have mastered the old.

This statement states it all very simply and eloquently.

 

[PfcAJ]

Even if i cant do cave training immediately (which i dont think i can/should) i dont believe doing 100s of recreational dives is going to prepare me better for tech diving than taking a intro to tech or cavern course immediately and learning the drills and how to dive doubles or sidemount

It will.

You need time in the water. Experience with scuba equipment and theory. You need to develop real comfort.

Did I mention that you need time in the water?

You’re brand new. That’s fine. Everyone starts brand new. Dive your face off over the next few years. Maybe after you have 100-200 dives in various environments consider a cavern class. Take a fundamentals class. Even if you decide to not go down the path with GUE you’ll know where your skills need to be.

Go dive. A lot.

 

[PfcAJ]

Btw, I was very young when I started down the cave and technical path. I had a cavern cert when I was I high school.

Age isn’t a factor. Mastery of the skill sets and your mental aptitude is. The mind is the real intangible. It’s hardest to evaluate and the hardest to cultivate.

 

[tomfcrist]

I say take a cavern course and see how you do. In your first 5 minutes in the water you will pass or fail yourself. My guess is that you will get some good feedback there...

Other options include the obvious GUE fundies, AOW with an instructor who also teaches tech/cave, or get some feedback from a local cave diver who doesn’t mind burning up some tanks of gas with you. Not all “training” costs money. Some of my best training was via simple mentorship from an experienced dive buddy.

 

[WetRocks]

I'll give a slightly different viewpoint: no need to take a bunch of recreational classes to prepare for cave/tech diving.

I took a non-conventional path to full cave, trimix (and now CCR) diving, worked out well for me but everyone's situation is different.

Find a solid cavern/cave instructor. Tell them you want to work towards that and ask about the path forward. Be ready to pay for a couple of days of training/guided dives without expecting a card. Get them to work with you on bouyancy, trim, propulsion, and appropriate gear before bad habits are ingrained. Then take cavern or cavern/intro. AOW is NOT required for TDI or PSAI cavern course.

Then get some time diving with like-minded, highly-skilled individuals before thinking about moving onwards.

 

[jtsfour]

I say take a cavern course and see how you do. In your first 5 minutes in the water you will pass or fail yourself. My guess is that you will get some good feedback there...

Other options include the obvious GUE fundies, AOW with an instructor who also teaches tech/cave, or get some feedback from a local cave diver who doesn’t mind burning up some tanks of gas with you. Not all “training” costs money. Some of my best training was via simple mentorship from an experienced dive buddy.

How would you guys reccomend finding some experienced buddies to dive with? I am the most skilled out of my buddy group so it is hard to improve that way. Any tips?

 

[Marie13]

I'll give a slightly different viewpoint: no need to take a bunch of recreational classes to prepare for cave/tech diving.

I took a non-conventional path to full cave, trimix (and now CCR) diving, worked out well for me but everyone's situation is different.

Find a solid cavern/cave instructor. Tell them you want to work towards that and ask about the path forward. Be ready to pay for a couple of days of training/guided dives without expecting a card. Get them to work with you on bouyancy, trim, propulsion, and appropriate gear before bad habits are ingrained. Then take cavern or cavern/intro. AOW is NOT required for TDI or PSAI cavern course.

Then get some time diving with like-minded, highly-skilled individuals before thinking about moving onwards.

Drysuit is still not a bad idea. @lowviz has shared that even though he had been drysuit diving on Atlantic wrecks for years, Edd Sorenson still required him to do a drysuit course (with Edd) before he could do SM with Edd.

 

[northernone]

I say take a cavern course and see how you do. In your first 5 minutes in the water you will pass or fail yourself. My guess is that you will get some good feedback there...

Other options include the obvious GUE fundies, AOW with an instructor who also teaches tech/cave, or get some feedback from a local cave diver who doesn’t mind burning up some tanks of gas with you. Not all “training” costs money. Some of my best training was via simple mentorship from an experienced dive buddy.

I penned a half dozen replies, can't say it better than this myself. So here's my agreement.

All the best in your diving.
Cameron

 

[tomfcrist]

How would you guys reccomend finding some experienced buddies to dive with? I am the most skilled out of my buddy group so it is hard to improve that way. Any tips?

Google helps. Facebook groups, here on SB....there are plenty of experienced divers near you...without a shadow of a doubt. You can also just meet people the old fashioned way, by going to a local dive spot and chatting them up.