Efficient path to tec trimix instructor?

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northernone

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Rest in Peace
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Currently: Cozumel, from Canada
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Alright. Here's a post I intend to be based on real conversation I had 3 weeks ago while traveling in Belize:

---Not me---

Recreational dive instructor in a warm water environment, age 45, top shape. Diving 30 years, guiding 25 and instructing (mainly OW students and DSDs) for 20 years. Will slung a pony and go to 200ft without hesitation as he use to commercially fish to supplement his tourist income. No formal training beyond his OWSI instruction two decades ago.

He is hoping the tourism market
will support tec diving in his area and wants to be the first before he gets too old.

He asked me how he could become a good tec instructor the most efficient way possible. His income goes to putting his daughter through med school. Time off work and time away from his younger children is costly.

1. How would you advice him to progress in his training?

2. What should his relationship be to minimum agency standards?

3. What additional benchmarks need to be in place he may not be aware of from reading agency promotional material?

4. How many months away is he realistically from his goal? Assuming his funds hold out and he can dedicate the time needed.

5. What would you need to know about his training before you'd trust a loved one into his instructional care as a tec diver?

I only had 5 hours with him, he seems a skilled and clever OW instructor who synthesized the new info I presented keenly. Calm, humorous and methodical in his demeanour.

Cameron
 
I’m not sure that is the right question, imo, first, it should be how do I become a competent technical diver.

For me that answer is pretty complicated in itself. You have to find a good instructor that you mesh with and can trust. There is gear to consider, time spent in the water, opportunity to dive, etc. I always think about bad experiences lead to good judgement. You have to dive enough to build up that experience. It’s not a minimum thing.

When someone mentions minimum requirements/time along with 200’ with a pony, I’d personally find someone else to dive with.
 
1. Slowly
2. Revulsion
3. How expensive it is to tech dive and how much time away from family it may entail.
4. Seems to be a disconnect as there doesn't seem enough of either available. 36 months and hundreds of dives in the environment and gear he'll be teaching.
5. I'd have to evaluate him by diving with him in the situations he'd be teaching my loved one in.
 
start working it wont be done in a year , user level XX hours advnx instr then user level normoxic XXX hours the instr level normoxic gas cost inst cost look at 5-8 k
 
Not a tec diver myself, but I wonder if he has thought all the way through the added expenses. Aside from his own training and his own gear, if he is "first to market" in his local area, he will also likely need to be purchasing whatever rental gear is required for training his students. What happens to insurance for tec instructors?

He may need to add up the $$ before seeing if it is worth it to add up the time.
 
is there a cave system there that would support tech diving? or a noteworthy deep wreck?

because otherwise, what makes it likely that tech divers will show up to dive there?
 
is there a cave system there that would support tech diving? or a noteworthy deep wreck?

because otherwise, what makes it likely that tech divers will show up to dive there?

Exactly, old Spanish wrecks and cave systems.
 
Maybe I’m wrong, but I think the techdiving world is changing. Helium prices are getting higher.

Last year I did tech/wreck diving in Croatia and cavediving in Mexico. Mexico was cheaper for a day diving then Croatia. Because the boat trips and helium price.

I wanted to do tech 2 in 2019. But it doesn’t make sense for me anymore. I can do tech 2, but I think the price of helium will getting higher and at some point I can’t afford helium for diving anymore.

I will never do tech 2, I will buy a jj or will (almost) do all dives in the 30 meter range.

I think if you want to become a tech instructor you should become a rebreather instructor. I think there won’t be much more oc trimix diving when he will become a tech instructor.

But it’s just my opinion.

upload_2019-2-3_2-7-29.jpeg
 
If he's not motivated to do the dives and takes the risks of being bent or worse for himself for a few years then he'll never be an instructor. Edit if he has children relying on him he needs lots of life insurance before becoming a tech diver nevermind an instructor
 
Seems to me he might want to consider:

If the diving there hasn't motivated him (a serious and dedicated diver) to do technical dives of the wrecks and caves, is it really going to pull other people there to do those dives?

If it becomes a draw for tech divers to come dive there, does that automatically mean potential tech divers are going to come train there, too?

Does he really need to be a tech instructor to capitalize on the tech market opportunity?

Perhaps he should focus on becoming a tech diver, first, so that he can speak to/about and market the tech diving opportunities there? He doesn't have to be a tech instructor to be able to do the dives and act as a guide or advisor for other tech divers that come there.

Perhaps he should also focus on establishing an infrastructure to support tech diving, before he worries about trying to teach tech. Before people can come there for tech diving or training, there needs to be at least one shop there that offers O2 and helium. And probably has a supply of cylinders for rent that would be needed (e.g. AL40s, twinsets, and CCR cylinders). Other support/supplies for CCRs would probably also be beneficial. Sorb, for example.

While he's getting that infrastructure established (presuming it doesn't already exist), he can also be building his experience as a technical diver.

At some point down the road, he can evaluate whether to transition to teaching tech.

If there is no tech instruction there now, he's going to have to travel to learn it, right? Does he have someone there that will travel with him and learn it also, so that they can dive as buddies when they're home, to build the requisite experience? Traveling away every time he wants to tech dive seems impractical. Hopefully, he wouldn't be planning to build experience in tech diving by diving solo.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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