Further education

[evinkc05]

I am starting to look at the technical side of diving, and am not sure where to start as it all seems so overwhelming.

-should i do cave then tech or tech then cave?

-which agency should i take? where and how do they differ in both tech and cave training?

-what is the typical progression for someone in my shoes looking to further their education.

Any and all help would be immensely appreciated! Thank you.

 

[Cave Diver]

I am starting to look at the technical side of diving, and am not sure where to start as it all seems so overwhelming.

-should i do cave then tech or tech then cave?

-which agency should i take? where and how do they differ in both tech and cave training?

-what is the typical progression for someone in my shoes looking to further their education.

Any and all help would be immensely appreciated! Thank you.

Other than the fact that you're an instructor, do you have any other training, like advanced nitrox?

Cave is "tech" diving. What other specific meaning did you have in mind when you say "tech."

As an instructor, I'm sure you're aware that finding an instructor who is a good fit for you is more important than the agency they teach for. In addition, many instructors have teaching status for more than one agency.

Progression depends on what your goal is. Are you looking to take cave classes to dive caves, or to improve techniques for doing wreck or some other sort of diving. When you say "tech" are you just talking about doing some extended time/range diving with minimal deco, or are you planning on going full blown hypoxic trimix?

My suggestion is to define where you want to go. Then interview some of the instructors that people recommend for that goal. Pick one that feels like the best fir for you, and let them take it from there.

 

[Diver0001]

I am starting to look at the technical side of diving, and am not sure where to start as it all seems so overwhelming.

Are you clear about your objectives?

R..

 

[ScubaDocER]

I am starting to look at the technical side of diving, and am not sure where to start as it all seems so overwhelming.

-should i do cave then tech or tech then cave?

-which agency should i take? where and how do they differ in both tech and cave training?

-what is the typical progression for someone in my shoes looking to further their education.

Any and all help would be immensely appreciated! Thank you.

Hello Kevin.

The responses thus far are targeted at getting you to refine what you wish to do next. Cave diver is correct in that cave diving is tech diving, but not all tech diving is cave diving. Most of tech diving, IMHO, involves the presence of an overhead, whether tangible or intangible. In cave diving there is a physical barrier between you and the surface. In tech (deep) or wreck diving the overhead may be a decompression stop that cannot be missed without risking serious injury or harm.

The cave classes I have seen and taken involved the presence of a physical barrier combined with deep or prolonged (decompression) diving. Technical diving has come to encompass both deep, prolonged, and often times mixed gas diving.

The answer to your question I believe begins with where you wish to go from here. Do you want to explore underwater caves? Do you wish to explore wrecks either in shallow or deeper waters? Do you want to dive deeper...safer? The answer will guide you to your next step.

As an aside, being a cave diver does not necessarily qualify you to be a wreck diver, and vice versa. If you wish to do both, get trained to do both.

 

[evinkc05]

i need to take some time to evaluate my goals, I was just trying to get my toes wet with this post. Ill probably bump this thread when I have a more specific idea of where I really want to be able to go with my diving outside of OW. Thanks for all of your posts and Ill be back again soon.

 

[Dave1981]

I've been looking at this myself, done quite a bit of research and this is what I've come up with.

I'd never really been that into the idea of tec diving to go deep, and didn't really want the deco stops. However after snorkeling in a cave that had such potential for a great dive to explore, but wasn't going to do that due to the dangers I decided to get into cave diving.

Originally the goal was to go straight into basic cave and progess through that route, though the more I've looked into it the more I feel the logical choice is to start with tec deep, or extended range/adv nitrox to prolong bottom times with dives I'm already comfortable with to hone the skill set before venturing into caves.

There should be the novelty factor of new procedures and equipment to keep things interesting on an otherwise standard dive, more time on wrecks you'd normally dive recreationally and learning all the time.

I will be going through Dsat, though it was a toss up between them or TDI for me. The dive center I'll be going to does both and advised Dsat.

Also they just broke up the course into small segments so you could always do tec40 which (to me) seems almost more like a 2 day specialty than a tec course, allowing limited time, non accelerated deco and intro to tec. I think I'd do that anyway even if I didn't want to do tec just for those times when you push a deep profile a little closer to deco than you should.

 

[AndyNZ]

I am starting to look at the technical side of diving, and am not sure where to start as it all seems so overwhelming.

For what it's worth, I'd suggest the GUE Fundamentals course. It will give you a solid base from which to extend, and provide you with some guidance about whether tech and/or cave diving is likely to be for you.

 

[RikRaeder]

Like ScubaDocer said, Tech basically means extending the rec limits with some type of overhead. I, too, am preparing to enter this (expensive) realm. From my research, it seems some type of training in; Meticulous Gas Planning, Decompression Procedures, Nitrox and Advanced Nitrox, Gas Switching during the dive (possibly), and the use of doubles and stage bottles (possibly) are the skills used by cave, deep/extended, and wreck divers collectively. These seem to be The Basics and seem to me enough to keep ME busy for awhile before I continue towards my own goal. There is, of course, further training for the particular discipline one would choose.
I've chosen the DSAT TechDeep course (or possibly Tech Apprentice if I can't make it all the way through) because it teaches all of these in one course. I have a trusted instructor who I've been working with for some years and who I know will not cut corners on my training, nor "sell" me a card so this works for me. Other agencies have similar training, and some piece meal it to get to the same skill set. Hope that helps.

 

[Peter Guy]

"Where you stand on an issue generally depends on where you sit." I believe that sentiment applies to the issue of training for technical diving also.

The training is really about two (or perhaps three) different things:

1. Situational awareness and buoyancy control;

2. Decompression theory and practice and mixed gasses; and

3. Non-silting kicks, line running and other such physical skills.

I believe every serious diver, and that includes every instructor, needs to have the basic technical skills (see #3 above) and the basic diving skills (see #1 above) -- but not necessarily the deco/mixed gas stuff (see #2 above). So it is my belief that you should start with an "intro to tech" type class (be it Fundamentals from GUE, Essentials from UTD, Cavern from a number of agencies or an Intro-to-Tech from a NAUI Tech instructor (or whomever)) which works on the basic physical skills you need to be a competent technical diver.

As an Instructor, you may think you know where the "diving skills bar" may be -- but it is my experience you don't. "The Bar" when in a cave, a wreck or with a hard deco obligation, is a whole lot higher than most people think. Can you hold a stop, +/- eighteen inches, do a mask off drill, know where your buddy is AND be ready to go to the next stop -- all without loosing trim and possibly silting out the place? That is what the Intro-to-Tech//Fundies/Essentials is there to teach you.

From that, you can decide what type of technical diving to do.

I'm probably one of the very few who have taken UTD Essentials, GUE Fundamentals, Cavern (TDI) and Deco/Trimix (NAUI). I can guarantee you that Cavern (and on to full cave) and Deco/Trimix were only possible for me because I had been given a solid foundation from Essentials and Fundies. (I took Essentials because I didn't want to change my gear configuration to a BP/W -- I took Fundies after I screwed up on a purely recreational wreck dive and realized I needed to get my skills to a much higher level.)

Even if all you end up doing is "Techreational Diving" I believe learning where (how high) the bar can be is invaluable.

 

[adm3745]

I am starting to look at the technical side of diving, and am not sure where to start as it all seems so overwhelming.

-should i do cave then tech or tech then cave?

-which agency should i take? where and how do they differ in both tech and cave training?

-what is the typical progression for someone in my shoes looking to further their education.

Any and all help would be immensely appreciated! Thank you.

I am going Advanced Nitrox and then Cave 1 after that. Then Deco, then full cave. That is probably a 2 year plan. MY reasoning is that I will most likely be faced with tec challenges on double 108's in certain caves. Having those skills (deco, trimix) is a fundamental for going into a more specific type of tec diving (deco cave, or trimix cave). I would imagine feeling overwhelmed doing my first deco stops on my first complex cave dive with 2 deco bottles.