more training

[gcarter]

If you are looking at tec diving it may be worth looking into GUE's Fundies class. It will benefit you more than a PADI AOW course if you want to be more comfortable with diving. Then again with the right instructor an PADI AOW can be just as challenging as a Fundies. It's all about the instructor.

A bit (but not completely) OT, but I clicked to the website you linked to in your sig.

"Techie Tip of the Month"
Never let your cylinder drop below 500 PSI. The O-ring on the neck of the valve is designed to only keep water out above this pressue. Keep it dry and stay safe at the same time!

Really? I would not take training from a dive shop that posted that on their front page.

 

[Peter Guy]

UTD Essentials is another good class to take and doesn't require as much of a gear change (if I remember correctly).

HOWEVER, depending on what it is you think you need to learn, you just might want to take "diving lessons" -- NOT a class but lessons designed for you. IF you can find an instructor who is willing to work on this, do it -- you just might learn a LOT more than by taking a "standard" class. BTW, were I to do this, I'd want my instructor to have technical training (not necessarily BE a technical instructor but just have the training and someone who is doing technical dives at least occasionally).

 

[TSandM]

I think the best way to look at things is to look at your own diving and decide a) where you want to take it, and b) what you would like to improve, or like to learn that you don't already know.

If you want to polish basic skills -- learn to do all your mask clearing/air-sharing etc. stably in the water column -- an Intro to Tech class is probably a better place to do that, unless you come up and do a workshop with one of the instructors here in Puget Sound who teach such things. If you want exposure to new environments, like deeper diving and night diving, and aren't so worried about an intense focus on skills development, AOW is probably your next step. With the number of dives you have indicated you have, AOW might be a disappointment, unless you talk to the instructor about who you are and what you have done, and make sure he puts together a curriculum that will challenge you.

Rescue is another class that ought to be in the list. THAT is worthwhile for everyone.

 

[Dive Bug Bit Me]

I suggest that there are some courses you want before you get to intro to tech. Otherwise you may find too much of the intro course is spent learning skills you should already have and some finer points of the course might be lost.

First consider;
- AOW
- Rescue
- Basic Nitrox
- a bouyancy course.

 

[Diver0001]

Hello fellow divers , i'm considering more training and would like to here some different views as to aow or intro to tech. Any info on either course would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Focus on getting your rescue first and then go on to other things after that.

What diving activities do you enjoy most?

R..

 

[waterpirate]

I have never taken a fundies class, but.... After being on SB for a while and reading the class reports, and trepidation about taking the class, I do not beleive that a AOW would ever be anywhere as challenging as fundies unless a fundies instructor was " slumming for the weekend". The biggest diffrence between the 2 being that fundies routinely washes people out who do not meet the standard. When was the last time someone was on SB whining about how the failed AOW and want to hook up some locals to work on skills?

If I were you I would take the time and do a skills dive with the instructor that is offering recue and ask for an evaluation. We do not know you so it is hard to do an eval. over the net. Ask the instructor if you need more time, dives, skills, prior to chaseing recue or tech 1.

I would also add that unless you are familiar with team diving and the gear, fundies for you would be an automatic fail, unless you are truly gifted. If you are truly gifted that eval. dive is going to give the instructor the oportunity to see it.

YMMV
Eric

 

[Diver0001]

I haven't taken fundies but I've watched it being taught an it's a very different course than AOW with a very different goal in mind.

I think people could benefit from both.

and "washing people out" isn't a strong point. It's a weak point. A strong course will ensure that you actually learn it instead of saying "you fail".

R..

 

[waterpirate]

Again, I have no formal team training. I do not think the spirit of fundies is to teach you anything. Fundies is an experiance that has a very high bar for getting your ticket punched. The instructors goal is to help you get skills you learned squared away, not to start at zero with skills and gear.

I view " washing people out " as a positive reality check for upholding standards, not just collecting fees.
Eric

 

[Diver0001]

I view " washing people out " as a positive reality check for upholding standards, not just collecting fees.
Eric

It's not upholding standards, it's a reflection of the format.

Why people wash out of fundies is because the course has a fixed time frame. The bar is high and some (if not most) people aren't able to get over the bar in the time allowed for it. In school (where the timeframe is also fixed) the student would be given a "grade" A, B, C+, C etc. but since GUE don't have any way to define various levels of success they have to go for the black-and-white of "you pass" or "you fail".

Normally, diving courses are performance based so time is a flexible element and there is no need to tell the student "you fail". You tell them "you need more time". If you wanted to do that with fundies it could be done but then you would have to define a skill set, ensure that the basics of the skill set were adequately introduced, that the bar was completely clear and then have regular evaluations of the student until the student passes, which is exactly how our IANTD instructor did things.

So I'll repeat my point. Upholding standards is making sure that the student reaches the bar. Copping out is when you say "you fail" because you either don't have the time or the inclination to keep working with that student until the bar is achieved. That's nice and easy for GUE.... set the bar nice and high, convince a bunch of people to spend a LOT of money on a course and then tell most of them "you fail" because they don't have the time to actually teach what they said you would learn. Easy money but a serious crock if you ask me.

I honestly think as an instructor that I could say "you fail" to someone. I would have to say "*I* fail".

R..

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I'd do rescue first and then do advanced OW.

With PADI, I believe AOW is a prerequisite to rescue. Perhaps that is not true with other agencies. As to AOW vs intro to tech, take next which course will be most applicable to the kind of diving you will be doing in the next year or so.
DivemasterDennis