Need some advice about transitioning to tech.

[Panga Man]

For some reason I have been hit with "tech bug" ! All I read about is tech diving, I watch countless videos on youtube about GUE, DIR, IANTD, TDI every diving acronym out there. I go down to High Springs whenever I get a chance just to do the caverns, mainly so I can strike up a conversation with some tech guys who have the same mindset as I do.

A little about me and my rig im using

150-200 dives
OW, AOW, Nitrox, Rescue
Simple Hog rig set up GUE style
Single tank
7' hose
bungeed back up

Here is my dilemma, nobody around my area of hilton head is into any kind of tech diving. There is also no dive shops within 70 miles for me to train. And even those are not into anything but jacket BC's and Snorkels. I really want to become proficient in doubles and dont mind purchasing my own gear to do so. I just want to go about this in the best way.

Dilemma #2, In 3 months I will be moving to St. Lucia. Despite talking to every dive shop there nobody does tech diving all they are concerned with is taking cattle boats to the reef. Even though I enjoy just being underwater its not moving me towards my goal. Aside from general underwater experience.

What am I to do ? Buy doubles, learn on my own. Or just bide my time of single tank diving on the cattle boats on reefs and shallow wrecks.

Just to kind of clarify my random thoughts on this post after re reading it, here is my optimum plan. Find a good dive buddy who is already Tech certified, start diving doubles with some mentoring, become proficient with trim and buoyancy using doubles, take fundies, advanced nitrox / deco procedures. I guess my main question is do I do this on my own starting now without any mentoring or do I wait till I get back from St. Lucia in 6 years ?

Yall be honest with me, I need some guidance !

 

[fnfalman]

You don't have to penetrate anything to do tech diving. If you go deep enough to use multiple gas mixes, then that's tech diving. I'm sure that St. Lucia would have a spot deep enough for you go to down and play with.

As far as getting training, if there are no places nearby, you might have to go to places that offer tech training.

If you want to play with doubles before attending tech training then maybe you should consider small bottles like maybe double 40s or double 45s. That way you're not lugging double 80s or more just to do a rec diver that probably wouldn't even use up half of the gas.

 

[Panga Man]

Where can you find a double 40's set up? Are the 40's close together or far apart like a rebreather without the scrubber in the middle.

If I did go ahead and get some doubles I was thinking about double al80's . Reasoning is I will be diving a 3mm wetsuit

 

[rjack321]

Skip the double 40s, waste of time and money setting them up with specialized bands and crossbar that will rapidly be useless. Are you moving tanks to St. Lucia or getting some new ones there? That will influence what to do gearwise now.

You could take Fundies soon with someone in High Springs or Ed Gabe in KY.

I would otherwise wait to discuss tech diving in St Lucia until you arrive. There may not be very much available, or what is available might not be widely publicized to keep the tourists for killing themselves. Seek out knowledgable locals once you arrive.

You're "ideal plan" sounds fine to me, you just need the patience to implement it.

 

[liuk3]

I would either find local technical divers to dive with and mentor you, or find a local dive buddy who is willing to go through the training with you even if you have to travel to do the training. It's not going to do you much good if you obtain the training yourself and then have nobody to dive with unless you are into doing technical dives solo. Sometimes it just takes time to find some compatible buddies to dive with or divers kind enough to help you out. You may even be able to find someone via the internet who is local to you who might have similar training goals. As aforementioned in the above post, a GUE Fundamentals class might be a great place to start whether you want to continue diving recreationally or have aspirations towards more advanced training. You may also even meet your future dive buddy there. Good luck and have fun!

 

[Blackwood]

I agree with rjack, but I'll add to it:

The 'transition' is more one of mindset than equipment and skill. The big paradigm shift is that immediately surfacing is not an option (hard overhead = not possible, soft overhead = it could maim or kill you) when the fit hits the shan. Start approaching your dives with that mindset.

 

[Scott L]

I would suggest downloading GUE's wonderfull recreational diving manual which covers much if not all of the fundies cirrculum along with joining GUE in order to gain access to their training videos which can be a great aid.

I would also suggest pre-fundies mentoring either with a qualified GUE diver or an instructor such as Ed Gabe or Bob Sherman. Your class expereince will be much more enjoyable having sorted out your weighting and other basic tec skills. Good luck!

 

[DCBC]

Find a good dive buddy who is already Tech certified, start diving doubles with some mentoring, become proficient with trim and buoyancy using doubles, take fundies, advanced nitrox / deco procedures. I guess my main question is do I do this on my own starting now without any mentoring or do I wait till I get back from St. Lucia in 6 years ?

Yes. If you have a mind to, start taking the courses and building your experience now. I've known a number of tech divers that have the training, but lack the experience. There are no short-cuts to this. Perfect the skills that you learn by doing. St. Lucia may give you a great opportunity to do this, so don't wait until you come back. Good luck.

 

[Panga Man]

Very good info thank you.

It seems like I have had this mentality about training since I earned AOW.

Background:

I received my AOW in 99 while giong to Military school outside of Atlanta Georgia. We did all of our dives at the dam at Lake Lanier. 3rd day of diving two groups of four go down to do the deep portion of the class, I was in the second. First group goes down then we follow about 5 minutes after. At around 30 feet we start hitting pine trees in 5' of visibility, Fishing line everywhere (im the only one who dove with a knife) . We get to the bottom and meet up with the other group, stay down for a couple of minutes then make our ascent. During the ascent I became entangled in fishing line at around 90'. At this time the group along with my buddy peace out. I pulled out my knife cut my legs out of the line and made my ascent with safety stop to the surface. When I get to the surface there are 6 people including my buddy the eighth person has not surfaced yet. To make a long story short he was pulled up 3 days later. Found entangled in fishing line. To this day it pisses me off that one of my best friends died because of a lack of knowledge on my part to tell him to dive with knife and lack of good training and guidance from our instructor to make it mandatory.

Since then I take diving very seriously, I become pretty miffed when I see complacency in training and execution. This is what led me to GUE, it seemed finally someone is on the same page with me when it comes to standards of teaching accountability towards yourself and your buddy.

This is also another reason why I have no problem taking my time to do things the right way, in the correct order. Im in no rush but I like to get things done in a timely manor.

 

[TSandM]

I think Fundamentals is a great class, no matter what kind of diving you end up doing in St. Lucia or elsewhere.

But it can be very frustrating to be the only DIR diver on an island. I have had two friends in that situation -- kidspot on Maui, and sockmonkey on Oahu. They were never able to interest anyone where they lived in their style of diving, so they did the dives that were available with the people who were there, and looked forward to visits from DIR folks from the mainland.

As far as whether to do any true technical training before going to St. Lucia, I'd first do some research on what there is to see at technical depths there, and what the support infrastructure for technical diving is. There is simply no point in spending the money and incurring the risk of staged decompression diving just to do it, and if there is no support infrastructure, it may not be very possible, anyway.

A very fine instructor once said to me, "Do all the dives you can do with the certification you have, and when you are bored, go get more training." St. Lucia will be new to you, and certainly there will be at least a year or two's worth of diving there that won't be boring, even at recreational depths. But there is nothing wrong with cultivating a technical mindset from today onward, and Fundies will help you do that.