TDI vs. PADI

[jrankney1]

Heading to Caye Caulker this summer to dive with Belize Dive Services where they teach TDI Tech courses. I've never taken a TDI course, but am currently working through PADI Tech 45 with a good instructor, and have plans to move on to Full Trimix as my skill set and # of logged deco dives grows.
The question is as a newly minted Tech 45 diver which TDI course would complement or augment the training that I've received up to now? The dive shop only teaches TDI (which is fine.)
Or should I just sign for doing deco dives there with a qualified instructor/buddy?
Thanks for the advice!!
J.R.

 

[decompression]

The next course in the TDI system from the PADI TEC 45 would be TDI extended range which will build on your skills and give you a max depth of 180'fsw. However, the skills you have require time/muscle memory as a solid foundation before moving on to deeper depths. As you know problems become exponentially greater with depth. You may find from your previous training that trimix could be the next tool to help you reach your goals. After years of deco dives I realized that I wanted to keep an EAD around 100' fsw and trimix is a way to accomplish this. Take a good look at the curriculums and disscuss your questions with your instructor, at this point it is very important to establish a good relationship with an instructor as it will move into becoming a "mentoring" versus teaching relationship.

 

[rongoodman]

If TDI won't let you transition straight into Normoxic trimix, I would go for their Deco Procedures/Helitrox course. I can't see any point in TDI Extended Range, or Tec 50 for that matter, which would just have you doing more deep air dives.

 

[boulderjohn]

Extended Range is not a required course for the TDI process. I have gone through TDI all the way through Advanced Trimix, and I never took Extended Range. (I am also a TDI instructor.)

That said, if you are happy with your home instructor and want to continue to train in that system, I don't see any point in trying to step briefly into the TDI system. It will probably be a good time to get in some practice at your current level, and everyone can use more practice at their current levels. Based only on what you have said about your coming experience, I would use it as an opportunity to do some decompression dives and improve your skills.

 

[kierentec]

J.R.

Congrats on moving into the tech realm with your Tec45 cert! From here you have several different routes you can go with the TDI system.

The first option would be to do sort of a “tune up” and take the TDI Decompression Procedures course. This would be fairly similar to the Tec45 course, however you may get a slightly different perspective on some things and pick up a few tricks that you hadn’t seen before. This would allow you to refine many of the skills you have already learned, without adding the complexity of deeper depths or more stage bottles.

Another option would be moving into Helitrox, this is essentially deco procedures with a small amount of helium in your bottom gas. This is a great way to get introduced to helium mixes, while refining the skills you have already learned.

You could also move on into either extended range or Trimix diver. These courses are very similar and the skill sets are essentially the same, except in Trimix you are using helium based gasses and extended range is air/nitrox. Trimix Diver is a prerequisite for Advanced Trimix, so if that is your end goal, I would recommend bypassing extended range.

Your next move should really be getting in touch with the dive center you are visiting in Belize and let them know where you are at and what your goals are, and they will help tailor a program to help you get the most out of your trip.

Hopefully this helped a bit, enjoy Cay Caulker, it’s an amazing place!

 

[mathauck0814]

Call the shop. Chip Petersen is the owner/instructor and is a very nice guy, I'm sure he can help you pick the right course of study to move forward. Have fun in Belize and with BDS.

 

[Sevenrider860]

As a newly minted PADI Tec45 diver, I started planning on when I would take my Tec50 class. I thought I could not just stop at Tec45...it was not even the equivalent of the old PADI Tec Deep rating! Then I had a change of mind. I put off further instructional courses and started reinforcing the Tec45 skill set I already had.

Unfortunately I do not have any nearby Tec certified buddies. I pay for "non-instructional" Tec dives. I say "non-instructional" because they are not part of a formal course curriculum...but you do learn something from every single one of them. In my experience they allow you to do the planning, will dive your plan (I was using RGBM with some added conservatism which gave longer deco times than they would typically plan) and also get you to some decent places to dive at that depth.

I once had my computer throw a deeper stop than my plan. I started to hold at that stop to feed the computer's needs and my dive buddy (instructor) quickly reminded me that we had not blown our plan at all and we dive the plan, not the computer. Went to our planned stop. At the end of the dive, the computer adjusted to my plan just fine. A great reinforcement to my training when my computer was required to be in gauge mode.

If you look at the cost of instruction, you may find that getting a Tec DM or Instructor that will dive with you at the Tec45 level saves you some money and lets you get more dives in. Tec45 level dives are not trivial. You are limited to one deco gas, but unlimited accelerated deco. If you are looking to build on some skills, you can add a stage bottle into the mix.

I still have plans for future training, but at the moment I am finding that having an experienced instructor available as a mentor who helps reinforce what you already do know is well worth the cost of paying for their time.

Just my thoughts...

 

[boulderjohn]

One of the interesting things about tech diving training with multiple agencies is that in many cases it is close to impossible to predict what you will get, because each instructor is allowed a lot of leeway. Here are some examples of things I ran into in my training that might show the difference.

1. My first training was TDI, but the instructor made it very clear that we were going to follow DIR protocols and the GUE curriculum. The TDI instructor had been certified as an instructor by a TDI Instructor Trainer who worked for GUE as well. Surprised that this was allowed, I contacted TDI and found that they had no problem with that, as long as the course also met TDI standards.

2. I then ended up training with another DIR agency, UTD. After a while, a diver who was trained initially in the PADI tech system joined us. His PADI training was about as far from DIR as you can get, and he had to change a lot of equipment and skill sets to join our group.

3. I then went back to TDI with a different instructor, and there were a lot of differences in the teaching and approach to decompression diving. The experience changed my own thinking in several ways.

4. I recently did some diving with a different PADI Tech class, and their approach was extremely close to DIR, with only a few minor variations. (See #2 above.)

5. There was recently a thread started by a well known TDI instructor. Some of his statements would have outraged my original TDI instructor and his instructor trainer, and my own second TDI instructor would have disagreed as well.

6. If you took a class from me, it would be different in some ways from each experience listed in items 1-5.

 

[HIGHwing]

Or should I just sign for doing deco dives there with a qualified instructor/buddy?

I think that's your best option.

 

[DevonDiver]

Or should I just sign for doing deco dives there with a qualified instructor/buddy?

How many non-training technical dives have you completed?

Training courses teach you skills, but you need time to ingrain those capabilities before moving on to new stuff. I see lots of divers progress speedily through technical qualifications, which tends to deny them the solid foundations they need in the long run. It also tends to make them very reliant divers - hoping from one supervised course to another, without ever taking 'ownership' of their own diving.

Unless you have specific need for a new capability, then why not get truly comfortable where you're at now?