Tech through PADI or TDI?

[Black Cat]

Hey guys...I'm looking at taking the plunge into tech diving in the next few months. Up until this point, I've done everything through PADI. Would there be any real advantage to going through TDI for the tech route or are there no real noticeable differences between agencies? All of the shops that I've looked into for the training offer TDI and some of the shops offer PADI and TDI. Does the agency matter at all? Thanks guys!

 

[tbone1004]

find the instructor not the agency. PADI's progression as explained to me by @boulderjohn actually makes a lot of sense, but it's far more important to get a legit instructor. Where you located and which tech courses are you wanting to take?

 

[Black Cat]

find the instructor not the agency. PADI's progression as explained to me by @boulderjohn actually makes a lot of sense, but it's far more important to get a legit instructor. Where you located and which tech courses are you wanting to take?

That absolutely makes sense. As of right now I'd like to go as far as Deco Procedures, but the possibilities are endless. I'm in the DFW area. I was thinking of possibly doing the training in the Cozumel/Playa del Carmen area. From the tiny bit of researching I've done, the tech training around my parts are quite limited.

 

[tbone1004]

@Black Cat what are your long term diving goals that are motivating you to go up through deco procedures?

 

[sigxbill]

If there were no differences between agencies, then why are there more than one? The whole "it's the instructor, not the agency" is just scuba board political correctness - that provides instructors an avenue to feel good about themselves when they commiserate about how they had to correct deficiencies in another instructor's student from their same agency!

If you really care about this topic, research the history. Ask yourself how padi came to offer, in this case, technical training. Did they design it? Or did they bad mouth technical for decades, and then when they thought they were missing out on business - did they hire an IT from another agency to share the other agency's program with them - and then customize the other agency's program to padi's rigid training method?

Then compare and contrast that to, in this case, tdi. what is tdi's history? does it predate that of padi's in technical? Does tdi's ideology on gas choices, buddies, and ethics, etc. match yours?

When you finish your training, and actually want go out to dive at that level - and are looking for buddies, or operators to take you to sites for that level - do you think either certification will be equally respected and allow you to immediately dive at that level? Try calling operators / guides / etc. and ask which training programs they are more likely to accept for advanced dives sight unseen - I would be interested in the responses.

May I ask why you are choosing to limit your technical training to only padi or tdi?

 

[tbone1004]

@sigxbill it's anything but SB political correctness. Ask @boulderjohn or @The Chairman how much agency bashing shows up on this board and for me in particular, either of them will be quite open about telling you how little respect I have for several of the training agencies because they are more focused on making money than they are about putting out true high quality divers. Ask John how often he and I have gone at it over PADI in particular?

You have to go by the instructor not the agency.

• If I was going wreck diving, would I trust a student that @DevonDiver trained through PADI over one that got churned out by a questionable TDI or IANTD instructor? Absolutely. There are a lot of sketchy instructors in both of those agencies
• If I was doing a dive with a rebreather diver and someone came to me with a PADI CCR cert from Martin Robson vs. a CCR cert from TDI or IANTD from an instructor I'd never heard of, I'd take the PADI diver all day every day. PADI's CCR program is actually much tougher to pass than TDI's or IANTD's for reference.
• If I were doing deco diving and someone came with a TDI cert from say John Chatterton, would I trust that over most PADI instructors? absolutely.
• Not even going to get into NAUI's tec program, and I say that as a NAUI instructor...

At the technical level there is enough leeway in how the classes are run that the instructor has infinitely more influence on how the course is run than the agency is run outside of agencies like UTD or GUE.

 

[northernone]

It's rare after a few dozen dives post certification anyone cares which agency you're trained with. (outside of a couple particular examples.) Snobbery or agency pride doesn't do much among dive buddies.

If an instructor is 'good' I have little interest in which agency he certifies with or which materials he chooses to teach with. I've got student level cards from 6 agencies currently and instructor for two.

I have my own special loves for some particular aspects or ideologies of the one agency I'm with but I respect and enjoy learning from divers.

Experienced and thoughtful people who have adapted the agency materials to make it their own and understand how to pass it on clearly are what I look for.

All the best in finding the right instructor.

Regards,
Cameron

 

[Remy B.]

there is as well IANTD and ANDI as well as other agencies so you have more instructors to choose from

 

[Lorenzoid]

Looks like you're getting good responses, but also check out earlier threads on this. Here are a few:

TDI vs PADI TecRec

SSI/TDI v PADI Tec Training

TDI or PADI?

TDI-IANTD-PADI Tec Courses

 

[decompression]

If you've narrowed your choices to either PADI or TDI, then I'd say it depends on you as a diver. Generally, the PADI tec program offers you many "baby steps" while the TDI program gives you a large chunk of ability relatively soon. Do you have buddies at home whom you'll dive with? Or is it more of a "experience" thing for you. Have a good look at the training standards and see which are a better fit for you. Check the CV of the potential instructor. Start an email correspondence and you'll find out if you are compatible. That's a good start. I'm a TDI and PADI instructor.