TDI Intro to Tech Course - 26th/27th April

[Mark Powell]

I'm going to be running a TDI Intro to Tech course on 26th/27th April.

Venue is still to be decided so this could be Chepstow, Stoney, Vobster, Wraysbury or if the weather is good even Weymouth. Let me know which venue you prefer.

TDI Intro to Tech
This two day course is a new and welcome addition to curriculum of the world’s largest and most successful technical diving agency.

Intro to Tech is intended to give experienced sport divers a simple, non-threatening glimpse at the techniques and skills used in technical diving. Participating in this course will give those divers a better understanding of the detailed planning and preparation required to make a successful and safe technical dive.

Intro to Tech is really a try it before you buy it course for someone who has heard a lot about tech and is wondering what all the fuss is about. But Intro to Tech is also worthwhile for divers who have no real intentions to go on to take a full tech class because the skills it focuses on – gas management, superior buoyancy and trim, situational awareness, and equipment selection – are useful in any form of diving.

Student Prerequisites
The student must:
1. Be a minimum age of eighteen (18) or fifteen (15) with parental consent.
2. Have a minimum certification of SDI Advanced Diver, Advanced Adventure Diver or equivalent;
3. Show proof of twenty-five (25) logged open water dives.

Skills
Land drills:
1. Selection and preparation of equipment
2. Conduct team oriented skills (buddy checks) for lift bag deployment
3. Gas matching among buddy teams
4. Demonstrate familiarity with basic hand signals
5. Demonstrate adequate pre-dive planning with limits based on the team and personal gas consumption

Pre-dive drills:
1. Use S.T.A.R.T. before every dive
2. Stress analysis and mitigation

In water skills:
1. Weight check
2. Demonstrate adequate buoyancy control (ability to hover at fixed position in water column without moving hands or feet)
3. Demonstrate adequate trim (ability to maintain horizontal during the descent, bottom and ascent portion of the dive)
4. Demonstrate no-silting propulsion techniques (frog kick, modified frog kick, modified flutter kick, backwards kick)
5. Demonstrate the ability to perform the following exercises while maintaining trim and buoyancy in the water column:
A. Regulator exchange
B. Regulator recovery
C. Mask partial flood and clear with minimal air loss
D. Mask removal and clear with minimal air loss
6. Demonstrate the ability to perform a safety drill (S-drill) while maintaining trim and buoyancy in the water column
7. Demonstrate the ability to perform a valve drill while maintaining trim and buoyancy in the water column (if double cylinders are being used)
8. Demonstrate the ability to deploy a surface marker buoy or lift bag while maintaining trim and buoyancy in the water column
9. Show good situational awareness.

Cost is £200 which includes TDI cert card and CD of background information.

Twinsets/wings/backplates/haresses/etc will be avalable for those who do not have their own.

Let me know if you are interested and which venue you would prefer.