[GarethB]

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Which Nitrox Course to do

PADI, TDI, IANTD which would you reccommend. If it has any bearing on the answer, I hold "technical" ambitions, and simply intend to do the nitrox course to extend bottom time at sub 30 metre dives. done PADI training to rescue diver so far

Cheers

Gareth

 

[Helen F H]

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<font color='#000080'>i did the IANTD course, which looking back, i wish i had done the TDI with deco which qualifies you to use 100%.  The course was very good, one to one with four qualifying dives.  The manual is a bit hefty, but as with all nitrox stuff, you dont need most of it to be able to use it without killing yourself.
My course was expensive, but it fitted in with my plans and im my mind was well worth it.  Im a firm believer in you get what you pay for.

scapa scuba

 

[MATTBIN]

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sub 30m - do you mean less than 30m i.e. 10 - 30m dives or dives below 30 i.e. 30 - 60m dives.

Basic Tdi is about 80 quid, can include checkout dives at that price. In my view a dubious course but one you have to do to get the ticket or you dont get the gas, although my local never asks for my ticket. Ho hum.
Matt

 

[Ashbypower]

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I'd recommend TDI Great course, we had knowledgable instructor. My local always ask for ticket before the'll squeeze the tin, then you have to witness the check and sign the book!!

 

[Reeve]

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<font color='#000F22'>Gareth,

IMHO and experience (limited it may be) I'd go straight for the TDI Advanced Nitrox (They'll combine for between £165 - £250). I took the route of BSAC Adv EANx only to find max O2 limit of 50%. That initself was sufficient for longer shallow dives or a safety margin for deco on 40m ish dives. But in order to further my diving I had to go back and redo Adv EANx course prior to ERD & Deco Procedures, for this I choose TDI. This decision was based on two factors 1) course content 2) recomendations and instructor.

Had I known this earlier I would have skipped the BSAC course, however it did give me an insight and was a lot lot cheaper than the TDI route had I taken my training no further.

All the best with your choices and diving

gareth.  

 

[yellowduke]

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<font color='#0000FF'>For basic nitrox I would go with the PADI course.  The course material is much better than TDI and you do two dives and test your mix yourself.  I plan to go the TDI way next with Advanced Nitrox and Deco Procedures.

Jim

 

[Mark Chase]

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If you plan is to go technical then do the TDI Advanced Nitrox course. It teaches SMB deployment, deco stops, dive planing, gas planning AND Nitrox. All of which is very useful for technical diving. You can then go on to do the TDI Decompresion Procedures course and the Entry Level Trimix. This is the cheepest way into technical diving to 70m and I found the course material and training to be very good. I still use the training manuals on a regular basis.

If you just want to dive Nitrox then entry level Nitrox is a book and an exam paper with a demo of how to analise a tin and lable it properly which is about all you need to know. The PADI course is good but a total waste of cash for such a simple thing. Either you can dive or you cant and Nitrox wont affect that it will just make it safer in most instances.

I think TDI entry level Nitrox also gives you a 40m rating which comes in handy too.

ATB

Mark Chase

 

[tiewrapdiver]

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I've just gone through this same decision process, however i chose the BSAC combined Nitrox course. Mainly because at the moment i'm not doing the dives where i need rich O2 mixes, and so i've got the BSAC ticket when i want to do my advanced qualifications with them.
The last thing i heard was that BSAC were being awkward over crossing over equivalent nitrox qualifications.

When i start to need rich mixes for deco on deep long dives, which is the diving i'm aiming to do, then i'll go down the TDI route, which is gonna be a few years yet.

 

[BSH]

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<font color='#0000FF'>I did the IANTD advanced Nitrox course, complicated book and long winded exam I am sure there are some which are less complicated.  

However like most things it all depends on your instructor, we had to do gas switches, gas sharing and deploying midwater etc an excellent instructor.  I know some people who did the same course and they passed not even having submitted their exam paper.

I do sometimes wonder though now as most people say they arn't asked for qualifications when buying Nitrox mixes, why it is not included in basic diving qualifications, after all you just need to pay a bit more attention to dive planning.

Let face it if your qualification limits you to 30 metres why not use 36% as standard.

Fiona

 

[Dr Stevil]

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I did my BSAC combined (basic and advanced) then later did the TDI Adv.
I'd recommend the TDI one, but I haven't done any IANTD so can't comment on those