For dives past 130ft decompression divers blend some Helium into their cylinders and dip into the realm of the rarely seen. The reefs and wrecks they experience are sometimes visited less frequently in a year than astronauts to the moon.
SDI/TDIIncludes 2 Open Water DivesMinimum 18 Years, 15 Years with parental Consent.
These are the options for you if you're looking for alternative diving lessons and classes, or if you want to find out what next steps should be taken.
The choice of equipment is very individual and different divers will recommend different styles. In general to go with a well known brand is useful as they stand for quality, performance and configurability. Some of the best brands are Apeks, Diverite, Halcyon, OMS, Scubapro, Hollis and some newer brands like xDeep or Tecline. The preferred divecomputers for tech divers at the moment are Shearwater products, whether it be the Petrel 2 or Perdix, the flexibility of the algorithm, handling and display.
The Sidemount setup for diving is slightly different to the backmount setup, and the equipment is also slightly different.
Sidemount rigs also include tank bands, clips, bungees, and likely some more to store your regs. The clips are attached to your harness. Also, their position will affect the position of your tanks.
Sidemount diving is a great way to get additional air. There are two tanks that you use, one tank with an SPG and the other with regulators. This makes it safer and gives air-hogs like me a lot more air. Sidemount also makes diving extremely easy, since you can simply put tanks on top and there isn't any pressure on your spine.
Academics: The academic sections of a technical class are the same as any other scuba class. Students will complete some self-study, and then bring their knowledge to the instructor for a discussion. While the technical course's dive planning is more complicated than what most people are familiar with it is an essential part of performing a successful dive. Decompression and overhead diving require gas management discussions that will take much longer than normal. To calculate the required gas volumes for the dive, they use a computer program.
If you plan to go sidemount, particularly if you are a tec diver already, you will need to learn about your new rig. How to adjust it, how it can be used to enter the water, and more.
Sidemount divers usually use two tanks. However, it is possible to use one tank as a standard. I was also told that you can use one tank for deco diving.
Sidemount Diver Specialty may count towards your Advanced Open Water Diver certification. Ask your instructor for details.
I'm not certain when or why I decided on Sidemount. As with many of my diving choices, it was likely a case of "oh that looks cool, could prove useful", so I decided to take the Sidemount course. It would be a useful certification that I could build on in the future. Sidemount would allow me to dive in caves, something I always wanted.
Technical diving is a combination of passion, training, and experience. Technical diving is not for those who lack any of these three.
I can't recall when or why it was that I decided to take the Sidemount course. Like most of my diving decisions it was just a matter of "oh, that looks cool", and I was willing to give it a try. Sidemount would have been a valuable certification that I could use for future training. Sidemount certification would also be helpful if I wanted to go cave diving.
To register for the PADI Advanced Rebreather Diver course, you must first: You must be a PADI Open Water Diver, but you must also be a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver to become a PADI Advanced Rebreather Diver. Have at least 30 dives under your belt.