Why Scuba Divers FAIL Technical Diver Training

[@LodgeMan2011]

I’ve got a ways to go before I explore Tec diving. I’m on a weight loss journey to Become a better diver. Already down 60 pounds!! All about conditioning

[@remcovanhal6336]

Wow! Thats great man! Good luck with your weigh loss, I know it can be a hard road sometimes!

[@Pedde]

Good work m8, trying the same. Stay strong 💪

[@Chasenoir]

I want to know your status!? Did you stay with it?

[@markgiltner7358]

I'm going to leave you all with this bit if wisdom. It's a bit of wisdom that was told to a friend of mine that was told to him by his father. He said "son you can get away with a lot of shit in your 20s and 30s, but you need to have your self together by the time you hit your 40s or your 50s or life will bite you in the ass". I have never forgotten these words and now that I'm 59 I can safely say that his father's words were spot on. Diving you need to be in reasonable good shape the older you get, let's face facts we are venturing into a realm where humans are not necessarily ment to be. Don't underestimate the word stress, handled poorly and diving can and will kill you

[@emiliomarin]

Every time I watch your videos I get so pumped up that it leaves me wanting to fly to Florida from Spain just to learn with you

[@TacSoob253]

I just got back into diving after a 10-year hiatus. So glad I found your channel; keep up the excellent work!

[@mangocovescuba]

Reading the account of what happened to that young girl is heartbreaking and tragic. Absolutely inexcusable on behalf of the instructor.

[@heathen667]

I’m a very new diver and my first dives in the ocean where in Key Largo back in December. I realized then that I need to work on my fitness. After busting my hump working out the past five months, I expect my diving in Key Largo at the end of this month to go much better. Thanks for the vids, James!

[@MorganLyons-it5fj]

Enjoyed the video and the tech series. Thinking about a trip to Truk in a couple of years, so I've been revisiting what I need to do to get ready if I do the trip. Lots to think about. Separately, enjoyed meeting you on a Spiegel trip on a Horizon Divers boat in Sept. We didn't get a chance to visit as you were with a student and rightly focused your attention on him. Thanks again for the series.

[@ericburgess4995]

Happy Birthday James, love the channel!

[@aimeeallee9987]

Army veteran here. May I share the 6 p’s I learned from my service. proper planning prevents piss poor performance. Works for every single situation in life.

[@matthewgaskill-jones8009]

Great topic again!!! 👏 I am a UK diver in a club with 2x RIB boats and so believe me prepping the boat for launch and recovery, and then all the diving gear is hard work and so it prepares you for the TEC diving step up, but James is so right, it is YOUR gear to carry to enter the water and YOUR effort to get out post diving so 2, 3, 4 cylinders is an effort to manage. Sadly, as In the Western world we are not a healthy bunch and diving when physical condition is not great only amplifies the risk of diving incidents. Plan the Dive, Dive the Plan Be safe all

[@DiveBC]

Happy birthday! I had you laugh about the 25 to 30lbs on your back. Sorry... I'm a Canadian cold water tec diver. When I am diving my doubles my gear is 150lbs + any al40 or 80 deco cylinders. Now diving sidemount primarily but still two lp85s steels and 2 al80s with 16lbs of lead jumping off a boat is a lot of work. I agree with James, it takes time to build the stamina and strength to deal with the gear of Tec diving. Great video. Thanks

[@DirtFishMish]

3:39 I'm so glad you included this remark James, I read through that suit and was absolutely floored at the amount of negligence shown to that poor girl. Really enjoyed this video, not sure if tec diving is on the cards for me, but I sure as heck hope to have an instructor like you if I take the plunge.

[@montage.brothers2659]

So true how can a dive instructor teaching students not have constant knowledge of what’s going on with them and for minutes Snow was unaware. Also Jeannine Olson is a horrible person for trying to shift blame onto the only person to try and save her life and who actually witnessed the most tragic events first hand hope she gets what she deserves

[@rolfbienert3789]

Just read the file. Unbelievable.

[@PiggoNZ]

That is so commendable that you failed the student for demonstrating an unsafe attitude. Respect. Too many instructors want to be the nice guy/gal and would just say "i didn't hear that, haha!"

[@davewollenschlager5567]

James, I agree with you that fitness does play a big part of diving. I am a runner and I must say that it was hard to dive due to the weight. I started weight training for upper body and core because you are right!

[@tonyvelasquez6776]

I just love it when the tip of the tongue touches my dirty stinky little sphink

[@MAGAisacult]

I began my cave training overweight and out of shape. At the end of the first day, it wasn't easy, but I did the right thing. I talked to my instructor, let him know I was struggling (sure he already knew) and asked if i could take 90 days, get in better shape and start over. I did get in shape and SAFELY got my certification.

[@moocowp4970]

Happy Birthday James, hope you have a great day and year!

[@Maritime007]

I prefer diving with doubles over a single tank even for non-technical dives. I find it's easier to stay balanced rotationally with steel doubles on your back. Although heavier when on land once you're in the water weight of the tanks is not an issue. In fact the heavier your tanks the less weight you have to put on your belt. The second advantage is that most charters are two dives. Once you set up your doubles there is no monkeying with changing tanks between dives in a potentially rolling sea. You have the safety of a second cylinder should you require more air than originally planned and with a manifold the ability to shut down one tank should you have a freeflow with one of your second stages. I advocate getting technical training even if you don't plan to do technical diving. The skills and equipment configurations you learn give you an extra layer of safety for whatever kind of diving you prefer.

[@PiggoNZ]

Great comment, thank you.

[@lukem2889]

Hope you had a good birthday James! Thanks for the great advice!

[@codyknutson4665]

Happy Birthday, James!!🥳

[@minorityofone1510]

As a former motorcycle training instructor in the UK; there is also a subjective element when considering rider skills and safety when writing cbt certificates. In my experience nearly all instructors share the same understanding whether a student is at a stage where they can ride unsupervised as a learner.

[@yurgon]

Happy belated Birthday James! Love the videos and so happy KZbin showed me this channel. Tech is in my future but I've only just begun my scuba journey a month ago.

[@aloha_adventures]

Happy birthday! Love the videos. As someone who is just diving in (see what I did there), your advice has been invaluable!

[@francislacasse9950]

Merci pour pour le great video James ! 🇨🇦

[@pauldarnbrough7515]

A Very Happy Birthday my Friend .. Stay Safe and HAVE FUN.

[@dclangst]

I'm not of the mindset that a number of dives qualifies someone for technical diving. But you should have enough time to had something go wrong and have to figure it out. I'm not a technical instructor but I have seen people get in a rush. I've had to tell people they should pump the brakes. It's up to rec instructors to tell them they should slow down by observing their behaviors and abilities if we known their plans. Spot on for the ocean. It's different. The ride out can be hard on you getting out there and just getting back on the boat. Also for doubles. My first time in twin 80s made me feel like if never been in the water before. It's humbling.

[@charlesg7926]

Agreed. I’d add that their IQ plays a huge part, in terms of “number of dives”. Intelligent people learn much faster. Also physical fitness matters too- smart people get less tired/out of breath, and less tired people can think better and use less air

[@BlueEyedAuthor]

I want to start learning how to dive but want to lose some weight first. In the meantime I look forward to your videos. Once I hit my goal weight I’m going to start.

[@hawaiimike2678]

Love your videos so much great knowledge to take in. I want to become a dive master so much.

[@jeremiahperez8071]

Thanks for your honesty and keeping it real as always!!!!

[@YuriyDel]

James, I didn't know about that case and that threw me for a loop. Great video and best wishes to the family-that was a long and painful read.

[@TroggyPB]

James. I have always tried to avoid commenting on KZbin videos but I’m breaking my rule as this one both filled me with encouragement but afterwards to a period of deep sadness and anger. The advice you gave on TEC is top notch and faultless in its wisdom. The reference to the tragedy made me follow it via the link and even though I’m only a 30 dive rank beginner I became more and more perturbed with every detailed statement about the totally avoidable death of Linnea Mills. In fact I couldn’t finish it and will return later to do so. Both my instructors have had years of experience and I always felt totally safe. At the start of one specialty course I got very overheated in the dry suit on a hot sunny afternoon lugging gear to a jetty in the quarry at NDAC in Chepstow. Tried to cool me down but I didn’t recover fast enough so he said no go. Respect to him. If you hear further significant updates on the case please reference it. It may not get covered in main media reports in UK. Thanks again. DS,DO

[@391wombat]

What tragedy/link are you referring to?

[@Yggdrasil42]

@@391wombat The student death James referred to in his video and linked in the description. The case file is not the easiest read due to the format. Here's a summary of what happened: missoulacurrent.com/montana-today/2021/05/lawsuit-details-negligence/

[@rosharddavis3249]

I will start my Intro to Tech course this weekend. I am trying to accustom myself with the use of a backplate, wing (for single tank and double tanks) and harness. I’m trying to learn to use doubles. Thanks for the video James. You pick the right time for me to post it here.

[@ethanbearry5260]

What brand of gear did you buy?

[@kurtborkman9472]

I took the intro to tech course in Guam a few years ago. Big thing I learned was doubles are hard. I wish more dive centers offered them, for rent on recreational dives, to get more experience.

[@robmichaels4728]

Excellent video, great timing. Happy Birthday!

[@fernandesclaudio83]

Wonderful content and thank you for saying out loud what needs to be said regarding dive

[@charlesdunton4650]

Happy birthday…best channel on you tube…keep it going

[@Schtukas1]

I think also some people rush to Tec with minimal experience just for bragging rights

[@marineboyocean]

You're Absolutely Right. Just like "AOW, Divemaster and instructor etc etc

[@michaeltaylors2456]

I’m not a tech diver but I have over 250 logged dives in multiple conditions including near zero vis and heavy surge in - 45 with dry suit. I now live in cave country in north florida . I freedive and hang out at the springs and get to see some really doughy and clearly newbies divers doing their cavern or cave training. I guess if they perform as trained in those conditions great, but it does seem like a very steep learning curve

[@theshaky]

Interestng, wasn´t expecting that at all. What I´ve experienced myself as "common problems" is that people change their configuration just prior to the course, they show up with completely new kit that they haven´t thougt through, tested or even tried out yet. When in the water they have issues controlling their boyancy and keep focusing on the kit rather than their own skill. Everybody is nervous about passing the valvedrills and forget about basic boyancy. This and a lack of experience, lack of OW-level basic theory and poor OW-level skills. And, oh yes, Happpy Birtday!

[@brendanmarktoh3314]

Wow Happy Birthday Just saw the updates We are stuck Lock down

[@tyler.salty_beard]

Awesome video dude! I can not wait to learn from you in December!!

[@jamesaurich501]

Awesome content. Totally agree with you. Keep up your safe diving.

[@franka7691]

THANK YOU, James.

[@TheEllery29]

Love the video - most valuable (I'm about to start Tec 40 training). Can I suggest a content warning for the Google link? The images of Linea Mills in her final moments (around p.58-59) are seriously distressing. Also, everyone at that dive centre should have the book thrown at them, and then they should go to prison.

[@SG-Photography]

Thank you for the useful information

[@DiversReady]

Thanks for watching!

[@johnraymond7189]

Happy 40th Big J

[@juzdeed]

on the E-learning exam for TDI tec 45 or advanced decompression procedures. the past % is 80%.,

[@shawnskiver1341]

👍👍 great content as usual. You can not over emphasize know what training you are going to do and prepare yourself for it as much as possible. I'm talking about mentality and physically.

[@michaelarnold5646]

Not a Tech diver but been diving for many years. With the amount of equipment used in tech diving suprised no lift on the boat in your video. Standard on most UK dive boats.

[@DiversReady]

Great point! Thanks for watching.

[@scmsean]

I failed GUE because I'm not flexible enough to reach the tank valve. GUE if you don't pass you have to take the whole course over again. I would be ok with that, but I have to pay GUE again as well. Not just the instructor. I also didn't have enough experience in a dry suit.

[@nestor_bch]

Happy Birthday, man!

[@stephendoherty8291]

My experience was : not enough varied dives, lack of stamina (less so but crucial is overall fitness, investing in backup gear, poor trainers who have the ideal trainee embedded, impatience

[@ralphschiefer7576]

I am not planing to be a tech diver in the near future, for me there is so much more to explore in die AOWD Range. That's beeing said, a lot of if not all of the things you've just said can be transformed to every kind of dive course. I once went on a boat and there was a couple, telling us that they have just finished their OWD in a lake and this is theire first ocean dive. It was an inflatable boat without a ladder. They had to backroll into the water which they had never done and of course go back into the boat! They were physically not abble to do this with a normal dive set up! This was poor preperation for this dive, of course they told us all of this after the dive! Anyways as allways great content and very infomative and for all of you planing to be a tech diver, listen to James, it is not for everybody!

[@crashlvmc]

James, i just read through that case file, and all i can say is wow, just wow. There were so many things that they screwed up. I'm fairly certain than any of my former open water students, after just sitting through day 1 of 7 of our standard discussions and practical exercises would have known better than that instructor and woefully unqualified "divemaster candidate". Just wow. I'm reading this on my phone and even on this tiny screen i can tell that the diver is in distress. And dragging another diver on the bottom to conduct training? Holy $#@%! The entire team at that "dive shop" should all rot.

[@mitchellhenderson1456]

25 to 30 lbs, seems a little light to me. Being TDI tech cert. Doubles with 50 % bottle plus a pure O2, reels, lift bags and the such. Maybe getting fit to carry more like 60 lbs would be better. Great to see your passion to create a safer environment for not only the individual but dive buddies also. Are they alert to the possible dangers? 🤔 thank you for bringing such awareness to the community.

[@timgosling6189]

"25 to 30 pounds of gear on your back"? If only! My cylinders are about 13 kilos each, plus regs, plus v-weight, trim weight, wing, harness and cannister. The weight goes away in the water as you hang under it all, even if the mass doesn't, but that lot adds up to about 37kg, or about 80 lb to stand up with on the dock! Here in the UK we had to take 6 months off diving in the last lock-down and even though I'd worked hard actually to improve my strength and fitness over that time I was sure tired and aching the day after getting back in the first time. So yes, I can well believe that if you're not ready physically you are not going to have much spare capacity to perform the skills and it will impact mental capacity as well. PS, yes you do seem a fun guy to go diving with and the channel is always a pleasure.

[@joelnorton9742]

I think if I wasn't able to complete tec training I'd go back to the skills I haven't mastered yet. They can get there, and skills can make or break a dive. A dive that can kill if treated like a leisurely reef dive at

[@maxtorque2277]

My Steel 12l twinset with balanced weights weighs (out of the water) pretty much dead on 40 kg! I'm 75 kg, so it adds 50% to my mass!

[@michaelgalietti4490]

Just watched, Happy 😊Birthday 🍰 James!!

[@cliffmiller8273]

You know what James?, I've listened to a lot of BS and heard it all from so called the experienced. The old fashioned way to the new" clearing my throat", excuse me. My thoughts are as yours. I find you absolutely right on on all you present and your experience and professionalism shines! There must be a standard of physical fitness that accompanies a scuba certification. Obviously this should increase as the level of certification gets more strenuous and demanding. Certain agencies and their instructors push the money thing to far and certify individuals that shouldn't be. I have seen to many examples of this throughout the years and I really fear for those that may be handed a tight situation ! Also one puts himself at risk diving with one of these folks if they were handed off to them as a dive buddy. Some of us older divers may not have a buddy because of newness to the area. Because of this I have chosen redundancy over a buddy I don't know. Have had a couple of buddies that I could bet my life on but due to changes and relocations that has changed. Kudos to you and I hope that your efforts will bring you greater support and success! Good luck!!

[@391wombat]

Does redundancy mean you dive solo? I get that. Not preferable but it is realistic. I think solo/self reliant diving is a reality the dive community needs to acknowledge/accept.

[@Yggdrasil42]

@@391wombat Yes, solo diving still has a somewhat bad image. Something that cowboys do. Just like Nitrox that image will eventually soften into something that people with the right training can do without comments from peers. The reality is that most diving is essentially solo diving and only after repeated training with a buddy can we depend on them. With the correct redundant gear and a risk averse attitude solo diving is no more dangerous than diving with an instabuddy.

[@391wombat]

I second Tim Goslings comment, you say “get used to diving twins” and “25 to 30 pounds of weight on your back” what am i missing? I have a tough enough time climbing a Christmas tree ladder (no railings) with a steel 100 on my back in choppy conditions. I’m older (65) but in decent shape for my age. Love your channel, very informative and usually very accurate but you’re off on your weight estimate seems to me. Even if you meant 25-30 kg even that seems light.

[@Tradesatwork]

yep, 12 ltr with 14 kg (thick wetsuit) of lead in my bc is 26kg

[@jeffclapp7330]

I just finished my trimix course. I was diving with cave filled LP95 backmount doubles (~45 lbs each full, plus manifold/valves so between 90-100 lbs for just those), with 2 aluminum 40 deco stages (~18 lbs each full, plus valves so figure 40+ lbs on those), with 4 1st stages and 4 second stages (another 10+ lbs) plus lights, wetsuit, backplate and wing, fins, DSMB, reels/spools, computers, etc. and it's easily 150lbs worth of gear overall on your body for that course.

[@391wombat]

@@jeffclapp7330 yup I’ll be sticking with rec diving. I’d need a crane to get back on the boat!

[@Dorff_Meister]

You aren't joking about that lawsuit - how incredibly disappointing. A clear example of an instructor and dive shop doing ABSOLUTELY everything wrong. I feel so bad for the woman who died, but I also feel bad for Potter - a lesson about who you sell gear to, I guess. I can imagine Potter thought "the dive shop contacted me to sell her this gear, good enough." So sad.

[@troponiq]

Why can't I find someone like you locally? :( Everybody around here is so happy go lucky: no stress, grab-your-tank-do-your-thing-repeat... I just want to learn, learning and getting challenged is the fun part right now for me...

[@leborde]

The good news is that he plays rugby! Welcome to the family :)

[@DiversReady]

Thanks buddy! Rugby all the way!

[@kalm421]

Amazing content. Thank you.

[@ForestRothchild]

It is the end of May, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

[@drakelearning9742]

Thanks so much. I learned a lot.

[@louwgreeff6591]

Brilliant content thanks for that

[@viperpm]

I don’t know when I’ll be down to take a course due to school but I will be ready when I come! Good luck teaching me the math tho hahaha Happy birthday!

[@ScubaHockeyDoc]

The court filling accounts of the circumstances of the young woman's death are horrific. I felt ill as I read through the series of "issues" presented in the documents.

[@charlesg7926]

Yeah I didn’t feel ill but they definitely f*ucked the girl over big time. The 2 instructors that were present (1 certified instructor, 1 in training) were both pretty low IQ, and the behavior of the lady instructor almost seemed intentional when she ignored the girl at first

[@charlesg7926]

Also, the thing I really don’t understand is why the instructor didn’t inflate a SMB and tie it to her. That’ll give her a good amount of lift. I’m not even an instructor, but I always carry one with me when I’m in any body of water over 160 feet deep, just for that reason (I don’t wanna sink beyond the point of no return, basically.) I also use a dry suit on myself, all the time and I’m not even an instructor. Why did a dive instructor- in a freezing azz town, diving in a freezing azz place- not use a dry suit?! If they had a dry suit, they EASILY could’ve inflated their own dry suit, grabbed onto her, then inflated their BCD some too if needed, and then headed for the surface wrapped in a body hug. They might ascend too fast and get the bends, but it’s still way better than drowning honestly. And once they were at 60 feet or so they could start slowing it down Also if the BCD and drysuit AND SMB didn’t work to give her some lift… then he could’ve just ditched his own weights… basically idk why the guy headed to the surface and left her, and idk why they didn’t all have SMB’s to begin with. Clown dive instructors

[@charlesg7926]

But seriously their biggest problem was *giving her a dry suit that they knew didn’t freaking inflate bcuz of an incompatible/missing hose* ! That’s the part that makes me the most annoyed and perplexed. They must have been on drugs or something tbh, or just super dumb

[@charlesg7926]

I mean, a couple of the complaints were kinda BS… IE, who cares if the park gave them permission to dive, that’s maybe not eco-friendly, or maybe trespassing, but not super relevant to the dive accident itself. But the other complaints were super serious and unacceptable

[@paulgee8253]

25-30 lbs of gear ? Not that much. Thinking he means kilos ?

[@harrodharrod5239]

35 pounds is nowhere near what a doubles tech kit weights. double 12l steel cylinders are good 30 kilos right there (each tank weighs over 14kg and then you have the manifold, valves and whatever metal bands that keep the tanks together are called). Contrary to popular belief, the weight of compressed air in your tanks is not negligible. 24l of air at 200bar weighs approximately 6kg. Heavy duty regs suitable for diving in cold water are about a kilo each. Add another kilo or so for torch and anywhere between 5 and 12 kilos of additional weight, depending on your dry suit undergarments, exact gear configuration (stage cylinders, etc) and whether you will dive salt or fresh water. You are looking at anywhere between 40 and 50 kilos on your back you need to somehow get into water. And that's if you can don your stage in water. Otherwise add another ~20kilos for each stage bottle.

[@mssarahdale]

Does anyone know how South Florida compares to St. Maartin in terms of waves and such? Nowhere near ready for tech diving, but from a seasickness standpoint ... I'm fine most places - Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Bonaire and some other places in the Caribbean, but I cannot get through a dive day in St. Maartin without being very seasick (read hanging over the side of the boat)... To the point that while I have been on some amazing dives there ... but After trying a few different things on a few different days to limit seasickness, I just stopped diving there. (Luckily I was never the only one, but still!) (the one day was so bad that 4 of us couldn't stop throwing up long enough to get back in the water 😅 ... Once the captain saw everyone was alive and had their spot hanging over the boat picked out ... He was like ok ... Everyone ok? Great, I'll just be up here eating lunch 😂)

[@SimonAmazingClarke]

Very interesting and in-depth.

[@christianherbold4143]

Happy Birthday from Germany 👌🏽

[@jacobhicks7959]

Perfect timing Lake Erie shore dive in an hour and half. First since the ice left. If you're still coming up here we are open for business.

[@stevemichel801]

@JacobHicks where you shore diving in lake erie? I'm in nw ohio would love to be able to shore dive

[@jacobhicks7959]

@@stevemichel801 Freeport "beach" is in the town of Northeast Pa. Almost the NY line, water intake pipe.

[@jacobhicks7959]

50 minutes, 7mil, 46°F

[@matthewmeals4833]

I read through that whole case and good god I feel terrible for her and her family

[@bradallen5571]

Damn...it's like you're my spirit guide animal (a Griffin to be sure). So timely.

[@lmlmd2714]

As a Brit, it always strikes me as weird that there's a whole diving sub-culture in North America that's entirely about fresh water... "You've never been in the ocean? Soooo, what do you dive in?" Also... happy 40th, from the gal who just had her 40th and is totally not hung up about it at all! nope, not at all... no sireee...... have I got grey streaks?!?!?!?! dammit!!!

[@jurienbaylocaldiver2439]

hey mate, love your vids wondering if you have any videos about the shark shield? and your opinion about it?

[@dtt3426]

i remember asking during my open water does anyone fail. we had a 10yr old who weighed 50lbs. my biggest peeve is 20 dives for your aow (its all about the $). i did mine at 200 dives because i figured i needed the experience to do the things aow gives you.

[@dclangst]

I'm of a different mind here. It depends on what those 20 are. If you've had 20 ocean dives in challenging conditions that's different than a bunch of shore dives in a quarry.

[@charlesg7926]

I agree with Thelangst. My IQ is 147, I’m in shape, and diving was really easy for me from the onset. I feel like that’s the case for smarter & fit people. (I’m now a full cave diver along with rescue/AOW.) I got my Advanced after like 15 dives. My cave cert around 120 dives. I think I was at a little over 100 when I started cavern course.

[@charlesg7926]

Doesn’t hurt that I also have few emotions whatsoever and diving actually calms me down and is fun, it doesn’t worry or stress me out. So I’m able to really think and calmly concentrate on my gas, buoyancy, adjusting my tanks (when in sidemount), when to change regulators in sidemount or back doubles, etc etc etc.

[@charlesg7926]

On the other hand for someone else that’s- say- very emotional, prone to spazzing, and IQ of say, 90, I’d probably never certify them for AOW if it wasn’t for political correctness. They’ll likely never be capable/smart enough. (Probably why I don’t wanna be an instructor LOL. I do plan on retiring and running a dive boat in about 5 years when I’m 36, but I don’t want to actually run a shop.)

[@Chogogo717]

Gold as always. 👍

[@steciaffa2227]

At 5:00 Role of an instructor is to give the instruments to let the student avoid any unnecessary risk. You should not judge what the students will do with that knowledge, even if it's dangerous. It would be like not giving a driving license just because you know that he will overspeed. There's the police for that. Did he reached the requirements for diving? If yes you must give the card. That's it.

[@PiggoNZ]

Wrong.

[@gentlerain8537]

Happy 40!!!

[@andrewaquilina7546]

I went through the case file. How terrible. Poor girl.

[@jasonrobinson6878]

That case was horrifying to read, wish I hadn't.

[@stucorbett]

As always, thanks for the insight James. My (other) worry is math skills. I despise any form of math and am terrible at it. Is the math component learnable for someone like me?

[@Yggdrasil42]

The first step is to stop despising it. You don't have to love it but despising it is a mindset that actively hurts progress. Math is a part of everyday life but you don't have to be a math professor to get trough life right? The math that's part of tech diving is mostly a few very simple formulas that you'll do repeatedly and you usually don't have to do in your head. For example, using Dalton's Triangle for decompression diving to calculate a Best Mix is much easier when written down. At first you'll do these calculations manually to understand them, later you'll use programs. It helps to occasionally do a manually one to refresh your memory. I think you'll do fine.

[@stucorbett]

@@Yggdrasil42 That's great advice and a great way to tackle it. I really appreciate your input. Thanks from Vancouver!

[@djsalose]

What was the dangerous config he was thinking of diving?

[@Mahargbot]

Wondering if it was single tank when redundancies are needed? Is my guess but I have no idea.

[@Cthippo1]

I'm curious about that too. Maybe a weird gas mix?

[@alle_namen_schon_vergeben708]

English is not my native language and I didn't read the whole pdf. But do I understand correctly that she never ever dove in a dry suit before the incident, only had 4 dives in general in shallow and warm waters, they didn't even connect the dry suit to an inflator hose, all weights were in pouches with zippers and it wasn't an AOWD-course but a dry suit course which already started before she joined??? AND THEY ARE STILL OPERATING????

[@mrstuc7310]

Like the SBS Swimmer canoeist reference

[@davidressler9316]

What size doubles? I would assume twin 100cf tanks and get used to carrying the deco bottle.

[@neomasterc]

I gave up on my tech training because of my poor shoulder mobility. Not even close to being able to reach my valves for valve drills

[@ivoryjohnson4662]

You should try sidemount

[@johnrand9799]

Who are some of the operations you would recommend in Key Largo?

[@gmancolo]

Being conditioned and normal weight is vastly better than being "conditioned" and overweight.

[@rogercantwell1120]

Interesting that some instructors train and then examine their own students surely an Approach where a student is examined by an independent instructor would be a more fair system.

[@stephendoherty8291]

In cmas your tester is never your instructor. In fact it's a group of testers who decide if you pass on a weekend away. The tester has one question to answer: would I get my friend/family to dive with this person and do what tech divers are now capable of doing

[@sameermohideen4913]

I dive twin AL80's. A cylinder weighs about 12-13 kilos. With the BP, Harness, Wing, Isolator and Bands just that gets you up to 36-40kg. That's before we even add weights, deco tanks and other stuff. Did you mean to say 25-30 kg or lbs or where you talking about something else? P.S apart from that I agree with pretty much everything else

[@jeffclapp7330]

25-30 lbs of gear on your back?? I'm pretty sure my gear for my Trimix course added up to around 150 lbs. Losing weight, hitting the gym (squats, deadlifts, and other compound lifts), plus cardio combined meant I wasn't exhausted until later in the day doing those dives....

[@jlcnuke]

For a trimix course, figure you've got two AL40's probably for your deco gasses, that's about 40lbs there, then two steel tanks at around 44lbs each, plus manifold, valves, regs, and the rest of your equipment (wetsuit/drysuit, fins etc.)

[@nes.torfernandez]

Wondering how someone can meet the requirements to take a tech class and right before class es completed say something stupid like that. Some divers really disappointed me sometimes. Anyways I’ve been sub to your channel for a quite some time now and is just now that I realize you’re located in Miami lol looking forward to dive with you I’m from ports Saint Lucie

[@michaeldorsey5724]

Great subject great video

[@KelliRocks]

The 18 y/o drowning has infuriated me to the point of becoming a dive instructor. That was horrible!

[@DiversReady]

Thanks for sharing.

[@cutebalddiver]

Spot on!

[@TheDocalphabet]

Great,information

[@DiversReady]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Timedammers]

Try Bonaire its a nice place to dive

[@DiversReady]

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