Course Outcomes
GUE’s Technical Diver 2 course is designed to enhance deep diving proficiency while using helium breathing gasses and oxygen-enriched decompression gasses. Other course outcomes include: the use of multiple stages; the use of Trimix with greater percentages of helium; gas management; oxygen management; extended decompression; accelerated, omitted and general decompression strategies; dive planning; and management of multiple cylinders.
Prerequisites
Applicants for a Tech 2 course must:
- Submit a completed registration form, a medical history, and a liability release to GUE Headquarters.
- Be physically and mentally fit.
- Hold insurance that will cover diving emergencies such as hyperbaric treatment, e.g. DAN Master-level insurance or equivalent.
- Be a nonsmoker.
- Obtain a physician’s prior written authorization for the use of prescription drugs, except for birth control, or for any prior medical condition that may pose a risk while diving.
- Be a minimum of 18 years of age.
- Be a certified GUE Tech 1 level diver.
- Must have a minimum of 25 dives beyond Technical Diver Level 1 certification; at least fifty dives on double tanks and at least 25 should utilize a decompression cylinder.
Course Content
The Tech 2 course is normally conducted over five days; it requires seven dives and a minimum 40 hours of instruction, encompassing classroom, land drills and in-water work.
Tech 2 Specific Training Standards
- Student-to-instructor ratio is not to exceed 6:1 during land drill or surface exercises; ratios cannot exceed 3:1 during any in-water training.
- Maximum depth 250 feet/75 meters.
- Dives should not be planned to incur more than 60 minutes of decompression time as established by GUE’s DecoPlanner.
- If conducted in a cave, trainees must be at least GUE Cave 2 divers; instructors must be active GUE Cave 2 instructors.
Training Materials
GUE training materials and recommended reading as determined by the course study packet received via online download after GUE course registration.
Academic Topics
- Introduction: GUE organization and course overview (objectives, limits, expectations)
- Advanced mixed gas diving
- Risks of decompression diving
- Gas management during deep dives
- Accelerated, omitted, and general decompression strategies
- Deep diving logistics and planning
Land Drills
- Dive team order and protocols
- Gas switching procedures and protocols
- Use of a bottom stage, with multiple decompression cylinders
Required Dive Skills and Drills
- Demonstrate proficiency in safe diving techniques; this would include pre-dive preparations, inwater activity, and post-dive assessment.
- Demonstrate awareness of team member location and concern for safety, responding quickly to visual indications and dive partner needs.
- Demonstrate a safe and responsible demeanor throughout all training.
- Demonstrate proficiency in underwater communication.
- Demonstrate basic proficiency managing a GUE equipment configuration.
- Demonstrate safe ascent and descent procedures.
- Must be able to swim at least 500 yards/450 meters in less than 14 minutes without stopping. This test should be conducted in a swimsuit and, where necessary, appropriate thermal protection.
- Must be able to swim a distance of at least 60 feet/18 meters on a breath hold while submerged.
- Demonstrate proficiency in the ability to plan Tech 2 dives while accounting for environmental conditions, available gas, and required decompression.
- Demonstrate the clean and effective removal and exchange of multiple stages and decompression cylinders while hovering horizontally.
- Comfortably demonstrate at least three propulsion techniques that would be appropriate in delicate and/or silty environments; one of these kicks must be the backward kick.
- Demonstrate good buoyancy and trim, i.e. approximate reference is a maximum of 20 degrees off horizontal while remaining within 3 feet/1 meter of a target depth.
- Demonstrate proficiency in gas failure procedures, including valve manipulation, gas sharing, and regulator switching as appropriate.
- Demonstrate proficiency in managing gas sharing scenarios, to include a prolonged gas sharing event.
- Demonstrate proficiency with effective decompression techniques, including depth and time management, while also managing multiple gas switches and other tasks like tank rotation skills.
- Demonstrate diver rescue techniques, including effective management of an unconscious diver.
Equipment Requirements
GUE base configuration as outlined in Appendix A, plus:
- GUE double tank configuration
- Primary and backup lights
- Two decompression cylinders
- One bottom gas cylinder
- Small argon regulator and bottle where appropriate
- One primary reel per team
Prior to the commencement of class, students should consult with a GUE representative to verify equipment requirements and appropriateness of any selected equipment.