Why I’m not Teaching Trimix

Recently, a reader sent me an email. He noticed that I didn’t have any trimix courses listed on my web site. He asked if I taught trimix classes here in the Chicago area. My reply to him was that I was not a trimix instructor and that my web site only shows the classes that I am qualified to teach. This reader wasn’t the first person to ask if I taught trimix or was going to teach it. There are a number of reasons why I’m not teaching trimix right now.

There are a few reasons why I’m currently not teaching any trimix classes. So let me explain them for you.

Trimix Instructor Prerequisites – To become a trimix instructor for TDI, instructor candidates must have taught a minimum of of ten Advanced Nitrox and Deco Procedures students. Currently I have certified less than 10. While I have had more than 10 sign up for my technical diving class, not all of them have passed yet (you know who you are). While my technical classes are very unique and I feel my knowledge is significant to be able to teach trimix, I still need to meet the pre-reqs set forth by the agency.

Finding a Trimix IT – The actual trimix instructor course is pretty expensive. I paid over $2000 for my tech instructor course, a trimix instructor course will probably run $3000 to $4000 or more. I didn’t get a good Advanced Nitrox and Deco instructor class (which I’ve written about). This has really put a sour taste in my mouth about taking another instructor level course again. You really need to do a very thorough job finding the right instructor trainer. Perhaps if TDI offered me an upgrade, I’d probably do it. Unless I could get a really good trimix IT that will actually teach me something new, I doubt I will take another instructor class.

Doing the Dives – It has always been my belief that an instructor should be out doing the dives they are qualified to teach. Trimix instructors can certify people to dive to 300+ feet. In order to be an effective instructor for those depths, instructors must be doing many dives at that level a year. Doing dives greater than 250 feet is a significant undertaking. You just don’t slap on some tanks and jump in the water. There will be a lot of dive time at a quarry working on skills, working out kinks in gear and what not. Then there is the expense of doing those dives. Gases alone will be in the hundreds of dollars range, even if you blend it yourself. So let’s assume that it costs $300 in gas and $150 in charter expenses. That’s $450 for one dive. To be competent, an instructor should be doing about 20-25 dives at that level a year. That’s over $11,000 dollars a year to do those dives. That doesn’t include any recreational or shallower dives. That is a huge investment. Currently, I’m not able to swing it financially to do those dives. However, the more we can take the boat out, the more frequently I’ll be able to do those deeper dives while saving some money.

Don’t read into this that I’m not willing to become a trimix instructor. Certainly I’m willing to do it. However, a few things must fall into place in order for me to be able to comfortably teach trimix classes. It certainly would be nice if TDI would let me add helium to my Advanced Nitrox and Deco course, but that is another rant for another time.