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In your message dated Thursday 23, March 1995 you wrote : > In late Jan/early Feb, I tossed out a question about TDI and inter-agency > acceptance of Nitrox C-cards. I received a lot of info about TDI, but no > really definitive answer about agency policies, other than one reply stating > that the others would not accept TDI cards. > > I decided to go to the source. On 10 Feb, I sent a letter to ANDI, IANTD > and TDI, inquiring about their policy re the other two agencies cards. > > Results: > > ANDI: A handwritten, but unsigned, reply arrived within two weeks. It indicated > thet they do indeed accept IANTD and TDI certs. They also sent > literature. > > TDI: I had sent my letter to TDI in Key Largo, FL, but only 4-5 days after > getting ANDI's reply, I got a reply from Bret Gillaim in Bath, ME. He > also said that there was no problem with ANDI or IANTD certs. He also > included a copy of the TDI newsletter for my perusal. > > IANTD: Has not deigned, as yet, to honor me with an answer. > > So, ANDI and TDI get good grades for customer relations. IANTD's silence > may have something to do with the fact that, according to their ads, they > want $5.75 before they'll even send you a list of their instructors (which > is sort of like charging you to read an ad, isn't it?). Maybe they want $ > up front to talk to prospective customers, or maybe they lost the letter. > Either way, at this juncture, IANTD gets a failing (IMHO) grade in > (potential) customer relation, and I still have no definitive answer > about their cert acceptance policy. I do, however, have a tendancy to > to spend my all-too-scarce recreational funding where I feel I am treated > with respect. > > Are there any people reading TechDiver or rec-scuba that can comment, *authori- > tatively*, on IANTD's interagency acceptance policy? > > Dave (future Nitrox) Ventre > Quincy, MA > -- > Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@opal.com'. > Send subscription/archive requests to `techdiver-request@opal.com'. > > Dave, I am an IANTD instructor trainer in the UK, so maybe I can pass some helpful comments along (I am also a TDI instructor!). I am sorry you didn't get a reply direct form IANTD, if you could E-mail me and tell me where you sent your letter to I will be glad to chase it up. Anyway, here is our interpretation of cross-over status. Firstly, at this years Tek conference meetings were held to try to determine crossover status, but a stumbling block from IANTD's point of view (globally) is that TDI run slightly diffrent courses in the UK and the USA, which makes publishing an international crossover status difficult. Secondly, IANTD and ANDI differ on the question of EANx oxygen allowable concentrations - safeair is 21-50% O2, and both IANTD and TDI allow use of up to pure O2 on Tech/Extended range and above. :From a practical point of view, however, cross overs /acceptancy is less of a problem - for instance if you do a TDI basic nitrox you could continue up the IANTD ladder to Tech nitrox, since TDI course content and philosophy is similar (lets face it , it's all come from the same place.) ANDI is a little different, in that some of their course content is different, and a cross over student would need to be brought up to speed on these topics (the 50% thing, and usually a recalibration on the reduction in narcosis, which is at best an arguable benefit.) I dont believe anyone will do a "straight" cross over ie because you have a ANDI complete user cert you would not be entitled to simply be issued with an IANTD Advanced nitrox cert - but you would be entitled to enter into the next higher level of course, with additional training if required. Most stores filling nitrox (at least in the UK) hold agency with both TDI and IANTD, though ANDI is less widespread. The IANTD/TDI higher level courses (ie trimix ) are also similar, but I am confused about ANDI's status here - I ahve been told by one ANDI trimix IT that they do not use a travel gas (????) and they teach deco on 50%, which would certainly not be appropriate in cold water, and by another that despite the fact their course materials do not cover pure 02 deco they do it anyway. Maybe if you find out the real answer you could post it here. And last but not least, as I am sure all the instructors on this forum will tell you, the agency you train with is less relevant than choosing a good instructor, whom you feel happy with, maybe with personal reccomendation from a student. What you don't want is someone hung up on interagency politics. I hope this is useful, please go ahead and do your course with a good instructor, and don't be put off by inter agency semantics safe diving Martin -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Martin Smith EMail martin@ | | Mail sent via Demon Internet - Full IP for 10/Month Tel:0181 371 1234 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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