equipment Requirements
Tec 40 Equipment Requirement
The following lists the equipment that is required for the Tec 40 course.
• Any one of the following appropriately labeled and marked options:
• A single cylinder with a dual outlet valve (eg H valve or Y valve).
• A single cylinder with single outlet valve and a pony bottle. Pony bottle should
have same gas as main cylinder, or be breathable at the deepest planned dive
depth. The minimum size cylinder is one with a free gas capacity of 850 litres/30
cubic feet.
• Back mounted doubles with dual isolator manifold
• Two side mounted cylinders (side mount configuration)
•Two complete regulators, one with a two metre/seven foot hose for air sharing and
one with SPG. Where two, unmanifolded cylinders are used (side mount or pony
bottle), each regulator must have an SPG, carried and/or marked in such a way as to
avoid confusion between them.
• Stage/deco cylinder with attachment hardware and a single second
stage regulator and SPG. Note: It is recommended that each diver have
and use individual stage/deco cylinders. However, it is acceptable for
students to practice required skills with a shared cylinder.
• BCD with D-rings or other attachment points for a stage/deco cylinder.
(See note below.)
• Two dive computers, or one computer with a backup timer and depth
gauge with dive tables.
• Exposure suit appropriate for environment and dive duration (if students
will use dry suits, they should be trained/experienced in their use
in recreational diving prior to using them for tec training or diving).
• Argon dry suit inflation system (as needed for environment)
• Weight system (If required. Note: Students and staff should weight for
the contingency of decompressing with near-empty cylinders.)
• Jon line (as needed for environment)
• Inflatable signal tube, whistle and/or other visual and audible surface
signaling devices. Note that a sausage type DSMB may double for the
inflatable signal tube.
• Reel and lift bag (bright orange preferred) or DSMB. A suitable DSMB
has sufficient buoyancy to help steady a diver during a drifting decompression,
and is unlikely to spill when deployed from the underwater
• Knife/cutting device and back up
• Slate
• Back up mask (optional)
• Compass
• Lights (optional – as required for dive environment)
• Backup buoyancy control – the student must have a reliable means for
controlling buoyancy and maintaining decompression stops in midwater
with a failed primary BCD. This is usually accomplished with a backup
BCD (double wings) or, when using light weight cylinders, the use of a
dry suit is permitted.
Note that in cases where the student is carrying a relatively small quantity of
overall weight (e.g., a single cylinder only) one source of buoyancy control may
be acceptable at the instructor’s discretion, provided that there is a reliable alternative
method for maintaining decompression stops, such as ascending along
a mooring line or decompressing on the bottom if topography allows.
Note: A lift bag/DSMB is not considered a reliable method of backup buoyancy control.
Allowed equipment
The following equipment may be used by Tec 40 students, but is not required.
• Tec harness fitted for a single cylinder.
• Snorkel (may be worn or carried in a pocket).
• Students in the Tec 40 course may use the back mount or side mount equipment
specified for the Tec 45 and Tec 50 courses, and it is recommended that they do
so if they are clearly interested in continuing on to Tec 45 and beyond.