Our SchoolKirby Morgan Hat Technician Course
Get the Kirby Morgan Technician Certification
As a diver, your life depends on your helmet. In the Kirby Morgan Hat Technician course, you’ll learn how to fix and maintain this critical piece of equipment.
Dive hats are essential equipment you’ll be working with for the rest of your career so the knowledge you’ll gain from the Hat Technician Course is practical training you’ll be able to use throughout your diving career. The industry standard and requirement is that all dive helmets need to be torn down, inspected, and rebuilt once a year. The soft good also needs to be replaced. This includes O-rings, teflon spacers, and “…pretty much everything that’s not metal or fiberglass on these hats get replaced once a year,” as the course instructor mentions.
“It’s one thing just to throw it on your head and get in the water, but there’s no greater value than knowing how it works and how it functions internally.” – DIT Hat Course Instructor
The first part of this course is in the classroom, learning about legal do’s and don’ts and going through the technician manual. The second part of the course you spend down in the shop doing hands on work. You’ll tear down a hat completely to the shell, inspect everything, replace all the soft goods, put it back together, and adjust it.
Instructor Insight
Instructor’s Answer:
Mechanical aptitude probably. Being able to read a blow apart schematic, understanding what the parts are, and where they go. Most people do pretty well with it.
Instructor’s Answer:
It’s nice to know how these hats come apart and go together because these helmets are our life support. It’s what lets us go underwater and do what we do. Having the ability to understand how the hat functions, and how to troubleshoot when stuff isn’t acting right is a valuable asset to have on any dive team. I personally want to know how to fix my hat if I’m having a problem with it, especially if I’m out in the middle of nowhere on a job site.
The Helmet and Band Mask course is designed and intended to teach commercial divers, tenders, and technicians how to perform routine maintenance, annual inspections, and repair of Kirby Morgan Helmets and Band Masks and instructs personnel in the KMDSI/Dive Lab recommended configuration and use of KMDSI Helmets and Band Masks.
Course Details:
The course instructs personnel how to correctly overhaul the demand regulator side block and all associated Helmet and Band Mask components, and also teaches what repairs should only be accomplished by dealers or those with specialized training. This course was set up to enable large and small diving companies, as well as freelance divers to inspect, maintain, annually overhaul and perform most repairs using the manufacturers’ recommended procedures and guidelines. This course does not teach face port insert replacement or fiberglass and gel coat repair; these repairs must be completed by an authorized KMDSI dealer trained in these repairs. However, it does teach identification of insert and fiberglass damage and how and where to have repairs done. Upon completion, each student will receive a certification valid for three (3) years for the individuals to maintain their own equipment and/or the company’s or affiliate companies’ equipment for which the individual works, as well as equipment belonging to other diving employees of the company as dictated by company policy. Once the training has been completed, the Technician is authorized and encouraged to teach the KMDSI Operator/User Course using the curriculum and guidelines set-up by KMDSI and Dive Lab, Inc. per company policy. The main purpose for this is to expand the knowledge and training within the commercial diving industry using trained persons, thus raising the level of awareness and safety pertaining to the proper use and maintenance of KMDSI Helmets, Band Masks and associated equipment.
Cost:
$800 (Helmets & Band Masks).
Hat Classes have a maximum of 8 students per class (per Kirby Morgan requirements to ensure quality of education.) If the class you select fills up, you can be placed on a waiting list. Registrations are processed on a first-come first-serve basis. Class length depends on the number of students and material being covered.
Due to limited seats per class, register online at DIT’s website at least two weeks before the class start to hold your space. You can pay for the class on DIT’s website when you register or the balance is due 7 days prior to the class start date.
Financial Aid:
This course is approved for VA funding for qualifying students. Contact a DIT Financial Aid Administrator for more information.
Attendance:
100% attendance for the whole course is required to pass the class and receive certification.
Grading:
Pass or Fail.
Refund & Retest Poilicy:
If a student fails the course (by practical assessment or not completing the full course), the student must repeat the whole course and may register for an available spot in a future course. The same cost policies apply to a student repeating the course. Refunds will be issued only if the student cancels their registration no less than 7 days prior to the start of class.
Note:
With this training, you will be trained to perform repairs on your own equipment and the company’s equipment where you work, as well as equipment owned by other diving employees of the company you work for. The training brings the technician into the specialized KMDSI/Dive Lab program, allowing for advice and assistance in all equipment problems and issues. All technicians receive KMDSI technical updates and bulletins, as well as newsletters. The KMDSI Technician Course allows the student to repair only his equipment or the equipment of divers in his company; it does not allow the Technician to do repairs for profit. ONLY KMDSI DEALERS CAN PERFORM REPAIRS FOR PROFIT. Non-Kirby Morgan dealers and persons not trained in accordance with Dive Lab guidelines that perform repairs for profit, do so against the recommendation of KMDSI and Dive Lab. Non-KMDSI certified persons that pose as certified KMDSI/Dive Lab trained technicians are a serious safety threat to the diving industry and all users of KMDSI equipment. Dive Lab trained technicians working for diving contractors or as freelance divers cannot perform repairs for profit, and may only work on their own equipment, company equipment, and equipment belonging to the employees of the company, as dictated by company policy. This is done to prevent persons from trying to become backyard helmet mechanics. All work and repairs must be documented. Any helmets and masks presented for work that do not have a log book showing work history must be overhauled in accordance with Appendix A2.1.
*This post-graduate course is separate from the components of the core diving program and therefore is not accredited by the ACCSC. Any accreditation and certifications pertaining to the course are listed within the course description.*
Classes Held Monthly!
(Maximum of 8 students per class)
For more information on class dates and availability e-mail hatclass@diversinstitute.edu or give us a call (800) 634-8377.