What makes a Diver?

[smoothfin]

It just bothers me to hear someone say " I have my advanced diver certy I know what I am doing" Diving and continuing to dive makes you a diver right? what do you think?
Rob

I've never been bothered by people saying they've got such and such certification and they know what they're doing. I haven't heard that more than a couple of times anyway. I think it'd be worth a chuckle to hear it, but that's about it. I think formal training can definitely serve a purpose in helping a person improve skills but the end result is still pretty much up to the person, and I think that goes for anything else in life, not just scuba. some charters making a trip to a deeper wreck will require an aow card for liability reasons, but I haven't been around anyone who would assume that holding an aow c-card means anything other than the holder took the class and the instructor saw fit to sign off on it, unless they had some personal knowledge of the situation. But if someone on the boat insists on being loud about it, sit back and enjoy the show. There's bound to be some entertainment before you make it back to the dock.

 

[InTheDrink]

I've spent the last few days re-looking over my OW and AOW books and they are frankly awful. I don't think there's anything advanced in the AOW course. If anything the OW course is better.

There's no meat in the AOW course. It's more or less pointless
The OW course has some of the keys points but they don't stress the key points adequately so the chaff and the wheat are difficult to discern until you have learned more independently.

And the key thing that I believe is missing, is not STRESSING that all drills need to be performed frequently. Doing something once under controlled conditions proves next to nothing and is unlikely to come to your aid when that real time comes. But that's no biggie. You've got to learn under controlled conditions. But not stressing again and again and again that you have to practise all the drills for when the brown stuff hits the fan and for different conditions is just puzzling to me. Really puzzling.

 

[RJP]

What makes a diver? Negative bouyancy, otherwise he's a swimmer.

Actually NEUTRAL buoyancy makes a diver.

 

[El Orans]

At 300+ dives, I consider myself an experienced beginner.

 

[SelkieDVM]

There are divers and then there are tourists who dive. I would say a commitment to improve your diving no matter what your level is important.

Cheers,
Lilla

 

[fisherdvm]

Modern scuba gear is so reliable that it makes up for tons of poor decisions. Most divers never experience an emergency, and if they gain too much confidence and start diving outside their ability level because of this, it creates a serious danger when even a minor problem does occur.

I am still not convinced of this. I've seen free flowing brand new regs at depth, and newly serviced regs free flowing at the surface - even after a deep dive. So I think one need to be prepared for the worse, which mean good buddy skill; or considering an alternate air source. Especially if one intend to dive quite deep, or in cold water.

 

[InTheDrink]

fisherdvm - I'm in agreement entirely. Assuming that kit won't fail will work most of the time, maybe all the time for some ppl, but if it does and you're not prepared, you are toast. And I do think that is the danger (including for me - it's why I'm concerned about it!). You are trained (in PADI at least) for everything going well. And mostly it does. But if it doesn't, I don't think PADI OW and AOW training in the least bit prepares you for it. Yes, the material is there - what's lacking is the stress on how important it is to feel comfortable (i.e. automatic motor reactions) when a stressful situation occurs (such as free flow).

ucfdiver - If you want to go back a couple of decades in terms of kit reliability, just rent for a while. It's great for practising when things go pear shaped

 

[fisherdvm]

Actually NEUTRAL buoyancy makes a diver.

I'll bet if we'd tied your arms and legs, you'd sink. You're right, but I'll say most divers who use the flutter kicks are slightly negative with a normal breath.

 

[RJP]

I'll bet if we'd tied your arms and legs, you'd sink.

You'd lose that bet.

 

[InTheDrink]

now now, play nicely boys