Drills that should be taught in the OW class

[bane51031]

I spoke too an old school instructor and he told me of a time when instructors did yell at the students, something too the effect of "IF YOU DO NOT DO THIS YOU WILL DIE!", with the Sheriff's dive team I am on we do harassment/stress drills, shut off air,rip off masks and more but, I'am sure PADI would promptly request my OWSI if I even tried too pull any of that with students even though I do not think some challenge is a good thing, probaly why I like too teach my Rescue diver class.....

 

[knowone]

R.E.M.A.I.N.I.N.G...F.O.C.U.S.S.E.D. Specialty Drill.

Oh yeah I forgot. There is an AOW 100 dive prerequisite.

 

[stargazer61]

When a student graduates from such a demanding course, they have to be recognized in some fashion.

Here's what I suggest:

Each student is graduated individually, the students who are waiting are sequestered in another room where they cannot see or hear the festivities.

The student is invited up to the podium, and an announcement is made to the effect of

"Congratulations Diver Doug! You have mastered the skills of the Open Water Diver, You've been pushed off the side of the pool and have had your air cut off, you've had your mask ripped off your head and your regulator out of your mouth. You have survived having your leg hacked to pieces, amputated and reattached. And you've been drowned and brought back to life! Welcome to the ranks of the certified diver!"

Then as Diver Doug is presented with a glimmering necklace of mirrors and silver and glitter which is placed around his neck, behind him a panel silently opens which is covering a pool full of baraccuda and a great white shark, and the presenter says "Doug, one more thing"..and gives him a hard backwards shove.

I can forsee PADI introducing a new "defensive diving" course as a pre-requisite to OW. The students need to bone up on their knife fighting skills before getting in the water, and if they succeed in killing the instructor they automatically pass right through to Master Scuba Diver!

 

[Wetsuit 4 life]

This might sound way too basic and is probably only a problem for OW students in drysuits, but I've seen it almost every time i work with an open water class or a club dive.

How to put on your own freaking fins when in a drysuit and when there is some surf

 

[Amphiprion]

I'm not suggesting that the agencies start a program where they take the most nervous student and subject them to panic attacks during the first pool dive. However, although we all insist that scuba is safer than petting kittens, there are dangerous aspects to this sport that can cause panic or injury.

While I certainly think the basics such as mask clearing and buoyancy should be stressed, I've known friends who have had an ooa diver rip out their regulator at 60 feet. I have been about to get on the swim platform on a boat when a wave pushed it up and started pulling me under the platform so that it would crack my skull when the platform dropped.

These are real issues when it comes to diving, whether you are an open water diver or some sort of expedition trimix full cave CCR instructor trainer.

Should an open water student be exposed to some panic in a confined environment so that the diver can handle the situation in real life?

 

[diverrex]

Should an open water student be exposed to some panic in a confined environment so that the diver can handle the situation in real life?

If you are talking about a typical OW diver doing 4 OW dives after limited confined training I don't really think many are past the basics enough to really get beneficial use of such panic induced training.

Certain experinces in a very controlled, non panic induced environment might be appropriate at that level, such as mask off breathing underwater, more frequent OOA drills than just doing it once kneeling on the bottom, CESA from multiple, progressively deeper depths, etc.

And somehow it would be very useful to expose students to current and how to deal with it, getting blown away from the boat is a common element of many diver accidents.

Proper weighting should be stressed more, over weighting is also a common element of some dive accidents.

But if you really want to have some fun, take you OW student down to 500 PSI then wrap them up in monofilament line, then they'll learn why they should be back on the boat with 500 PSI and not just starting to head back.

 

[stargazer61]

If you are talking about a typical OW diver doing 4 OW dives after limited confined training I don't really think many are past the basics enough to really get beneficial use of such panic induced training.

Certain experinces in a very controlled, non panic induced environment might be appropriate at that level, such as mask off breathing underwater, more frequent OOA drills than just doing it once kneeling on the bottom, CESA from multiple, progressively deeper depths, etc.

And somehow it would be very useful to expose students to current and how to deal with it, getting blown away from the boat is a common element of many diver accidents.

Proper weighting should be stressed more, over weighting is also a common element of some dive accidents.

But if you really want to have some fun, take you OW student down to 500 PSI then wrap them up in monofilament line, then they'll learn why they should be back on the boat with 500 PSI and not just starting to head back.

All of that makes sense except the idea of multiple CESA's. This is likely to result in some too rapid ascents with potential for injury. And CESA is fairly well down the list of preferred solutions to OOA anyway. The focus should be on not getting into a situation that requires CESA, although obviously we should at least know the skill in case it is the best available option.

 

[diverrex]

All of that makes sense except the idea of multiple CESA's. This is likely to result in some too rapid ascents with potential for injury. And CESA is fairly well down the list of preferred solutions to OOA anyway. The focus should be on not getting into a situation that requires CESA, although obviously we should at least know the skill in case it is the best available option.

I agree that more emphasis should be placed on how not to get into certain situations in the first place. The only reasonable way to get into OOA is mechanical failure like a blown hose for instance, not simply neglect at watching your air. I mentioned CESA not so much as the best way out of an OOA situation, but more as a way to gain some experience underwater not just breathing off a functioning reg. I think the CESA drill is useful to help instill the idea that just because your air is cut off you don't need to panic and assume you will die, there are alternatives as long as you stay calm.

But you are correct, emphasizing slow ascents and developing the technique to do so is an important skill, fast ascents are also a problem with many dive accidents.

 

[Kingpatzer]

I'd like to see a stronger emphasis on maintaining depth while swimming. To me the PADI hovering the water column exercise is about experience, but not maintaining neutral buoyancy. We address this in our class by having a rope course laid out underwater in the lake about 10' off of the bottom. We have the students swim next to the rope and use it as a reference to keep their position relative to the rope relatively constant. But it isn't part of the standard. I find that students who can pass the hover test still have some problems keeping level with the rope for the whole course. Though typically by the end of OW it's been mastered.

 

[Blackwood]

I'd like to see a stronger emphasis on maintaining depth while swimming. To me the PADI hovering the water column exercise is about experience, but not maintaining neutral buoyancy. We address this in our class by having a rope course laid out underwater in the lake about 10' off of the bottom. We have the students swim next to the rope and use it as a reference to keep their position relative to the rope relatively constant.

I definitely see that having more value that swimming through hoops. Any reason you don't have them do it using their gauges?