Switching Certification Agencies

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I think it's important to mix who you learn from. Use different agencies and different instructors when possible. Get as many perspectives as you can.
 
I think it's important to mix who you learn from. Use different agencies and different instructors when possible. Get as many perspectives as you can.
I second this entirely. Getting a different view is always useful. And we are not all made equal, everyone should evolve according to his nature and inclinations.
That's the reason I do not like those severely-aligned classes where everything must be strictly standardized (equipment, diving profiles, gas mixtures, etc.). It is very useful, indeed, to study also this DIR-oriented approach, as usually each choice (which later became mandatory) originally was done after careful evaluation of several alternatives, and for very good reasons.
This is the real concept, to evaluate carefully the options and choose the more adequate one, case by case.
Not applying a recipe coming form someone else, and possibly carefully tailored to a quite different situation.
So learn from as many sources you can, but try to gain the full control of your choices.
regarding diving with your girlfriend: becoming a scuba couple is a very nice thing, I and my wife are bounded together very strictly also because we made more than 1000 dives together.
But at the beginning it is better to be trained in separate groups, as others have already pointed out. Each one must reach a complete self-confidence and become autonomous, before starting to dive as buddies.
 
Keep in mind that all of these certification agencies, whether they be NAUI, PADI, SSI, ad nauseum, are little more than clubs for hobbyists; and that their collective influence hold as much "official" sway, as does the volume of water, in a styrofoam cup at 1000 meters . . .
Curious why you say this, and what you actually/really mean.
Influence on whom/what?
Obviously, you hold this as a very strong opinion, just wondering what you mean.
 
Keep in mind that all of these certification agencies, whether they be NAUI, PADI, SSI, ad nauseum, are little more than clubs for hobbyists; and that their collective influence hold as much "official" sway, as does the volume of water, in a styrofoam cup at 1000 meters . . .

Not strictly true. BSAC co-ordinate with government, conservation and archeological authorities within the UK, among others. Their actions shape legislation relating to diving within in the UK. Everything from access to sites, to legislation on cylinder testing.
Other diving agencies in other countries have similar influence. Within Europe, these diving agencies have shaped European legislation and guidelines.
We get access to historic sites which are restricted due to the lobbying of organisation like the BSAC, and NAS. Sites that have exclusion zones, which make access impossible under normal circumstances, even more so if you want to dive them.
 
As mentioned, generally most agencies teach a similar program and process, the notable exception being the DIR agencies, Unified Team Diving, Global Underwater Explorers and Inner-space Explorers. They have a similar process but skills are a higher standard and produce a most skilled and confident diver.
 
Curious why you say this, and what you actually/really mean.
Influence on whom/what?
Obviously, you hold this as a very strong opinion, just wondering what you mean.

Just a snarky comment, a shot across the bow, on the brand of self-important certification loyalists, who see themselves as some sort of official licensing organization, when, in actuality, they are simply clubs. The epitome, for me, of that attitude, was a dude at DEMA, years ago, in Vegas, with an enormous PADI tattoo on his arm.

On a boat, some time ago, someone's girlfriend, a non-diver, asked which "license" was the best. When I mentioned that they were all clubs, the boyfriend and a crew member almost stroked out, in protest; swore their various allegiances; and didn't believe that, at one time, you could simply buy your entire set of gear at a sporting good store (as did my older brother, who still breathes); read the enclosed pamphlet ("don't ascend faster than your bubbles," -- no scheiß -- really); get an air fill most anywhere, without having taken a class; and hit the water . . .
 
Just a snarky comment, a shot across the bow, on the brand or self-important certification loyalists, who see themselves as some sort of official licensing organization, when, in actuality, are simply clubs. The epitome, for me, of that attitude, was a dude at DEMA, years ago, with an enormous PADI tattoo on his arm.

On a boat, some time ago, someone's girlfriend, a non-diver, asked which "license" was the best. When I mentioned that they were all clubs, the boyfriend and a crew member almost stroked out, in protest, and didn't believe that, at one time, you could simply buy your entire set of gear at a sporting good store; read the enclosed pamphlet; get an air fill most anywhere, without having taken a class; and hit the water . . .
You really do seem confused by what a club is. And totally ignore post #14 because I suppose it is inconvenient to your position.
 
No, just responded to you; hadn't seen post #14 until just now; threads here can go on interminably . . .

So they're the exceptions that prove the rule; and I was referring to the lion's share of sports agencies, which was the original question posed -- each of whom claim some spurious superiority over the other "model train" enthusiasts. "Like changing from Chevy to Ford," mentioned an earlier respondent, in terms of switching agencies -- my point exactly. Band-Aid® or adhesive strip? What's the f**king difference?

How many people outside the UK have even heard of the BSAC? Doubt that anyone sports an NAS or BSAC tattoo next year, at DEMA . . .
 
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