Advanced

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Just realize, and I am sure you already do. Taking an AOW course, and passing does NOT make you an Advanced diver.

 

[Jody Freitas]

Just realize, and I am sure you already do. Taking an AOW course, and passing does NOT make you an Advanced diver.

Lol Yes I realize that....

 

[Jody Freitas]

Most agencies also have Equipment Specialist specialty that gives you a better understanding of how the equipment works as well as routine maintenance. Again, can be done online and in a shop.

So this is actually what I was thinking or a safety course (react right, cpr for water injuries etc.)

 

[Marie13]

So this is actually what I was thinking or a safety course (react right, cpr for water injuries etc.)

The equipment maintenance course does not teach you how to service your own regs, just in case you were wondering about that.

 

[Jody Freitas]

The equipment maintenance course does not teach you how to service your own regs, just in case you were wondering about that.

I was thinking it was more of a overview that was a little more in depth than the OW course but not quite technician level. I am pretty happy with LDS so I would bring reg to them regardless.

 

[TMHeimer]

I was thinking it was more of a overview that was a little more in depth than the OW course but not quite technician level. I am pretty happy with LDS so I would bring reg to them regardless.

From what I've read the course tends to vary a lot according to shop/instructor. For me it was OK, but nothing much that really helps me with my diving. I had a lot of money at the time and was a card collector, otherwise I wouldn't have taken it.

 

[Boston Breakwater]

The equipment maintenance course does not teach you how to service your own regs, just in case you were wondering about that.

Hello. I have found this very interesting.
How indepth is PADI equipment specialist?
What I do know....Robert Boyle owned Divers Market in Beverly, Mass. (He has since passed away.) His daughter took over, and I believe they are in Danvers, Mass now.
Anyway....Robert, and Wayne Gomer of Divers Market in Plymouth, Mass were very good friends.
Robert sent me to Plymouth for a week to take the P.A.D.I. Equipment Specialist course. Wayne showed me how to service everything that was carried in the shop.
First stages, complete overhaul, adjusting the I.P. Etc...Second stages, B.C.D.'s
I don't know how it survived after 20 years but, I still have all the used parts in a bag, H.P. seat, O-rings, Diaphragm, Etc.
Wayne asked me to bring my setup. That was the first thing we serviced.
Later, back at Undersea Divers. A representative from a dive manufacturer would come to the shop and teach me, and I became authorized to service their dive equipment. The first was U.S. Divers/Aqualung (which Seaquest fell under.) then Poseidon.
I actually did not know the course standards, and obviously still didn't...
Thanks to you @Marie13
I love learning something new.
I replaced all my major dive gear with Apeks this year. When, it comes time for service. I will do it my self.
Unauthorized, of course.
Thanks, again.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Lol Yes I realize that....

It is surprising how many do not realize it....

 

[NothingClever]

So definitely want to move up and continue training. I have been trained with PADI SSI and NAUI at this point. It appears that the advanced certification has a few required courses and a few elective courses. Is that right? I know I want Deep, Nav, and Night, but was wondering what others did and why? Also will probably need a pony bottle setup for deep, so what are people doing there?

@Jody Freitas - what you’re hungry for is high quality training. You want to be able to smartly dive deeper, to navigate confidently and to dive at night.

When you capitalize those simple nouns (deep, navigation and night), it makes me think you’ve already taken the bait of the PADI rubric. At the risk of inducing some acrimonious convulsions with the PADI Posse, I’d encourage you to look beyond the horizon PADI puts in front of you.

Although you can find great instructors in PADI, that’s a real challenge when you’re a beginner and you don’t have the experience to distinguish between what just sounds good and what really is good. The PADI model of doing a certain dive and getting credit towards a specialty certification was probably virtuous when it was developed but what I’ve found is it’s just a technique to get you to sign up for another diluted course where there doesn’t really seem to be a concerted passage of experience-based techniques nor a culminating exercise. I paid another dollar in for a couple of specialty certifications through PADI but I didn’t feel any more proficient.

Collect training and experience, don’t collect certification cards. If it seems really easy, then you’re probably getting cheated somehow.

Read @Jim Lapenta ‘s post again. That’s the radio station you want to tune to. Call him and just have a conversation with him. I bet he widens your aperture. Maybe he won’t be your DJ but he’s playing the music you want to listen to.

 

[Jody Freitas]

@Jody Freitas - what you’re hungry for is high quality training. You want to be able to smartly dive deeper, to navigate confidently and to dive at night.

When you capitalize those simple nouns (deep, navigation and night), it makes me think you’ve already taken the bait of the PADI rubric. At the risk of inducing some acrimonious convulsions with the PADI Posse, I’d encourage you to look beyond the horizon PADI puts in front of you.

Although you can find great instructors in PADI, that’s a real challenge when you’re a beginner and you don’t have the experience to distinguish between what just sounds good and what really is good. The PADI model of doing a certain dive and getting credit towards a specialty certification was probably virtuous when it was developed but what I’ve found is it’s just a technique to get you to sign up for another diluted course where there doesn’t really seem to be a concerted passage of experience-based techniques nor a culminating exercise. I paid another dollar in for a couple of specialty certifications through PADI but I didn’t feel any more proficient.

Collect training and experience, don’t collect certification cards. If it seems really easy, then you’re probably getting cheated somehow.

Read @Jim Lapenta ‘s post again. That’s the radio station you want to tune to. Call him and just have a conversation with him. I bet he widens your aperture. Maybe he won’t be your DJ but he’s playing the music you want to listen to.

I'm not specifically looking to collect cards, but I also want to open what type of dives are available to me as well. That and I'm looking to broaden my training which is also why I'm looking for thoughts on others experiences with certain specialty course and not just a cookie cutter buffet offered by whichever training provider. As stated above looking to maximize my time out of the water with additional training as well. Not for the sake of a card but to become knowledgeable and then find ways to apply the knowledge. For example taking an equipment course will help me understand the mechanics of a regulator and while I may not be able to service my own, I know what is within a "save a dive" as opposed to catastrophic. Taking safety courses will make me a better buddy. When I think Deep, Night and Nav, I think of diving conditions and how I can manage them. Low visibility, lost underwater, low air at depth, and how to react correctly to those conditions.

So when I ask about the courses I am truly interested in what people found to be useful and not just checking a box.