Which agency should I join if I wish to become an Elite Diver?

[Bob DBF]

Another factor is that with today's quickie courses (e learning or not), there just isn't time to throw in extras.

It was the instructor's position that this was not extra. The Mendocino coast is rural, rugged, and quite unforgiving. He trained divers to dive in those conditions and know when not to dive. Back then there weren't cell phones, even now there is very little cell service, so any issue or rescue has to be resolved by those present as it may take some time to get backup, so planning and executing a safe dive in those conditions is important.



Bob

 

[oldschoolto]

If you are not smart enough to know what you may need on the dive.. You should only diving clear warm water to 20 meters... Having two knifes on a wreck and not having a cutting tool for wire rope is just plain stupid... Not having the back up lights you may need is stupid.. Not having a safe bailout gas to get you up is stupid.. I'd rather have 3 lights and not need them then be in the dark.. Real Divers Think For Themselves...

Jim.,

 

[sigxbill]

just heard about a tech diver who got in serious trouble on a deep wreck dive because he only had ONE cutting tool with him (as per DIR manual) . that is not a situation where a 'thinking self-reliant diver' would or should end up in the first place

It is not reasonable to bring up 'the dir manual' because it doesn't sound like this guy was a dir diver anyway. It is important to note that when 'the dir manual' talks about one cutting device, it is actually talking about a minimum of two - because your team mate is right next to you and wearing your backup ...

 

[Jack Hammer]

The majority of people I've met in real life who go on about what DIR, GUE, etc are, have no actual training in it other than reading about what "defines" it on the internet

 

[Centrals]

The simple answer to the OP's question is NONE.

 

[MichaelMc]

A bit late, but clearly the agency you should join to be an elite diver is:

 

[TMHeimer]

It was the instructor's position that this was not extra. The Mendocino coast is rural, rugged, and quite unforgiving. He trained divers to dive in those conditions and know when not to dive. Back then there weren't cell phones, even now there is very little cell service, so any issue or rescue has to be resolved by those present as it may take some time to get backup, so planning and executing a safe dive in those conditions is important.



Bob

It sounds like the instructor did a thorough job. Of course, an instructor teaching a (OW especially) course should obviously teach what's needed to dive the site(s) where the checkout dives occur. Our sites probably don't compare to those you describe (though there are some things you need to know). The "extra" info. you mention about rescue, etc. back in 1980--I probably wouldn't call extra. Today, of course you do have cell phones, and learn all about who to call, where the chamber is, etc. when and IF you take Rescue....
I guess by extra I'm thinking more about bits of information that may help here and there, regarding equipment maybe, dive travel, etc. For example, if the instructor asked me to, I would tell the group about my many ways of dealing with cramps (beyond the usual one that we're all taught). So, I guess I was going against my own idea of no extras.....

 

[NAUI Wowie]

"better" is 100% subjective. NAUI came before all the others you mention, but I believe "LA County" had the first scuba classes/certification. I'm not sure if NAUI or the YMCA came next. There's a few guys on the board that were involved in diving back then that could probably answer.

My father was a NAUI instructor for the YMCA back in 1962 to 1964 era. Based on that I believe YMCA used NAUI not sure though if they later had their own program..... but am sure YMCA was more like a bootcamp for scuba.

 

[NAUI Wowie]

Irrelevant. Ask any truly elite diver if the agency is relevant. The answer will be that you need adequate training and considerable, superior experience. Lots of it.

So if one wants to to very technical cave dives SSI and PADI can train you as well as GUE or UTD TDI? Thats what you just said I wanted to know if you believe that. I really dont know thus the thread.

 

[dallaskincaid]

Hello all, newer board member here and just wondering after coming across a couple of old threads which groups are Elite and which are standard?

From what I can tell Naui, SSI, and PADI agencies are the certification agencies for us newbies. And Padi is the most rudimentary of those at least ive read that alot on these forums. I was certified PADI. My father was a NAUI instructor over 50 years ago for the YMCA. Even though my father was an instructor I only started diving about a year and a half ago but I digress.

I have started reading about GUE, DIR, WKPP, Hogarthian method, etc. For my benefit and so I dont step on any toes which of the higher tier agencies are the best to learn from? Ive heard there is competition among these upper crust agencies. Which agencies among the DIR GUE Hogarthian communities are in direct competition with each other?

Could someone just give me a quick rundown of all this so I can read these forums as a better informed individual and eventually become an ELITE diver?

thanks in advance,

Anyone who would call themselves an "elite diver" most likely isn't one. You learn something new every single dive.