Achieving master diver recognition

[iamrushman]

i have the MSD...it's more of a recognition than a certification.....i may not get any respect here but i sure don't lose any either....if you qualify for it get it.

 

[AdivingBel]

Maybe it's the way the thread is titled. Somehow seeking recognition as a Master Diver...hmmm o.k.. I can applaud the achievement. Personally, I got certified to dive, not to get more certifications or recognition. If there is a dive I want to do that requires additional certification or more importantly skill training, I'm more than happy to learn and comply. If you can go on a dive with your s**t together and no drama, I'll award you the highest honor/recognition I can bestow (regardless of your cert level)...I'll seek you out as a dive buddy. Might not mean much to you, but it means everything to me. All IMHO, YMMV. Safe diving.

 

[DanielRJones]

There is alot of bashing about the card but for me it is a goal. Not the card that is a byproduct.
I have
Dry suit
Nitrox
Peak performance boyancy

And I am booked on
Navigation
Deep

If anyone can honestly say that the 5 specialities I have done/doing are useless and give me nothing as a diver that is their right. I would be happy if the card had more pre rec like having to have deep ppb and nav and then 2 elective

 

[Steve_C]

When I got certified I knew no other divers other than my instructor. There was not an active club that I was aware of. So I took a lot of courses. It was a way to do more diving. Since the goal was to dive I never double counted a dive. Eventually I knew a number of divers, but still enjoyed taking courses. Some I learned some things, some it was a couple more dives. Only two that I did not find informative were boat and deep. Deep came around dive 200 and I had a number of dives in the 80-90 foot range all from boats. But I needed deep for the DM. My grandson is starting to get interested in diving. So he shows me his pokemon cards and I show him my dive cards. Best use of them I have (except for solo and nitrox).

I checked the other day looking for another course to take and I seem to have run out of courses to take. I have cards from SDI, SSI, PADI, (OW, AOW, deep, boat, navigation, buoyancy, search and recovery, solo, drift, rescue, equipment, dpv (fun course), drysuit, night, MSD (SDI), DM (PADI). All the other ones I have seen are either well within my current knowledge (like fish ID) or just not of interest (like GUE, Cave, Cavern).

PS: The drift had more to it than it sounds. Dives were over 2 days. I had to do the dive briefing and lead a new group of strangers as part of dive 2. Was a very educational experience.

 

[beester]

Totally of topic but I don't get goals like this... a cert that doesn't add anything (some of the individual courses do of course). Shouldn't goals be something like... I want to be able to dive this, or I want to learn more about this, or I want to be able to teach/show other people in the best way possible how to do this?

Not about a card that just groups some random stuff and then puts the moniker "master diver yadayada" on it. Seems to me more like big fish in a very very small pond kind of thing.

 

[Steve_C]

Totally of topic but I don't get goals like this... a cert that doesn't add anything (some of the individual courses do of course). Shouldn't goals be something like... I want to be able to dive this, or I want to learn more about this, or I want to be able to teach/show other people in the best way possible how to do this?

Not about a card that just groups some random stuff and then puts the moniker "master diver yadayada" on it. Seems to me more like big fish in a very very small pond kind of thing.

Goals are a personal thing. 99% of goals are pretty meaningless to the other 90% of the population be it

-collecting stamps
-collecting little dolls
-spending hours trying to putt better. So you can hit a small ball into a cup in the ground.
-Striving for perfect trim. Seems anal to me but others like it as a goal.
-Trying to dive with 1 lb less
-Trying to identify one more fish or one more bird
-collecting baseball cards
-collecting dive center stamps
-trying to run a bit faster
-learning to dive a deeper wreck
etc
etc

Everybody has different goals. Sometimes, perhaps often, the goals are a way of motivating ourselves to do something else in a little mental game. And like all mental games it only matters to the one playing the game.

Lighten up.

 

[beester]

I show my card with pride so my advise is go for it, pick the specialities you want to do, get the required amount of dives and enjoy the master certification, it does put you into an elite group no matter what anyone else may say!!

I'm sorry for reacting like this Steve_C but my experiences with "master scuba divers" has been less than stellar... Case in point... above quote...

 

[divad]

.collecting little dolls.

Hey wait........is that,like, a bad thing....?

 

[divad]

I'm sorry for reacting like this Steve_C but my experiences with "master scuba divers" has been less than stellar... Case in point... above quote...

I agree, I thought "Master Diver" was code for [never mind].

 

[Steve_C]

I'm sorry for reacting like this Steve_C but my experiences with "master scuba divers" has been less than stellar... Case in point... above quote...

"elite: best of anything considered collectively, as of a group or class of persons."

Depends on your choice of group or class of persons.
-ever scuba dive is a small percent of the total population
-do any diving a year or two past certification is a small part of the diving population
-MSD is a small part of the diving population who dive a bit.

So compared to a just certified diver a MSD might be considered elite. But compared to pro divers or experienced divers, definitely not.

Or to take my own area:
-Very few get a BS in math
-Very few BS in math get a PhD in math
-Very few PhD in math do any research past the PhD
-verify few who do research in math actually have a significant research career that has impact.

So is a PhD in math elite? By my own personal standards, the answer is no way. But I do not have any problem with somebody who gets a PhD in math thinking they are elite. It all depends on who they want to compare themselves with.

Having said that, when a neighbor came up to me a few years ago and told me that they thought that that they and us were somehow special because of advanced degrees I was totally turned off and avoided them in the future.

Note that I distinguish between feeling elite and feeling somehow better than somebody else.