Advanced Open Water Paired with...

[Slym]

So I have put quite a bit into learning and continuing diving this year, so I am just going to continue enjoying the sport for the rest of the summer. Next summer however I want to get my advanced OW and pair it with something. Logically I should do Nitrox, however what I really want to do is Solo diver speciality.

By the end of this summer I should have around 50-60 logged dives in my first year of being certified.

I know solo diving is something that is a bit debated, so here are the reasons I want to do it.
1. I live on the water and I want to see what is on the shoreline but don't want to bore my friends doing it (or wasting their air on something that interests me)
2. Eventually I want to go a technical route for seeing wrecks and from the course outline it looks like a decent first step. I gather some needed equipment like a pony setup, and learn some new skills that will help in the future. I know Intro to Tech is a great course for obviously getting into tech, but I am not looking at signing up for that quite yet.

So what do you guys think? Obviously I will need nitrox eventually, so far I haven't needed it but I know I will. Also I would love to hear some pros and cons on the solo thing!

 

[tbone1004]

why not take intro to tec? nitrox should be included in all OW classes imho, but to not include it in AOW is just wrong.

 

[Slym]

I really don't think I would succeed in the intro to tech quite yet, maybe by next summer, but the owner/teacher of my LDS I believe is pretty selective in terms of students he lets take the tech courses, rightfully so.

lol I know right! you have to do a deep dive you figure they would just throw that in there!

 

[AfterDark]

IMO you should consider rescue diver. If I were just starting out diving that would my plan. As for nitrox I'd wait for the tech courses you'll have to take it there anyway as well as mixed gas. IMO nitrox is just basic diving knowledge. Those physics should be taught in OW IMO. I paid for a nitrox course; turns out I could have taught the course. There was no information imparted to me that I hadn't learned years before. A complete waste of my time and money. There should be an option to just take the test and demonstrate you can use and read an O2 analyzer for a reasonable fee. What's more after shelling out the cash and getting my tanks O2 cleaned (my LDS blends) I find nitrox does nothing for me. I go thru my gas before I hit my NDL anyway so what was the point? After 46 years of diving and never getting bent I doubt the "safety" factor for older divers at least in my case. The topper is the LDS wants twice the amount for a nitrox fil than air fill! I've used nitrox on 2 dives out for 100+ in the last 2 years, roughly $125.00 per dive, a complete waste.

 

[TMHeimer]

Yes, do Rescue. Everybody say so and I agree. I solo dive all the time with my personal rule being not deeper than 30' (10 meters), though I have occasionally broken my rule. But I know of people who solo to 100'+.

 

[uncfnp]

Like the forum, solo has pretty much gone mainstream. I don't think too many on SB will argue against the course even for divers that never *plan* to do solo diving. But I agree with the others, rescue first. By then you may have the 100 dive experience required for the course

 

[Slym]

What are the advantages of getting rescue diver?

 

[Doc]

What are the advantages of getting rescue diver?

It's one of the very few secondary certifications that you may never use but will have invaluable use when and if.

Other than RESCUE forcing the CPR training, there are any number of ways to really screw up when you see a diver who may be in distress, the course will go through scenarios to illustrate and teach solutions.

There are also physical specific skill sets as to how to float a diver, tow them, and transition them from wet to dry. You'll learn some techniques that make moving 180# of dead weight possible versus simply not happening.

I am not real big on secondary certifications (such as those you might find in the AOW checklist, much preferring actual dive experience with competent buddies) but RESCUE diver is one of those things everyone should go through- a lot of it is just not that obvious.

And, you get the cool patch.

So there's that.

 

[NAM001]

So much for rescue and nitrox. SOLO is a different thing. I do not view solo as an option of exploring with out a buddy. One poster spoke of limits. I have limits on my diving solo. I stay normally above 60 ft in good water that I have been in before, no overhead's at all. no night, nothing risky. Solo doesn't make you independent of a buddy. There are always things only a buddy can do. There fore I avoid putting myself in conditions that only a buddy can get me out. Solo do0es give you a lot of optioins of getting your self out of trouble on your own. Low air, gear malfunctions, minor entanglements, ect. Makes you a great buddy in that you can actually render assistance to your buddy and fix their problem.

 

[AfterDark]

It's one of the very few secondary certifications that you may never use but will have invaluable use when and if.

Other than RESCUE forcing the CPR training, there are any number of ways to really screw up when you see a diver who may be in distress, the course will go through scenarios to illustrate and teach solutions.

There are also physical specific skill sets as to how to float a diver, tow them, and transition them from wet to dry. You'll learn some techniques that make moving 180# of dead weight possible versus simply not happening.

I am not real big on secondary certifications (such as those you might find in the AOW checklist, much preferring actual dive experience with competent buddies) but RESCUE diver is one of those things everyone should go through- a lot of it is just not that obvious.

And, you get the cool patch.

So there's that.

Rescue also covers self rescue also. That sounds important....self rescue, could even say it's relevant to solo diving! Rescue then solo sounds like a great comb.