AOW vs GUE Fundamentals

[Lorenzoid]

Indeed. The gear can be had for extremely cheap if you're patient.

Renting or borrowing gear may be an option.

 

[Centrals]

Just to be clear.
GUE approved gear configuration, not brand specific.
So you need to make choices.

Time has changed when certain brand was synonymous with DIR. But then DIR is no longer enough for GUE.

 

[KevinNM]

My AOW class requires more hours of class time and in-water time than either of the two Fundies classes I took did. But I took Fundies more than a decade ago, when everything was crammed into a Friday evening to Sunday evening schedule ...

I talked to a guy who was interning on a fundamentals class last month and he was shocked at how much had changed since he took it. More content, more dives, more days. He found himself learning new stuff in the class when he was supposed to be seeing how it was taught.

 

[Aotus]

I wouldn't rule out fundies because of the equipment. I don't use it, but it seems fine. It will likely be a good move from a vest style BC, and it can be a lot of fun researching and hunting for good used gear.

Or, maybe you can rent or borrow the gear and just get the skills.

 

[PfcAJ]

Time has changed when certain brand was synonymous with DIR.

 

[Centrals]

Really!

 

[PfcAJ]

Different brands have been used by GUE/DIR guys since the beginning.

A little research goes a long way.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

This is so far off the mark it is hard to reply.
AOW does not offer five specialties...it offers five dives that are the first dive of a specialty, to give you a taste. You had no "specialty" classes.
AOW does not "authorize" you to dive to 130 feet. AOW only trains you to 100 ft, whereas OW only trained you to 60. Your OW certification is good to 130 feet.
If that is all you did on your five dives, then PADI standards were not followed. You had a crappy class, and the instructor should be removed from PADI membership.

I understand that AOW is a "sample platter" meant to give you a taste of complete specialties. Remaining true to that spirit, it should then not issue a card that authorizes the diver to go to 130 feet on his own after a single supervised dive. Agencies should hold that card until the diver has completed the full deep diving specialty. Yes the certified depth for AOW is 130 feet though recommended depth is 100. This contradiction speaks volumes in itself. Either you are trained to dive to 130 feet or you are not trained to dive to 130 feet. It makes no sense why your recommended depth should be 30 feet less than your authorized depth unless the training agency is convinced that most people it is authorizing to dive to 130 should not go below 100.

PSAI and UTD are being honest here IMHO.

PSAI does not teach AOW and to dive to 100 you need to do their full deep specialty. To go deeper they teach Narcosis Management course which prepares you far more for that depth than the single one dive sampler. UTD does not believe in deep air so they introduce Helium if you are thinking about going below 100. There is no "30 foot of grey area" in any of those agencies and purely from a consumer point of view I can appreciate that.

 

[tursiops]

I understand that AOW is a "sample platter" meant to give you a taste of complete specialties. Remaining true to that spirit, it should then not issue a card that authorizes the diver to go to 130 feet on his own after a single supervised dive.

AOW does not "authorize the diver to go to 130 ft." I do not where you get that from. In fact, NOTHING "authorizes" the diver to go to 130 ft. AOW training is to 100 ft, and all it says is you have been trained to that depth. Your original OW card is training to 60 ft. The Deep Specialty (4 dives, which you did not do) is training to 130 ft. There is no "authorization." All those training depths are recommendations. Your original OW card is certification to 130 ft...but not training.

Yes the certified depth for AOW is 130 feet though recommended depth is 100.

Yes, this is correct. It is also true that the certified depth for OW is 130 ft, although the recommended depth is 60.

Hey, if someone wants to go to 130 ft on their brand new OW card, fine, but it is not recommended!
The combination of how fast the gas goes away and the possibility of narcosis make it not a good idea without further training...hence the AOW, and then the Deep specialty.

 

[boulderjohn]

I understand that AOW is a "sample platter" meant to give you a taste of complete specialties. Remaining true to that spirit, it should then not issue a card that authorizes the diver to go to 130 feet on his own after a single supervised dive. Agencies should hold that card until the diver has completed the full deep diving specialty. Yes the certified depth for AOW is 130 feet though recommended depth is 100. This contradiction speaks volumes in itself. Either you are trained to dive to 130 feet or you are not trained to dive to 130 feet. It makes no sense why your recommended depth should be 30 feet less than your authorized depth unless the training agency is convinced that most people it is authorizing to dive to 130 should not go below 100.

PSAI and UTD are being honest here IMHO.

PSAI does not teach AOW and to dive to 100 you need to do their full deep specialty. To go deeper they teach Narcosis Management course which prepares you far more for that depth than the single one dive sampler. UTD does not believe in deep air so they introduce Helium if you are thinking about going below 100. There is no "30 foot of grey area" in any of those agencies and purely from a consumer point of view I can appreciate that.

There is no real difference.

PADI recommends that OW divers stay above 60 feet and requires instructors to keep students at that limit.
PADI recommends that AOW divers stay above 100 feet and requires instructors to keep students at that limit.
PADI recommends that Deep Diver trained divers stay above 130 feet and requires instructors to keep students at that limit.

Neither PADI nor any other agency in the world has the legal power to limit the dives you do on your own.

UTD and PSAI may make the recommendations you describe, but they have no more power than PADI does to stop you from doing whatever you please on your dives. Local authorities have that power. Dive operators have that power over the people who use their services. Dive agencies do not.