Are Deep Dive and/or Wreck Dive specialties necessary?

[Centrals]

They don't do the "solve the equation at depth" anymore? That should be a punishable crime.

Set up your own diving agency.

 

[boulderjohn]

They don't do the "solve the equation at depth" anymore? That should be a punishable crime.

I don't know about the thinking from headquarters, but I was glad it was gone. (BTW, it did not have to be math.)

The problem I had was that in most cases, the students did just as well or better at depth as on the surface. Thus, they learned from the experience that narcosis was not a big deal, nothing to be concerned about. I suspect that was the reason it was stopped.

 

[MarkA]

get a bunch of friends that have the same ambition/goals and get on with it -there needs to be more self reliance/motivation- pay a bit more money and charter a boat for a few days

This makes me think of the club diving I used to be involved with in the UK. Even then we followed the BSAC safe diving practices.

A group of us bought a RIB and used to dive in the 30-50m range. Again following the safe diving practices.

Have I taken either of the courses? No. Would I if I couldn’t do the dives without them? Yes

 

[tursiops]

They don't do the "solve the equation at depth" anymore? That should be a punishable crime.

There was never a requirement to "solve the equation at depth."
The current wording of that requirement (on Dive 3 of the full Deep Specialty) is:

Compare the amount of time needed to complete a task on the surface and at depth.​

The task is determined by the instructor.
Common examples are a combination lock, simple math problems, a maze, etc. Some people are more narced for physica;l skills, some are more narced for cognitive skills, so a "timed task" that involves both dexterity and cognition works best.

 

[34109411]

They don't do the "solve the equation at depth" anymore? That should be a punishable crime.

even on the ground i fail the equation

 

[LI-er]

even on the ground i fail the equation

I've seen divers taking that deep course and more often than I'd like to admit one of them asks if they will still get the certification if they don't get the right answer.

 

[tursiops]

I've seen divers taking that deep course and more often than I'd like to admit one of them asks if they will still get the certification if they don't get the right answer.

"Solving an equation" is/was not considered a best practice for teaching Deep.

 

[LI-er]

There was never a requirement to "solve the equation at depth."
The current wording of that requirement (on Dive 3 of the full Deep Specialty) is:

Compare the amount of time needed to complete a task on the surface and at depth.​

The task is determined by the instructor.
Common examples are a combination lock, simple math problems, a maze, etc. Some people are more narced for physica;l skills, some are more narced for cognitive skills, so a "timed task" that involves both dexterity and cognition works best.

Ok, so maybe my wording is poor. It's not necessarily an "equation" but they gotta do something that requires a certain amount of brain power, whether it be an equation or some sort of task that requires cognitive thought beyond the basic "now I need to breathe out because I just breathed in" sort of thing.

I guess I've got some personal bias because I was asked to calculate the number of days between certain dates over a period of a few months, and it had something to do with leap year.

 

[LI-er]

"Solving an equation" is/was not considered a best practice for teaching Deep.

I should go back and ask for a refund on the course.

That was about 25 years ago, what do you think my chances are?

 

[Jim Lapenta]

While deep and wreck are not really necessary, they can be very valuable if taught by the right instructor.
I took both with my PADI instructor and they were done by the book and pretty much useless as I discovered after doing some tech training.
When I taught the classes I taught them as I taught tech classes. A great deal of extra material was added and I took much of that from my tech training.
As for other requirements I would always take my highest level certs with me. AN/DP/Adv Wreck Instructor and Solo Instructor cards.
I check before going and if solo is not allowed, I don't book with that op. I used to work to buddy up with someone on the boat who subscribed to the "same ocean" buddy system. But that was too hit or miss. Easier to just not have to worry about it.
I don't even like to dive with ops that put a DM or guide in the water that you are expected to follow.
I'd rather decide what I want to see, where I want to go, and for how long. Not to say that I'm headed for the bottom or racing to see everything.
I once spent a dive with an underwater macro photographer and we never got deeper than 40 ft and could always see the bottom of the boat. But it was one of the best dives I've ever done. Relaxing, easy, and saw a ton of stuff.