BSAC Club Experiences

[lord khram]

^^^ This is exactly the problem. In respect of divers trained by other agencies the BSAC's central organisation recognises that training and, if diving within a branch environment, you should be allowed to dive to the limits of your existing non-BSAC certification.

However, if you wanted to gain a BSAC qualification then there is a conversion table that tells individual clubs what equivalence can be presumed. The guiding principle of this Statement of Alternative Training (SALT) is that it simply shows where you can enter the BSAC scheme of training and NOT that your existing non-BSAC qualification can only be regarded as equal to that entry point. The reason for this is cover elements of training that may have no equivalence in your existing qualifications e.g. you're unlikely to have encountered BSAC decompression tables or the dive leadership skills that are introduced fairly early in the BSAC syllabus but don't really feature in PADI training until DM.

An awful lot BSAC clubs do not understand this distinction. They look up your qualification in the SALT table and assume you're only certified to the BSAC grade indicated and your participation in club events is limited to those they see as suitable for their wrongly perceived interpretation of your existing qualifications.

BSAC HQ know what they're talking about so club representatives you meet at major events like dive shows will give you the correct information - which will have been disseminated to individual branches. But whether or not branch officials bother to read that information or, if they do, bother to understand it properly is an open question.

As I said in my post No 14 I am a PADI AI (Assistant Instructor), so am fully familiar with dive leading skills particularly as I have countless times acted as a dive guide for a commercial operation.

I agree with what you are saying about BSAC tables, which I was incidentally taught 23 years previously when I was in BSAC for the first time, but as requested did a refresher as due to the length of time expired, I had forgotten it all. also Helicopter rescue was something that I had never touched on so was given the BSAC tutorial on that. I sat with one of the clubs instructors and went through all the BSAC course syllabus to check this upon first rejoining the branch.

I go with Redshift's way of thinking - 'Stupid people'

 

[Hickdive]

As I said in my post No 14 I am a PADI AI (Assistant Instructor), so am fully familiar with dive leading skills particularly as I have countless times acted as a dive guide for a commercial operation.

Good for you. As a BSAC Advanced Instructor with years of experience as both teaching divers and as an instructor trainer/examiner I should simply write to PADI and get my CD badge as a matter of course.

 

[lord khram]

Good for you. As a BSAC Advanced Instructor with years of experience as both teaching divers and as an instructor trainer/examiner I should simply write to PADI and get my CD badge as a matter of course.

What do you mean by that comment? And what relevance does it have to the discussion?

 

[Hickdive]

Situations alter cases so examples can't cover every scenario. That's why I used "e.g."

I was facetiously pointing out the impossibility of creating a scheme that caters for every possible permutation of qualifications and experience and therefore training agencies have to draw the line somewhere; PADI does, BSAC does too.

I hope this helps.

 

[lord khram]

Situations alter cases so examples can't cover every scenario. That's why I used "e.g."

I was facetiously pointing out the impossibility of creating a scheme that caters for every possible permutation of qualifications and experience and therefore training agencies have to draw the line somewhere; PADI does, BSAC does too.

I hope this helps.

Yes, thank you, that clarifies your comment. But don't see where you used ''e.g.'' in the post that I questioned.

But it still remains a mystery to me why dives in the 25 - 40 m range were considered too onerous for me, given my qualifications and experience. I still to this day think the guys concerned have no idea what the TEC 50 qualification is, and didn't bother to find out before taking their decisions, quite simply because it didn't show up on the BSAC crossover information they had at the time, they just seemed to dismiss it.

 

[rivers]

Yes, thank you, that clarifies your comment. But don't see where you used ''e.g.'' in the post that I questioned.

But it still remains a mystery to me why dives in the 25 - 40 m range were considered too onerous for me, given my qualifications and experience. I still to this day think the guys concerned have no idea what the TEC 50 qualification is, and didn't bother to find out before taking their decisions, quite simply because it didn't show up on the BSAC crossover information they had at the time, they just seemed to dismiss it.

It may just be the club is quite picky about who they will bring on bigger dives, for example, people they have know and have seen in the water. I know I won't do a 25m+ dive in the UK with someone I've never been diving with. I've come across instructors, DMs, and people with tech qualifications i wouldn't do an 8m bimble with in wraysbury.

 

[Hickdive]

Yes, thank you, that clarifies your comment. But don't see where you used ''e.g.'' in the post that I questioned.

Here it is

...e.g. you're unlikely to have encountered BSAC decompression tables or the dive leadership skills that are introduced fairly early in the BSAC syllabus but don't really feature in PADI training until DM...