Certified in Late 70's?

[Johnmpcny]

Thanks Beester that is how we dive locally. On trips to Cribb wife likes to have DM, I tend to let her follow the leader and drift off a bit keeping her with in my vision as she has her eyes on the DM butt. Never to far as the look I get on top is not fun.

Last trip first ever ocean dive for my just cert 16 yo son the 2nd dive his tank slipped down and almost off. I was near him and reset the strap. Both I and the DM checked his gear before he went in, the strap must have expanded just enough to let the tank slide-down. I had it fixed before the DM could swim over. He has done over 10 dives with his new gear without this issue. He stayed calm and did well, his air usage did get a little high <G>

 

[oly5050user]

You get one here also
https://copper.he.net/~bwana/orderrepcard.htm

Some people here hate this guy. I lost my NASDS card from 1975. After the fire no records could be found and my olds LDS was gone and so SSI would not help. Dove for 15 years and took a break. Wife last year want to get c card and start diving after 25 years of me trying. I wanted to do a refresher. 3 LDS said I had to do full course. Became a matter of principle, I had over 70 OW dives and was willing to pay for refresher course. They all said no card no refresher so I got this one and then was allowed to do a Padi refresher, then one LDS then got over $7000 in sales from my wife, son and I, the other 2 lost out. Did I save a lot of money or time doing this - no but I wanted credit for my past history. I now carry Padi and my SDA card, I always present my SDA card never had someone not fill my tanks or let me on a dive boat. Over 25 new dives now and counting.

He even has a online refresher Scuba Certification Refresher Course - Get the book work done from home.

I am sure someone will point out all the reasons this is not good. It works for me.

this guy offering these "courses " is a fraud..call any legit training agency and see what they say.None will accept this "course" as legit.
Here is statement from PADI undersea Journal;
Please note that David Holt,Aquastrophics,SDA,and OnlineScubaLessons have never been PADI members.Please note that the academic program offered by these three entities is not valid for PADI Open Water diver referrals nor certification.(WRSTC posting 03 Apr 2006)...
So if a PADI instr,or any other legit agency instr, accepted ANYTHING from this "agency" he/she accepted it either because they are ignorant and broke professional standards or more likely just wanted your money and took it not caring if you learn properly.

 

[Johnmpcny]

As I said many hate him, mostly as they are invested in padi, time, money and emotion wise. Having a padi card or a having taken a padi course does not make one a good or safe diver. There are many very good padi instructors and some bad ones. Many local LDS do a wonderful job others take your money and smile.

When I started (70's) many of the divers I met had never had a c card. Many later did get instructor level status and joined a group like NASDS. Since we have seen NASDS die and become ssi and today we have padi dominate north america. Someday Padi well get replaced and all the new guys will insist the new better group is the only safe way to dive and not die... I know of private padi instructors, LDS hate them and if they could they would get padi to stop letting them do that and make instructor be joined with a LDS.

Look guys padi is not a philanthropic group with it's sole mission to benefit us all. It is a business that is out to make money as it should be. It does not want others to get a part if it can. Yes they want to promote safe diving but if the money is not coming in padi is no more. I do not fault them for that.

David Holt,Aquastrophics,SDA,and OnlineScubaLessons has had many people go through his training, he much like padi and all the others provides a service. If someone wants to sue him go ahead and try. If someone is hurt I am sure they will try. If he is a fraud I am sure Padi would have sued him years ago and shut him down. Thankfully not padi or anyone else can stop a person from launching a competing business. It can be handled in the courts or by state laws requiring insurance and other things. As far as I can tell he meets all that.

I also do not see how he is any less safe than these two day dive and certified groups in Caribbean that padi approves of, he provides far more course work and you still have to do the open water with him or another group. I think Padi turns a blind eye to what I have seen as 2 day [FONT=arial, sans-serif]wonders[/FONT] called [FONT=arial, sans-serif]certified[/FONT] divers at many of these places. I am shocked at how unprepared many are when they hit the water with [FONT=arial, sans-serif]their[/FONT] new [FONT=arial, sans-serif]shiny[/FONT] padi cards. Who is the [FONT=arial, sans-serif]fraud[/FONT]?
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[oly5050user]

=Johnmpcny;6194192]As I said many hate him, mostly as they are invested in padi, time, money and emotion wise. Having a padi card or a having taken a padi course does not make one a good or safe diver. There are many very good padi instructors and some bad ones. Many local LDS do a wonderful job others take your money and smile.

Having any card does not make a good or safe diver.Depends on the person ..does not depend on what agency.

I know of private padi instructors, LDS hate them and if they could they would get padi to stop letting them do that and make instructor be joined with a LDS

.

I cannot answer for other LDS but where I am its no problem.In fact if a private instr needs a classroom or pool time in our indoor heated onsite pool we can usually assist them.Talk to the owner.

David Holt,Aquastrophics,SDA,and OnlineScubaLessons has had many people go through his training, he much like padi and all the others provides a service. If someone wants to sue him go ahead and try. If someone is hurt I am sure they will try. If he is a fraud I am sure Padi would have sued him years ago and shut him down. Thankfully not padi or anyone else can stop a person from launching a competing business. ​

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PADI has an issue with false statements that Holt has issued claiming that his online material is accepted by PADI for academic training..it is not.Hurts the consumer when the consumer tries to get it accepted.
PADI has no issue with any other legit agency and in fact accepts many agency's certifications as equal as their own for continue education courses with them.

I also do not see how he is any less safe than these two day dive and certified groups in Caribbean that padi approves of, he provides far more course work and you still have to do the open water with him or another group. I think Padi turns a blind eye to what I have seen as 2 day wonders called certified divers at many of these places.

it takes more than 2 days to get certified. A student needs to have completed ALL academic modules which depending on the student can be anywhere from 10 to 12 hours of reading and watching video plus another 5 to 8 hours in classroom with instructor going over presentations,OR elearning at home. Then 5 confined water modules which can usually take another 6 to 8 hours at a minimum. After this is done the 4 certification dives take another minimum of 2 days to get done.

I am shocked at how unprepared many are when they hit the water with

their new shiny padi cards. Who is the fraud?

The fraud is Holt claiming that any agency will accept his online course as acceptable for training.Customer pays $$ to Holt then discovers that it is unacceptable for training..

 

[Johnmpcny]

I guess what you suggesting is padi does a piss poor job of holding their own certified shops to any standards and rules. Padi maybe should pull the licence of all the dive operations that accepted my sda card for air fills and trips. (I never pass my Padi card to them always just hand over my SDA card (which also says NASDS replacement on it) I am really trying to find one who will not accept it) Remember in 2 years not one has refused it. So I would deduce a very high %, probably the majority of padi dive shops are not in compliance.

I am being pretty factitious here as I point a lot of BS from the alphabet associations. Padi is not all bad but some times the high horse they ride does take a dump.

 

[oly5050user]

I guess what you suggesting is padi does a piss poor job of holding their own certified shops to any standards and rules. Padi maybe should pull the licence of all the dive operations that accepted my sda card for air fills and trips. (I never pass my Padi card to them always just hand over my SDA card (which also says NASDS replacement on it) I am really trying to find one who will not accept it) Remember in 2 years not one has refused it. So I would deduce a very high %, probably the majority of padi dive shops are not in compliance.

I am being pretty factitious here as I point a lot of BS from the alphabet associations. Padi is not all bad but some times the high horse they ride does take a dump.

if PADI did know of it , you can be sure that there would be some explaining to do as for the past few years there have been alerts in PADI's Aqua Journal that this guy is running a scam and not to accept ANY type of cert's/referrals from him. Every current instructor/facility that issues PADI materials/certifications are supposed to read every issue of the Journal as part of their membership agreement. What this tells you is they are either ignorant and are accepting a huge risk as if an accident happens to the individual using one of Holt's so called cert cards the instr/facility will be sued and their insurance company may not assist them.
Do yourself a favor and do a search online for "special advisories PADI" and see what comes up..You will see this guy "Holt" show up several times under different names (onlinescubalessons--aquastropics==etc)..Scam artist..

 

[sheeper]

i had a similar thing where i was certified thru a fire department in the 70's. i dove for a good number of years then stopped for more than 15 years.
well...i no longer had my old C card....and of course there were no records. So with a really good instructor, i did a "refresh" class that was more of an OW class. I demonstrated skills and knowledge, we filled in 15 years of gaps and after 2 weeks and 5 dives....i again felt comfortable AND had a brand new C card. It was not cheap....but it was well worth it. I'm a better diver after that than i was back in the '70's and 80's.

 

[AfterDark]

I'm with you John! Training is important but diving principles are no different today than 20,30, > years ago. The gear is different in that there seems to be a lot more operating issues and recalls these days. I don’t see where it takes any special or additional instruction in its use however. Deco diving has changed a lot but unless you have a lot of money to spend way bother? My 1968 NASDS course was heads and shoulders above and beyond anything offered as OW these days. The course was twelve weeks in duration, two four hour sessions per week. Weeks one and two were all classroom. After that the hours were split between pool and classroom with more pool hours as we got to the end. Four open water dives 2 from aboat. Today one can get certified in 3 days. That is the joke, the fraud!

I had a 15 year lapse in my diving, 3 years ago dusted off the old gear went to the same LDS run by my instructor’s son now. Got the gear checked and went diving, solo. Like riding a bike it was like I never stopped. I was a little sore the next day but that’s it. I did upgrade some gear. I liked the BP/w concept so I bought one and my suit shrunk some and the new suits are much more flexible. No refresher course, I did some reading online and SB wasa valuable resource in getting up to speed, the safety stop concept forexample. But I still wear my mask onhead, and always will!
Safe diving, enjoy!