Continuing Ed. or just paying to dive..

[String]

I appreciate your input as a knowledgeable instructor, but you Brits tend to be too arrogant for my taste.... Fortunately, most folks I met from the UK are more down to earth than you are.

Oh i forgot. For some bizzare reason some people that site of the pond are over sensitive and from what it seems require spoon feeding for even simple tasks.

How many people drive a car and put all their luggage balanced on the roof? Not many? Did these people pay someone to say that or did common sense suggest it wasnt a great idea? Do most people know where the front/back/side and door handles are on a car or do they pay someone to show them?
In the same vein, why do people pay for something like "boat" where things in it are just common sense and any extra information can be gleamed online or in a book in minutes.

My first boat dive i was shown by an instructor where to put my weights, how to tie the bungees and so on. Took 60 seconds. Didnt require payment.

Generally if someone does something dangerous by placing lead on an overhead locker, unsecured tanks or whatever someone yells at them and they soon learn.

Im stunned to think people actually believe they need to pay for a course to tell them what should be obvious in the first place if they tried thinking.

 

[fisherdvm]

How many people drive a car and put all their luggage balanced on the roof? Not many? Did these people pay someone to say that or did common sense suggest it wasnt a great idea? Do most people know where the front/back/side and door handles are on a car or do they pay someone to show them?
In the same vein, why do people pay for something like "boat" where things in it are just common sense and any extra information can be gleamed online or in a book in minutes.

My first boat dive i was shown by an instructor where to put my weights, how to tie the bungees and so on. Took 60 seconds. Didnt require payment.

It comes down to merit badges for some. In the US, when you have a little phallus, you buy a big car. The big cars are not enough, so we collect boy scout badges, and display them proudly. When we are in the military, we get ribbons and pins, and we put them on our uniform. My son even get a 2 ft trophy for playing T-ball!!!

In the same way, since we can't pick up girls without merit badges... We get certified, take specialty course, and get to call ourselves master diver and divemasters....

If you brits take away our little merit badges, we become insecure, and need therapy. Therapy is expensive in the states, as they don't have socialized medicine like you Brits...

So it is cheaper to get C-cards, badges, etc., etc., so our phallus feels a little larger....

You Brits must compensate for your small phallic sizes by verbally abashing your neighbor across the sea, eh??

 

[Thalassamania]

verbally abashing

Now there's a interesting half malapropism half pun.

 

[pir8]

Always seems like the same ol rehashed arguments. If you don't think you need extra instruction don't take it but there are some people that think they need it. Does that make them a bad person?

 

[TSandM]

It sounds as though what is really irking the OP is the difference between the single dive of a category which is involved in AOW, and the analogous specialty, which requires more dives.

The AOW smorgasbord is designed as a "tasting" experience. You don't get everything PADI thinks should be taught about a topic (and I won't comment at all about whether what they think should be taught is all that should be taught) but just a further exposure to the information, perhaps enough to know whether you think you want to go on to complete the specialty. To be honest, I don't see a problem with that approach at all.

A lot of us do AOW immediately after OW because we aren't confident enough to dive without instruction, and it serves that purpose -- Five more dives under instruction, and a little bit more information. Or, you can take a class like NWGratefulDiver's AOW, which similarly only has one dive per topic area, but a lot more classroom meat, and you may end up doing the dives over again a time or two . . .

PADI HAS figured out how to organize dive instruction as a profitable endeavor (at least for somebody), and I don't mind that. I just wish the classes had more substance. My deep specialty, for example, taught me to look at my computer to see what the NDL was at the contemplated depth. I dove to 120 feet without any discussion of gas planning for that depth. We didn't practice any emergency procedures which might be necessary at that depth (air-sharing controlled ascent, anybody?) We did breathe off a hanging deco tank, which was sort of fun, but since I haven't seen a hanging tank since, I'm not sure how relevant it was.

I've since done another sort of "deep" class (5thD-X's Rec 2) which took three days, involved six dives, and included all the above information, in addition to a pretty thorough discussion of decompression issues and ideas involved in planning rational ascents from deeper depths. Now THERE'S a class worth the money it cost me.

 

[noobascooba]

could you please stop brit-bashing, it's kinda pissing me off. Maybe he's being rude to you for an entirely different reason than his nationality.

On the other hand, I don't have a phallus at all, so maybe that means I have been 'verbally abashing' you quite a lot... Oh wait, no I'm a girl.

 

[Thalassamania]

could you please stop brit-bashing, it's kinda pissing me off. Maybe he's being rude to you for an entirely different reason than his nationality.

On the other hand, I don't have a phallus at all, so maybe that means I have been 'verbally abashing' you quite a lot... Oh wait, no I'm a girl.

I love the Brits. They're a nation with fine cusine, perfect teeth, cold beer, excellent car electrics and perfect engine gaskets.

 

[spectrum]

You want more qualified divers?? Stop taking all your students to the bank at every opportunity.

Well I agree that information is spoon fed a little too slowly for my liking. In fact in terms of information you can learn MUCH more information reading here regularly. This can still leave some gaps that need face to face instruction.

As for your investment concerns they are unfounded. As certified divers you are free to be out there making all of the dives you want within your abilities. With experience and mentoring your range can grow significantly without paying for any more classes.

When you WANT to learn something new or be trained in some way take a class.

Now go dive and drive down the cost per dive.

Pete

 

[noobascooba]

I love the Brits. They're a nation with fine cusine, perfect teeth, cold beer, excellent car electrics and perfect engine gaskets.

Well you have gone up in my estimation: I though Americans didn't do irony or sarcasm (how's that for a sweeping generalisation )

Actually, we invented decent curry. And we have some excellent light ales. And I prefere teeth to have that au naturel look (I don't mean with bits from the last forraging raid poking out) rather than the plastic game show host smile. And, uh, the cars... Well they may NOT be great, but at least they aren't gargantuan, and in the UK we are capable of walking to the shops without some kind of mechanical assistance :mooner:

This is fun... what was the thread about again?!

 

[H2Andy]

and in the UK we are capable of walking to the shops without some kind of mechanical assistance :mooner:

that's because it is such a tiny country

you could probably walk the whole place in a day