Did your OW course prepare you to dive?

[RobPNW]

I knew enough to do basic dives without killing myself. That's about all I was expecting. Then I felt comfortable if there was a divemaster along doing deeper and basic wreck dives. I'd say after 25 dives, I felt comfortable with my own self awareness to know what I can and can't do with just a dive buddy. If I do anything new or at the borderline of my skill set, or a completely unfamiliar site, I will do it when there's a divemaster on the dive and review the dive before and after. I have about 50 dives if that helps. Everyone is different though, the most important thing is self awareness and honesty, and not being ashamed of not knowing what you're doing and asking for help.

 

[Ron Robertson]

As instructor candidate, this thread is.... enlightening and terrifying lol

I know it sounds horrible, but I actually felt safe with him. He told me that I was so calm under water. I think he was trying to tell me that I needed some guidance. I'm not sure except that I know he was a bit irritated. I think I have a healthier outlook on diving now. It seemed so easy at first. I am thinking about all of the things that I need to be cautious about.

 

[Ron Robertson]

was he saying any dive buddy you have, you should pay them to dive with you? or a divemaster/instructor? if it's the former, and you're just diving, that sounds pretty insulting....

Yes, it did feel bad. I don't know that he meant it to. I haven't seen him since. I didn't dive there again for 9 years. The girl who was certified at the same time is an instructor there now! That's cool. She is very professional.

 

[kaylee_ann]

Yes, it did feel bad. I don't know that he meant it to. I haven't seen him since. I didn't dive there again for 9 years. The girl who was certified at the same time is an instructor there now! That's cool. She is very professional.

I'm sorry, that is ridiculous. He shouldn't have said that, and if he meant DM, he should've specified. And that's great she's doing well as an instructor.
What area are you based out of?

 

[ACHiPo]

Did your OW course prepare you to dive?

Yeah, I initially went through the late-lamented YMCA program, which was rigorous and covered quite a bit of material; and our written tests seemed more challenging than those a friend of mine took, at about the same time, through NAUI.

That same Summer, I must have logged close to one hundred dives -- a good number of which, wound up being solo . . .

I also went through YMCA basic and advanced (gold) open water in the early 80s. Pretty amazing education for very little money. Definitely prepared me to dive, although I haven’t dived enough since the early years to feel comfortable diving without a dive master or a refresher.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

I am curious about people's perception of their own skills and readiness to dive when they finished their open water course.

At the end of the class did you feel like you had the knowledge, skills and abilities to safely complete a dive with a equally skilled buddy? For this question, lets say you were going to basically repeat your last training dive, but with an equally skilled buddy instead of an instructor. Did you feel like you needed a Dive master or similar person with advanced training in order to get in the water? What would have made a difference in this perception for you (i.e. more or different skills, more training time in the water, just more dives, etc?).

Do you feel that with your current knowledge, skills and abilities you could conduct a dive equivalent to your training dives with an equally skilled buddy?

The PDIC Open Water course I took in 1981 did make me feel very well prepared for diving safely. It was very much like watching US Navy UDT/SEAL videos on YouTube. The emphasis was on survival not finesse. Today, we emphasize buoyancy, trim, and propulsion. Back then, class exposed me to lots of harassment in the pool. Open water training consisted of 1 snorkel/freediving session, 2 dives doing skills, 1 dive learning to navigate an out and back course as a team, and 1 dive doing rescue skills. We got yelled at a lot. Very military. 40-hour course.

In the end, I had the confidence to begin solo diving right after class when no buddy was available. The confidence was there right out of the gate, after that I spent my entire diving career just trying to be a better diver.

Now, I'm actually trying to rebuild my confidence after being injured by DCS which left me dizzy for 2.5 years and without the use of an eye. I went from the training director of an agency and a cave instructor trainer evaluator to feeling like recreational dives are big deals and silent bubbles are like enemy snipers.

 

[Diving Dubai]

Sure. That's why I tell my students to do weight checks at the end of their safety stop. As they often have ditchable pockets, take one out and give to the DM. If they don't rise to the surface while dumping gas from their BCD, then redistribute weight back on the boat from the remaining pocket. Then do it again at the next dive.

It doesn't take many dives to dial in their weighting.

As a rough rule of thumb, I'd check them at start of dive expecting the top of their head to be a hands width under water, which got them pretty damn close doing conformation checks at end of dive

 

[Kharon]

No and No.

The absolute best diver I ever met gave me this advice: "Your card is a learners permit. You need to practice all those skills you were introduced to till you have them down to a conditioned reflex. Do only one at a time till you perfect it before you move on the next. First buoyancy, then trim, then ...And always, ALWAYS minimize your new task load. Never more than one new task till it's reflex.”

There is no way an OW course can provide this experience and skill level.

 

[Ron Robertson]

I'm sorry, that is ridiculous. He shouldn't have said that, and if he meant DM, he should've specified. And that's great she's doing well as an instructor.
What area are you based out of?

Indianapolis, IN. We dive at France Park which is near Logansport, IN.

 

[ACHiPo]

Indianapolis, IN. We dive at France Park which is near Logansport, IN.

I've dived there before! About 1986. Geez I'm old!