Did your OW course prepare you to dive?

[wetb4igetinthewater]

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

Sure. I have described my weighting methods multiple times. We just fine tune it at the safety stop. When making adjustments to gear configuration post training, I recommend the same. And I remind them it isn't just about how much weight, but where it is placed too.

 

[Ted Judah]

I grew up in Northern California. My father was an avid diver from the late 50s.
We made my first wetsuit when I was 9. I was skindiving for abalone at 10. I was terrified at first but my father was so calm and confident I soon got accustomed to cold, murky water.
I surfed all the time as well.
I got my open water cert. in the 90's. By then I was extremely comfortable in nor-cal waters. I remember some of my class-mates were extremely uncomfortable as our first open water dive with an instructor was in 4 ft visibility. It was probably their first time in the ocean. I think someone's comfort level is absolutely relative to their past experiences.
I got my advanced open water certification in Monterey with 20 foot visibility! - I had never seen water so clear!
One of the women in that class became my wife and buddy!

 

[ACHiPo]

I grew up in Northern California. My father was an avid diver from the late 50s.
We made my first wetsuit when I was 9. I was skindiving for abalone at 10. I was terrified at first but my father was so calm and confident I soon got accustomed to cold, murky water.
I surfed all the time as well.
I got my open water cert. in the 90's. By then I was extremely comfortable in nor-cal waters. I remember some of my class-mates were extremely uncomfortable as our first open water dive with an instructor was in 4 ft visibility. It was probably their first time in the ocean. I think someone's comfort level is absolutely relative to their past experiences.
I got my advanced open water certification in Monterey with 20 foot visibility! - I had never seen water so clear!
One of the women in that class became my wife and buddy!

One thing about getting open water cert in Indiana is low visibility is de rigeur—I think max was 10’ in all my dives in 50F water. Now current and things that eat you? Not so much!

 

[rx7diver]

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

I learned a similar approach for diving here in the Midwest US. We used a 0.25" (~6.5 mm) farmer John + long-sleeve shorty wetsuit, booties and hood, Scubapro Jet Fins, and a full steel 72 cylinder: Wearing a completely empty BC, and a completely flooded wetsuit, weight yourself (solid weights on a weight belt) so that you float vertically at eye level while holding a full breath.

That's it. Easy-peasy.

Fine-tune your Pb, if necessary, at the end of the dive when your cylinder is "empty."

NOTE: This wetsuit is of only medium thickness, and the weight of air in this full cylinder is only ~5.5 lbs.

rx7diver

 

[Ron Robertson]

Did you live there then? I'm definitely old. Can't say on there as you know that is a security risk, but yes considering I started way late in life with scuba. Hope to have a few more years left.

 

[Ron Robertson]

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.

Why do you think you got DCS?

 

[Nick_Radov]

No I didn't really feel prepared and ready to dive after completing the NAUI OW course back in 1999. I did feel prepared after doing a few more recreational dives with a DM, and completing the AOW course.

Then a few years later I went back and took the GUE Fundamentals course, and realized I had been deluding myself. I was actually still seriously unprepared, and had to start over re-learning basic skills almost from scratch.

New divers' perceptions of their skills are basically meaningless because they don't know what they don't know and lack an objective standard to compare themselves against. I would have been more confident if the OW course had spent more time on dive planning and emergency procedures. The whole thing felt rushed and even though I finished the required skills I needed more time in the water. Plus I was just cold and uncomfortable all the time in a rental wetsuit; in my opinion the training standards should require a drysuit whenever the water temperature is below about 60 °F.

 

[TMHeimer]

No I didn't really feel prepared and ready to dive after completing the NAUI OW course back in 1999. I did feel prepared after doing a few more recreational dives with a DM, and completing the AOW course.

Then a few years later I went back and took the GUE Fundamentals course, and realized I had been deluding myself. I was actually still seriously unprepared, and had to start over re-learning basic skills almost from scratch.

New divers' perceptions of their skills are basically meaningless because they don't know what they don't know and lack an objective standard to compare themselves against. I would have been more confident if the OW course had spent more time on dive planning and emergency procedures. The whole thing felt rushed and even though I finished the required skills I needed more time in the water. Plus I was just cold and uncomfortable all the time in a rental wetsuit; in my opinion the training standards should require a drysuit whenever the water temperature is below about 60 °F.

I've said many times on SB I think how confident/prepared you feel emerging from OW probabaly has at least something to do with how much "water" experience you had beforehand. The idea since the '70s at least has been to recruit everyone off the street into diving. That was good IMO in that it opened things up more for women, older folks, non-military types, etc. -- but not so good that people who may even have a bit of a fear of water will sign up.
Like you, I found I learned many things in the first couple of years AFTER the OW course-- because the course was really pretty short. Usually there is a lot of "PADI" bashing regarding that so it's interesting to hear from a NAUI Grad.....

 

[Ron Robertson]

I'm glad this thread is still continuing. As time goes on I think more about various possible scenarios and I desire to become more "automatic" in my dive checks and practice of various safety measures. I am still so green I erupt with "I am Groot" every so often. lol. . . I just grabbed a wrench to check my hoses. I've heard of an experienced diver having a hose come loose and not responding well. Would I panic, or grab my alternate reg? How about if my mouthpiece came off and I had inadvertently inhaled some water? I saw where the dive boat I had dived on in Hawaii had a complaint from a diver with 20+ years experience and multiple certs that did not do well. He said he almost drowned that day!

Being relaxed and confident in the water is good, but being aware is something I hope to expand on.

 

[azstinger11]

Learned to dive in a YMCA pool and silted out mud hole in Kansas. It got me comfortable in diving in basically zero visibility, which I think set me up pretty well later. If I could do all my drills, do a little navigation, etc with super limited visibility then everything got easier when I could see. That being said, they didn't teach me anything about dealing with surf entries for shore diving, any boat diving etiquette, reading weather reports for dive conditions, salt water buoyancy, etc. Considering my first dives post certification where in a lake, i felt pretty well prepared for that. My first ocean dives were with an instructor, doing a nitrox course on a vacation, think that progression went pretty well. My OW course did say always keep diving, and keep learning.

The more I learn about diving, the more I realize how little I know about diving. Always room to hone existing skills, learn new skills, gather more knowledge, gain more experiences. Maybe that is due to my OW, i dunno.