Diving beyond cert?

[lairdb]

How hard I laughed Scuba police. Knowing me, I’d be actually looking for them like a paranoid squirrel.

Scuba Police:

 

[admikar]

You are putting your instructor, the shop you got your cert, and the gear manufacturer at risk. If you have an accident, they all get sued. It takes time and money to show the paperwork where you agreed to dive within your cert limits. Respect your agreement and instructor enough to dive as you were trained and to the depths you agreed to. Just wait a few until you get your AOW done. This affects more than just you if something goes wrong.

Not everyone lives in sue happy USA

 

[Rose Robinson]

I got OW certified (PADI) in May and have only been on a few dives since. I'd like to go diving again soon, but where I've been invited is generally 60-100' where all the interesting stuff is. I seem pretty comfortable, and am not terribly worried about the depth. I am signed up for AOW next month already. I'm wondering if there's any critical reason I shouldn't do these dives? Dive buddy is really experienced and reassuring, and I'm not above aborting at the first sign of problems or me being uncomfortable. Thoughts please?

Sir,

I have read through to page two, and very surprised to see just how many divers are suggesting you risk your life in attempting something for which you have no training or experience.

You're only a month away, from learning what you need to know. Things such as deep/peak performance buoyancy/navigation/deploying a surface marker/redundant gear/drysuit, to name but a few AOW specialties. I strongly suggest you wait.

Regardless of how qualified/experienced??? your dive partner is, you will be solely dependant on him/her, and what are you going to do if he/she should have a problem, any problem???

Anything/everything that's worth doing, is worth doing right.

There is an old saying, that I'm not particularly fond of, but nonetheless, you don't know what you don't know.

For all you naysayers out there who think I'm foolish, I would be glad to take you on a tour of any of my four funeral homes, to show you what happens to people who thought they could excel past their skill level.

Dive Safely,

Rose

 

[admikar]

Sir,

I have read through to page two, and very surprised to see just how many divers are suggesting you risk your life in attempting something for which you have no training or experience.

You're only a month away, from learning what you need to know. Things such as deep/peak performance buoyancy/navigation/deploying a surface marker/redundant gear/drysuit, to name but a few AOW specialties. I strongly suggest you wait.

Regardless of how qualified/experienced??? your dive partner is, you will be solely dependant on him/her, and what are you going to do if he/she should have a problem, any problem???

Anything/everything that's worth doing, is worth doing right.

There is an old saying, that I'm not particularly fond of, but nonetheless, you don't know what you don't know.

For all you naysayers out there who think I'm foolish, I would be glad to take you on a tour of any of my four funeral homes, to show you what happens to people who thought they could excel past their skill level.

Dive Safely,

Rose

My cert allows me to demonstrate and teach you OW skills, but does not allow me to issue you a cert. So, I can show you all the skills required for OW and train you to pass the exam. Please explain to me how you would be safer with an instructor than with me?
If your assumption is correct, who trained first instructor to train you to go beyond your current skill level?

 

[boulderjohn]

Please explain to me how you would be safer with an instructor than with me?

I don't know you personally, so I cannot say how well you would do. However, a significant portion of instructor training is focused on preventing accidents while working with students.

As an example, a fatal accident during instruction occurred at the University of Alabama a number of years back. The "instructor" in charge was not actually a certified instructor. IIRC, she was related to the actual instructor, who was not present. The student who died was doing a drill that many divers have advocated for on ScubaBoard during the two decades I have been on this forum, but which is not part of the approved instruction for any agency I know because it is considered too dangerous.

 

[Rose Robinson]

My cert allows me to demonstrate and teach you OW skills, but does not allow me to issue you a cert. So, I can show you all the skills required for OW and train you to pass the exam. Please explain to me how you would be safer with an instructor than with me?
If your assumption is correct, who trained first instructor to train you to go beyond your current skill level?

That's like asking me if I would feel safer flying in a commercial airline with a trained/qualified/certified CAP, or someone who simply knew how to fly a plane.

I was trained by a TECHNICAL IT out of Seattle, with almost 50 years of experience.

I never dove beyond my certification level. I have been diving since 1980, to depths of 200+ feet, learned everything I need to keep me safe, and I'm fully certified for everything I do in water.

How does that compare to your seat of the pants theory.

Rose

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I was trained by a TECHNICAL IT out of Seattle, with almost 50 years of experience.

Knowing the typical instructor training in Seattle, the fact your instructor was a technical IT with 50 years of experience means nothing. With few exceptions, instructor candidates and new divers are taught to teach on their knees. Now if your IT taught proper weighting, weight distribution, trim, neutral buoyancy from day 1 of the pool, then I rescind my comment that is generally true, but not universally.

 

[Rose Robinson]

Knowing the typical instructor training in Seattle, the fact your instructor was a technical IT with 50 years of experience means nothing. With few exceptions, instructor candidates and new divers are taught to teach on their knees. Now if your IT taught proper weighting, weight distribution, trim, neutral buoyancy from day 1 of the pool, then I rescind my comment that is generally true, but not universally.

As a matter of fact he did!

On the subject of weighting/neutral buoyancy, particular attention was placed on both of these, and as I read through some of these threads, I feel like I'm speaking in a foreign language whenever I mention neutral buoyancy. To me it's primary and will solve all the issues regarding wearing drysuits and 7mm wetsuits.

I started off diving with steel doubles almost from day one and my instruction, along with the drysuit was based on that. As I've mentioned here before, I own no lead ballast, never have. That's not saying I've never used lead ballast, but I don't own any.

When I travel, I contact all the dive operators in the area well prior to departure, and with only a few exceptions I rent steel cylinders. I also travel with 7.25 '' bands/bolts and a manifold. I have never had any shop refuse allowing me to use their cylinders and my doubles hardware. Further, with only one exception did I ever have to bring my hardware home, as the operators were more than happy to buy the hardware from me.

As far as exposure protection in warm climates, I dive the North Carolina method, bathing suit and heavy cotton coveralls.

Helps me to travel light, mask/fins/five ml boots/gloves/harness-BP/wing/doubles regs/computer/coveralls/bathing suits (2) /line/surface marker/skeleton knife/2000 lumen light/compass/soft Goodman handle/mesh gear bag and the doubles hardware. A few other misc items I may need, I can get locally. Everything in one medium size case. sports equipment will often check-in at no additional cost, and when the same exists, I fly First-Class as I'm a great believer in my hard-earned vacation starting when I'm dropped off at the airport, not when I arrive at my destination.

Simple, no switching cylinders during surface interval, no sitting on a hot dive boat in neoprene suits. I can either unzip the coveralls and wear them top-down or take them off completely as I have my bathing suit on.

Scuba diving is supposed to be easy, and it's only as difficult as you choose to make it

Kindest regards,

Rose

 

[Blackcrusader]

Sir,

I have read through to page two, and very surprised to see just how many divers are suggesting you risk your life in attempting something for which you have no training or experience.

Dive Safely,

Rose

So much drama... The OP will be diving with other experienced divers. I dive with OW divers who have less than 20 dives.
I do not expect them to be able to perform any rescue of me at all.
In June I was diving with an OW diver with 12 dives and she did fine at 20 - 25m depth.
Whoever taught her was a good instructor as she had good buoyancy and trim.
We had a fast current drift dive for part of the dive and she was calm and relaxed on the dive. That was a first for her.
How do you get experience unless you do the dives? Like many new divers she did not own a DC or her own gear.

We dove safely.

 

[Wheeler925]

Here's an update, as I've mainly been sitting back with my popcorn watching people seethe at this point.

Went on the dive(s), had a great time, no problems, everyone lived