Diving Doubles - Certification Required?

[flots am]

GUE has an intro to doubles course and I believe the TDI Intro to Tech course can cover doubles if you want it.

TDI can, but AFAIK, it's not required.

Having owned a set, I think "Intro to doubles" should consist of going down to Home Depot, tossing a bag of cement on each shoulder and then climbing a 6' ladder.

flots.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Certification isn't required. A good workshop is highly recommended. I spend $150 for a doubles workshop (not a certification class) that involved an evening of classwork and two dives. It was money very well spent.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Dr. Lecter]

Having owned a set, I think "Intro to doubles" should consist of going down to Home Depot, tossing a bag of cement on each shoulder and then climbing a 6' ladder.

And the ladder has to be a little telescoping number with no handrails to speak of, attached to a mechanical bull.

 

[Searcaigh]

As others have mentioned, you don't need a cert for doubles .... but don't tell PADI for gawd's sake.

I have two sets of doubles, one smaller than the other (AL50 x 2 and HP7.9L x 2) both are very manageable for me weight wise, although the HP set is a PITA when walking over soft sand at the beach.

I talked to a few people before having them set up, of course this necessitated in moving to a wing set up, which I used with a single tank for about 20 dives first. Too many new things on a dive is not a good idea.

I played around off the beach in about 3 meters of water (I have access to a pool but it is used a lot by little kids who I am sure pee in it and I have had enough issues with ear infections in the past so I don't use the pool). A friend of mine buddied with me to make sure I did not run into any trouble. Initially I had some issues with trim, too much weight up top because of the extra weight on the manifold, add a housed SLR and I could see me diving upside down, however with the use of ankle weights (5mm suit) it worked out on my first dive, which I ran with the manifold closed allowing me to have redundancy.

After a couple of dives with the manifold closed I moved on to diving with the manifold open and I started practicing shut downs and closing valves, something you can also do on dry land but it is actually easier in the water.

I only use my doubles for some specific dive sites, and occasionally do two dives with my HP set, saves changing tanks during the SI when everyone else is flaffing around.

I might do a tech course one day

 

[rivers]

You don't need a certification, but there are quite a few agencies who run workshops, going through the set-up, adjustments, shut-downs, getting comfortable and solid in them. They tend to be on the fairly inexpensive side in the long run. I did the GUE double primer. Cost me £100, but, at the end of the day I was pretty solid and comfortable in them. In my eyes, it was £100 well spent.

 

[DevonDiver]

Do you need to be certified to dive doubles?.

In what context?

Regulatory? - need for a 'license to operate'.

Safety? - need for skill-set to mitigate risk.

Performance? - need for expertise to obtain effective/efficient/optimal usage.