Drysuit certification course vs. familiarization course?

[oly5050user]

Great replies. I hadn't even thought about pushing for a freebie or free upgrade. Is that fairly common when making a large purchase like a drysuit?

Consensus seems to be to go for the full cert. If I can get a discount, that will make that decision that much easier :cool2:

And to answer Scott's question, from what they told me, the familiarization course includes one dive instead of two, and does not include the theory aspects of drysuits/drysuit diving. My big hesitation has been that I consider some of these 'certifications' to be somewhat silly, and that it is simply a way for the LDS's to make money.

If you purchased the suit from the LDS it is common for the facility to include a free dry suit speciality course. I charge $250. for that course . In the course you learn of what materials are used in the suit,types of undergarments that are available,care and repair of suit such as replacement of seals and leaks. Takes about 4 hours in classroom alone for this certification,thenyou have pool and openwater dives.
You learn how to actually use the suit and emergency procedures if there are problems in the pool and ow dives..I do not think it is a "silly certification" and can be very valuable.If the instructor does not go over entire class then it may be "silly" as the course would be incomplete.

 

[spectrum]

Taking the DS specialty is very important if you have not been spending a lot of time with DS divers and doing a mess of research here on SB or elsewhere. A lot of the course content (SSI) is anticlimactic such as "why to dive dry" and "what to buy" since by then most divers have made a commitment.

If you are relatively new to diving dry I would suggest at least reading the text BEFORE making a purchase commitment.

If you have been absorbing all sorts of feature, care and use info by osmosis for years and have a ready mentor for those first dives it's easy to blow off the specialty.

If you should ever find yourself wanting to rent a suit of dive unchaperoned at a demo day the cert is the ticket.

A basic DS certification is quite common with the purchase of a new suit.

Pete

 

[flots am]

Great replies. I hadn't even thought about pushing for a freebie or free upgrade. Is that fairly common when making a large purchase like a drysuit?

Hard to say what's common, but I know of two local shops that would be thrilled to make a $2,000 drysuit sale and would happily cough up a class for very little money (if any).

Consensus seems to be to go for the full cert. If I can get a discount, that will make that decision that much easier :cool2:

The chances of you ever needing to produce a drysuit card if you own your own are close to zero, however it's good to have the book, and honestly for the price of the suit, I'd expect a little personal attention and a little "goodie".

Same thing with a computer. If you fork over nearly $2,000 for something like a Galileo, you have a right to expect some training with it.

My big hesitation has been that I consider some of these 'certifications' to be somewhat silly, and that it is simply a way for the LDS's to make money.

The DS card is nice to have in case you're out somewhere and blow a seal and want to rent a DS. However I certainly wouldn't pay the full price for the class if you're buying a new suit from them.

flots.