Follow-up to competency poll

[joe rock]

A couple of thoughts here...

1. As posted in other threads, even though I was "certified" I did not feel comfortable enough to dive without an experienced buddy I trusted. But as I watched other divers, I recognize how good my OW training was. So TS&M, to answer your question, some of us anyway are very hard on ourselves.

2. Conditions we learn in make sooooo much difference. I, like TS&M dive in cold water (different coast). Wearing a 7 mil FJ makes for interesting descents and safety stops for a new diver. Diving in the Carribian, I can maintain good buoyancy & trim all day at 10 - 20 feet with 500 psi in an AL80 and not cork to the top. In a 7 mil FJ I always do my safety stops around 18 feet to avoid corking and it took me a few dives to gain the proper control!

As someone else said, nothing substitutes for experience. I tried to dive as much as possible after my OW and I saw great improvements every dive.

 

[cummings66]

That's why I voted with the 60% in the poll. For me the major ommission was gas management. As Mike points out above it isn't in the OW course materials (in any meaningful way).

See, this is exactly why I believe the poll was and is useless. As taught to an OW diver they should be able to do those items unless some sort of skill violations is occuring. The question was about if they could do it out of OW, they should have been able to but as TSandM said she could not and IMO was passed when she should not have been passed. If you read her dive log entries which I find interesting you'll see they did IMO a poor job with her. She's suffered many things that just did not have to happen due to the instruction she got. At least that's how I read her journal.

As TSandM has matured in her skills she now see's as many of us do how lacking the OW class really is and like many others tends to answer questions based on what things should be like, not what they are like.

Did an instructor fail, YES! If you can not do those 4 items listed in the poll then your instructor FAILED you. It is not the fault of the student, you can only do what you're taught and know. Is it the fault of PADI, NAUI, NASE, etc? Yes as well. I am sure that they are aware there are many divers out there who do not meet standards and they rarely publicly fine or dismiss instructors as they should. If you pass a class as you did and can not do those skills your instructor failed, if they failed in the same manner with many students then they deserve to be dismissed as an instructor. This does not happen often.

 

[colby]

A couple of thoughts here...

2. Conditions we learn in make sooooo much difference. I, like TS&M dive in cold water (different coast). Wearing a 7 mil FJ makes for interesting descents and safety stops for a new diver. Diving in the Carribian, I can maintain good buoyancy & trim all day at 10 - 20 feet with 500 psi in an AL80 and not cork to the top. In a 7 mil FJ I always do my safety stops around 18 feet to avoid corking and it took me a few dives to gain the proper control!

As someone else said, nothing substitutes for experience. I tried to dive as much as possible after my OW and I saw great improvements every dive.

I agree, I took my OW classroom and pool sessions here in Ottawa with the plan to take my certification dives in the Carribean. My instructor tried really hard to get me to do my certification dives here as he stated that diving up here is a lot different than diving down South, and I believe him. My certification dives were a breeze. I wore a 3mm shorty and had no problem descending, ascending, bouyancy, maintaining trim, although I wasn't horizontal all the time, didn't rototill the bottom or kill any of the reef. I plan on diving up here also, getting in some refresher dives and getting my AOW once the water warms up and I have some practice on cold fresh water with a thicker suit on.

It's all experience anyway I look at it. Both of my instructors were excellent, communicated well, and let me know the differences that I would be facing in various environments. Am I perfect? Heck no. Will I ever be perfect? Probably not. But I'll have fun learning and meeting new friends along the way.