Furthuring my diving education

[jviehe]

I did learn alot in my OW class. But I did learn so much more in my nitrox class. I learned alot more than inhale-exhale. It seemed like when we took our OW class they pretty much taught us "this is how you can dive and not get bent or drown". We did learn some about other stuff but not much. It seemed like I learned alot more than just about diving with nitrox. The class opened alot of doors for me that I wasn't really sure were out there. I plan on furthering my education and get alot more dives under my belt. I can do alot more with a dive table after taking the class. I depended on my computer alot more before I took the class and if I didn't get anything other than that out of the class I am happy that I did get that out of it. And no I am not saying I did not know how to use my dive tables before. It just seems like I learned alot more about OxTox and such as that. Stuff I had heard talked about but never really knew what the hell it was.

Well, of course. OW class is about learning to dive, anything from how to correctly enter the water, to how to do emergency decompression stops. Nitrox is about physics and physiology. I just wanted to make sure you were aware that you did learn a lot in OW class, even if it was easy stuff.

 

[jviehe]

If you want to learn more, Id pick up the Encyplopedia of Recreational Diving. There are some good books on gear and deco theory as well.

 

[stepup]

Do you feel that points out the advantage of the NITROX class or the lack of information in the OW class?

In all honesty it scared the hell out of me at how much I really didn't know from my OW class. I mean my instructor is great. He is a great guy and I would recommend him to anyone. But when you start something and you truly know nothing you have to try and catch up quick. I feel like I have a lot more kowledg than before and I truly know that I have oly scratched the surface of what to learn and do.

 

[TSandM]

You're right -- you have only scratched the surface! No matter which direction you look, there is more to learn. You can learn about the equipment, how it's designed and how it works, and the history of its development. You can study underwater life (marine or freshwater) and learn about the ecosystems you're watching when you dive. You can delve into diving physiology and what's known (and what's not) about decompression. You can study wrecks, where the ships came from, what they were doing, and how they sank.

And you can learn skills like hovering perfectly motionless for as long as you wish; moving over a silty bottom without disturbing it at all; kicking backwards; deploying surface marker buoys; coping with emergencies in midwater.

There is no end I can see to what you can learn about this sport, and all the process is fun (well, except for the video reviews sometimes . . . )

 

[Thalassamania]

In all honesty it scared the hell out of me at how much I really didn't know from my OW class. I mean my instructor is great. He is a great guy and I would recommend him to anyone. But when you start something and you truly know nothing you have to try and catch up quick. I feel like I have a lot more kowledg than before and I truly know that I have oly scratched the surface of what to learn and do.

No matter what course you take there’s always more to learn. I’m curious, would you rather have had a course that was designed to teach more? Why (or why not)?

 

[stepup]

That is kind of a double edged sword question. In my OW class of course I wish I could have learned more. But I am the kind of person who try's to learn everything I can about any sport I do. Would I have taken the course if it would have been 6 weeks. No I work 50-60 hours a week and having a class that long would have definately turned me away. Although now that I am into it I will take even more classes. 1. because I love my instructor and what I can learn from him 2. because diving is the only thing I have found that gets me completely out of reality 3. because I have always loved the water and I enjoy doing anything that gives me the excuse to be in the water.

 

[Thalassamania]

That is kind of a double edged sword question. In my OW class of course I wish I could have learned more. But I am the kind of person who try's to learn everything I can about any sport I do. Would I have taken the course if it would have been 6 weeks. No I work 50-60 hours a week and having a class that long would have definately turned me away. Although now that I am into it I will take even more classes. 1. because I love my instructor and what I can learn from him 2. because diving is the only thing I have found that gets me completely out of reality 3. because I have always loved the water and I enjoy doing anything that gives me the excuse to be in the water.

Thanks, now here's the advice I give all new divers, download a copy of the U.S. Navy Diving Manual (free) and read it. It's great fun and you will be amazed what you learn.

 

[freediver]

I took my nitrox class monday night and it was amazing at what you can learn in it. I never realized how little you actually learned in OW class. I am doing my AOW this weekend while were at Gennie Springs. I am very excited about furthuring my E.D. even more. I just wanted to share with everyone.

Congrats on the learning and terribly sorry about your E.D.

 

[mheaster]

My own OW class was a 3 day quickie at a tourist location! (Almost 18 years ago now) It was really very lousy (looking back on it now) I learned very little other than discovering that I really enjoyed this activity. I did however take that "cert card" and initially only used it on 20-30 herded dives accompanied/babysat by very patient Divemasters. I slowly gained experience, knowledge and in-water comfort.

I too continued to invest money in additional training (yes investing money in an Agency) in many areas it can be argued should have (and may even have been) presented way back in OW Class. I am of the personal opinion that everyone is not ready to be presented all the heavy duty info up front! While there are many differences between rigurous trained divers and very hastily trained tourist type divers, they are all just folks wanting to enjoy this great underwater world we have obviously all come to enjoy experiencing!

I now enjoy more challenging diving but never regret taking what I still consider a hasty initial certification as it did get me into this sport.

While I understand and agree with some folks pushing for a more thorough, broader initial certification, I DO NOT understand the chest beating types that think if your OW Cert wasn't more than 8 weeks long that you should go get brain washed and start over with a pari-military organization?

Dive safe and well within the levels of your training or under direct supervison of competent Divemasters/Instructors while gaining vital experience! (Almost sure that statement will draw hostile fire!)

 

[GLENFWB]

I took my nitrox class monday night and it was amazing at what you can learn in it. I never realized how little you actually learned in OW class. I am doing my AOW this weekend while were at Gennie Springs. I am very excited about furthuring my E.D. even more. I just wanted to share with everyone.

I finished my Nitrox class today and I was going to leave this exact same message! Man, I learned a great deal. For me it wasn't about OW training being bad....it is simply how our brains work. I got a great deal of information in OW. But the problem was that some of the information was devoid of practical knowledge at that time.

The Nitrox class today was able to build upon knowledge I had studied AND used in my dives since my OW classes and dives. The fact that I learned a great deal today isn't a reflection on my OW training as much this instructor took information and used it as a building block on the foundation of OW as well as my (limited) diving experience. I am excited about continuing to add more blocks to my knowledge in the future.

P.S. ScubaBoard has also played a big part in building my knowledge base