Have you heard of this?

[Alex1524]

I am a certified diver however, my dad and brother are not. So we went to divers direct today just to look around and we asked one of the employees how much it would be to get certified. She said its 300 plus boat fees. Ok no problem.... She then proceeded to say either my dad or brother can use my book and that will save us about 70 bucks? Is this true? Because I went to the place I got certified to see if they will give me the same deal and the employee at my local dive shop said no way that doesnt exist. You must purchase your own book.

Whats your take on this situation since this is what you guys do for a living? Thanks

 

[wreckchick]

PADI standards specify that each student has their own book. The only exception I'm aware of is the multimedia CD can be used for up to four people.

Rachel

 

[ronbeau]

I am a certified diver however, my dad and brother are not. So we went to divers direct today just to look around and we asked one of the employees how much it would be to get certified. She said its 300 plus boat fees. OK no problem.... She then proceeded to say either my dad or brother can use my book and that will save us about 70 bucks? Is this true? Because I went to the place I got certified to see if they will give me the same deal and the employee at my local dive shop said no way that doesn't exist. You must purchase your own book.

Whats your take on this situation since this is what you guys do for a living? Thanks

To the best of my knowledge NAUI does not have the PADI requirement mentioned in a previous posting. NAUI does not require students to rip the quiz pages out of the textbook. As a result all of my NAUI SCUBA training textbooks look just like when I first purchased them (with the exception of highlighting).





This is NOT intended to start a PADI versus NAUI rant. It is simply my observation having taken all of the NAUI progression courses from Open Water through NAUI Master Diver.

I have no knowledge of the requirement for either SSI or YMCA. I am sure Jim Lap can provide input from a YMCA perspective.

The OP never stated which agency issued his Open Water "C" card.

 

[Walter]

YMCA has no such requirement. You can buy the book, check it out of the library or borrow it from a friend. YMCA's not in the business of selling books.

 

[alcina]

You do not have to buy the PADI manual from the dive centre.

If you have a book that is intact and current, you're good to go. Two students cannot share a book, however, so you would need two physical copies of the manual when doing the course together.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

What Walter said. For my students I recommend the library or the used section on amazon. It's where I got mine. 12.95 plus shipping for Dennis Graver's "Scuba Diving" 3rd edition. Inside the cover is a stamp from the Oklahoma City public library used book sale. BTW the difference between the second and third edition? Second does not have the "Y" logo on the cover and a page of history of the Y program is missing is all I can see so far. I'll even let people borrow mine if I think they'll bring it back.

PADI's requirement has caused issues with at least two shops that I know of. Why should a family of 4 or 5 have to buy 5 books. That's just plain dumb. And greedy. It would not be such a bad thing to have them COPY the pages instead of ripping them out. That always made more sense anyway. That way the few divers who want to could go back and review their answers any time they wanted. Makes more sense than destroying a book. It has nothing to do with the learning experience. It's just another way of generating sales. And I sure would not spend 70 bucks. Go on ebay and find one for 15 or 20. They are on there all the time.

 

[Walter]

BTW the difference between the second and third edition? Second does not have the "Y" logo on the cover and a page of history of the Y program is missing is all I can see so far.

Chapters are in a different order.

 

[ronbeau]

... Why should a family of 4 or 5 have to buy 5 books. That's just plain dumb. And greedy.

I agree I bought one set of books and kept them for reference. My daughter was the next one to get certified ans she used the same books. My wife was the next one to get certified and she used the same set of books.

I certainly dropped plenty of money purchasing three sets of Scuba gear and accessories in addition to paying for all of the classes.

As far as I am concerned this usage comes under the fair use doctrine as it relates to books.

 

[spectrum]

My NAUI Rescue instructor was fine with my wife and I sharing a book media set. We photocopied the quiz book and never even used the original.

A few others in the class had borrowed books, one was at least one revision out. That may have been overly forgiving.

I can see requiring that you own a current copy within the household for future reference .

 

[Walter]

I can see requiring that you own a current copy within the household for future reference .

Even that is silly. Those who will use it will buy it. Those who are forced to buy one will never use it as a reference anyway.