Make buddy take refresher?

[Divesherpa]

Everyone here says to make him take a refresher. I would take it one step further. I would call the instructor (or talk to him/her during classroom work, explain this situation, and ask the instructor for help. The instructor may allow your buddy to come to parts of your class and get refreshed.

 

[crpntr133]

Might try talking the instructor into letting you be his buddy for the class. I was on a dive with the LDS and they were doing a class while I was with someone else. One guy was doing the refresher class and was the odd man out so I became his buddy. Even though I was certified for several months, I got more out of the refresher than my class.

 

[wedivebc]

Everyone here says to make him take a refresher. I would take it one step further. I would call the instructor (or talk to him/her during classroom work, explain this situation, and ask the instructor for help. The instructor may allow your buddy to come to parts of your class and get refreshed.

That is what I was going to suggest after reading this thread. I offer that opportunity to my students. I have had teenagers bring their parents along for a free refresher so they could be a safe dive buddy for my student.
It just makes good sense to insist your buddy gets up to date unless you feel capable of rescuing him when he gets into trouble.

 

[Snowbear]

Kind of a side note.... It seems refreshers don't cost much. If this buddy cannot afford a refresher, how will he afford gas fills and gear rental (or servicing if he has his own gear, which should definitely be done if it's been sitting for 5 years :11?

 

[domesticdiva]

Fixin' to ask a seemingly silly question but I have NO, ZIP, ZERO, NADA, expericence
with diving certifications. Planning on getting my certificate so I can surprise my husband with a trip (not sure where yet...looking for a FANTASTIC dive spot any ideas would be nice) BUT my question is... how much has equipment changed in the last 10 years? I see this talk about re-fresher course and stuff. Obviously I will get him to refresh but has stuff changed enough in the last 10 year to warrent trying to get him to sit through certification with me or would a refresher be enough?
Thanks for any and all imput...

 

[wolf eel]

Do your buddy a favor led him the cash as for where will he get the cash for air fills who cares that is his concern.
If you are planning on diving with the guy you may want him to be as refresed as possible. Its not your duty but I have tossed my share of cash to help a friend to be able to dive and so on. Does he have his own gear ? If so make sure he gets it serviced. If you and your buddy are buddies and you do want to dive with him and you have nobody to dive with then help him or you could find yourself with a ticket with nobody to dive with. He may also be a very strong diver who in the last few years has fallen off the wagon and just needs to refresh himself he may be telling you the truth. Not much has changed in the last say ten yrs.

 

[dmmike]

I have to agree with most people. The buddy needs to take the refresher course. You need to understand that your C-card is only the begining. You need to know how to respond if something goes wrong, how to plan a dive, how to debrief, ect....
And yes if he cannot afford a refresher course how do you know his gear is in shape to handle the dive. As for the idea of both you doing some basic skill drills in shallow water with you watching, this is bad, bad, bad. With a refresher you are in the hands of a pro. He will know how to contain any issue that comes up. Just a question to you, if your buddy bolts to the surface do you know how to react, in the regulator recovery drill if your buddy cannot find it do you know how to intervine and still have a postive outcome in place of a body recovery drill. Please, please please have him take a refresher.

 

[wolf eel]

Will they learn and retain any of this if it happens the first day out ?
The courses for rec diving are great and all but they fail the student. The information is given at a very quick rate with no way of knowing wether or not the person will use it in the event all hell breaks lose. The point the other guy may have more experience just needs a brush up.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

BUT my question is... how much has equipment changed in the last 10 years? I see this talk about re-fresher course and stuff. Obviously I will get him to refresh but has stuff changed enough in the last 10 year to warrent trying to get him to sit through certification with me or would a refresher be enough?
Thanks for any and all imput...

I was certified in 1993 and the biggest change I have seen was the move from training people to use a single regulator exchange during an out of air emergency to training them to use an octopus or other alternate air source. This was an extremely hard change for me to make even though it's a safer option since I had so much practice with the single regulator exchange. If you run out of air and he happens to revert to that response in an "OH, $#@%" moment you better know how to deal with it and most places don't even show you that option anymore because if it isn't practiced regularly it's easy to screw it up and get hurt. Ten years is a long time especially if he didn't dive often when he was diving. The added pool sessions of a certification course would definitely benefit him and a review of dive table use will come in handy even if you use computers when you dive. I'd ask him to take the class with you, besides it's more fun when you have a buddy you know.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[jeffreyd]

Ok well hes being a little difficult but I think I made an impression.

He and I went down to the LDS and I signed up and payed for my course.
$184 for everything but books (already bought those) and when I was looking it appears there will only be 3 people total in the class.. Woot! The guy at the counter had almost no clue what was going on and when we asked him a few questions about training, classes, etc.. he said "wait till (manager) gets back on monday". So needless to say we got nowhere on getting him into the class as a "buddy refresher"

(BTW he has all his own gear)
He asked about hydro and vip which would come out to around $45. Quick question, would it be better just to buy a new AL80 at $150 instead of hoping the 10yo tank will pass. (for him, I'll be buying new when the time comes)

He also needs both regs service, bc, and I think thats it. (Less than $100 I think)
Lastly looking online it says a refresher is $75.
So worst case it'll be ~$200 to be safe again.

When I was talking to him he said he didn't think his regs needed service as they "Have barely been used". I told him "would you test them at 60' ?" He thought about that for a minute. I'm going to make sure he takes care of his stuff before I'll go under with him because its not only his butt on the line.

Thanks for the help and replies.
JeffreyD