My own equipment not allowed for Open Water class?

[formernuke]

Some here are actually for computers because of that credit card scam last year.

 

[MaxE]

i have never once been asked for a certification for ANY gear ive bought.

hell, you dont need a certification to dive....legally its not a requirement anywhere in the US....i can buy all my gear online, buy a compressor, and go diving never taking a class, never stepping foot in a dive shop.

what shops have you been to that makes you show certs?

I show a card at every dive shop I buy gear from. It usually says Visa.

 

[Stoo]

Now of course the dive shop is using Open Water classes to sell gear at a profit. Dive Certs are a loss leader for them to sell gear at a markup. We should all understand and be a peace with this reality.

Oh ya, that pesky policy where dive shops try to stay in business by eeking out a modest profit. Of course, the bonus here is that we'll still have access to their fancy air station...Thankfully, nobody hs figured how to sell fills online.

 

[formernuke]

Oh ya, that pesky policy where dive shops try to stay in business by eeking out a modest profit. Of course, the bonus here is that we'll still have access to their fancy air station...Thankfully, nobody hs figured how to sell fills online.

I bought a bunch over the phone/online. Only cost around 7k

 

[lowwall]

...

I would ask which instructor teaches the ENTIRE course (pool sessions included) neutrally buoyant and trimmed. I cannot emphasize enough that proper weighting includes weight distribution (so you are effortlessly horizontal like a fish instead of vertical like a sea horse).

Let's not let this message get lost in the noise. In the USA, the cert agency really does not matter for OW. There is one standard they have all agreed to and you can move on to AOW or nitrox with another agency with 0 problems.

However, the methods for teaching to those standards vary greatly from shop to shop and even instructor to instructor. Teaching skills neutrally buoyant as opposed to the students being on their knees is the most obvious and important of these differences and definitely something that any aspiring diver should look for.

 

[pasley]

M-Cameron wrote hell, you don't need a certification to dive....legally its not a requirement anywhere in the US...

M-Cameron, not entirely correct.
Laws in various cities, counties and maybe even states do exist in the USA requiring certification to SCUBA Dive. Back in 1954 when LA County passed a law requiring certification to SCUBA dive, The Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation started one of the first SCUBA Certification courses in the Nation. It continues to this day and is an excellent course. This course was then taken by some of the instructors and graduates to the rest of California and the nation under the banner of a newly formed Non-Profit called the National Association of Underwater Instructors or more commonly known as NAUI.

The1954 County SCUBA COURSE came about as a result of a Los Angeles County LAW requiring certification to SCUBA dive in Los Angeles County. I refer you to Los Angeles County Code or Ordinances, Title 8, Division 2 Chapter 8.32 where it lays out the requirements for certification, what skills must be achieved, and more. Chapter 8.32. SCUBA DIVING, Division 2. BUSINESS REGULATIONS, Title 8. CONSUMER PROTECTION, BUSINESS AND WAGE REGULATIONS, Code of Ordinances, Los Angeles County

Another law that Los Angeles County tried to impose see regarding SCUBA Diving see

https://nytimes.com/1974/12/12/arch...angeles-law-recterficaton-mandatory-open.html

I should point out I live in California where every 4th person is an attorney, at least it seems that way.

 

[Robert H. Diver]

I showed up to my OW class with all new gear and they throught it was awesome. I used my own gear the whole time except for tanks which I didn’t have yet.

 

[Horgh]

It could be a business ploy to reduce the price of a class when advertising, making it seem lower, and making it up by requiring the rental. The total could be the same, or higher, but the profit hinges on everyone renting. A good reason for a new diver to research their options carefully.

So this is actually an interesting point. The SSI shop is $425 for the course plus that $275 equipment fee, which (coincidentally?) works out to $700. The PADI shop is around $500 I think.. Today I called two more shops, and one (SSI/PADI) was $650, while the other (SDI) was around $400 but then was an additional $220 to get into the park for the OW part, and then additional fees on top of that. So I think those are roughly the prices around here and that $425 price tag does seem like a carrot to get you in the door. But maybe I'm just paranoid at this point. You all made a very valid point (several times) that it's about the instructor, so I'm going to withhold making a decision until I chat with both.

 

[Horgh]

Teaching skills neutrally buoyant as opposed to the students being on their knees is the most obvious and important of these differences and definitely something that any aspiring diver should look for.

This is definitely part of what I'm looking for, as I want to work on my buoyancy and trim as early as possible. Is there a way to ask the instructor about this? Would I literally say "do you teach neutrally buoyant" and expect them to know what I'm asking about?

 

[lowwall]

This is definitely part of what I'm looking for, as I want to work on my buoyancy and trim as early as possible. Is there a way to ask the instructor about this? Would I literally say "do you teach neutrally buoyant" and expect them to know what I'm asking about?

Yes.