OW classes - Things I wish I learned ?

[TSandM]

I am not going to run down my OW class for the very poor diving skills I had when I finished it, except to say that classes need higher STANDARDS.

But here are the things we really didn't cover at all: Dive planning. It was "Plan your dive, and dive your plan," but I came out without any real idea of what a dive plan was or how to put one together. Gas management, which is not taught ANYWHERE in the recreational PADI curriculum. It doesn't have to be deco diving "calculated to the cubic foot" gas management, but I think everybody should have some idea of how to allocate usable gas, what a safety reserve is, and go through the exercises of, "Do I have enough gas to do this dive?" and, "How long can I reasonably expect a dive to this depth to last?" I also think some time in OW should have been spent on kicking technique, especially given that the environments where I live are all very silty. Finally, some specific information on buddy techniques -- how to stay together, how to communicate effectively, and how useful lights are in murky water -- should have been included.

 

[CaseyJr]

Our OW training was thorough, but I wish we had spent more time on buoyancy issues and fin kicks/maneuvering.

I've always said I'm a slow learner, but once I "get it," I've pretty much mastered whatever "it" is (I have ADD). I need lots of repetition and hands-on work. So needless to say, the instructors had to be very patient with me (and they were).

While training, we were given opportunities for extra pool time. I took every opportunity available!

 

[MtnPlayVA]

I am not going to run down my OW class for the very poor diving skills I had when I finished it, except to say that classes need higher STANDARDS.

But here are the things we really didn't cover at all: Dive planning. It was "Plan your dive, and dive your plan," but I came out without any real idea of what a dive plan was or how to put one together. Gas management, which is not taught ANYWHERE in the recreational PADI curriculum. It doesn't have to be deco diving "calculated to the cubic foot" gas management, but I think everybody should have some idea of how to allocate usable gas, what a safety reserve is, and go through the exercises of, "Do I have enough gas to do this dive?" and, "How long can I reasonably expect a dive to this depth to last?" I also think some time in OW should have been spent on kicking technique, especially given that the environments where I live are all very silty. Finally, some specific information on buddy techniques -- how to stay together, how to communicate effectively, and how useful lights are in murky water -- should have been included.

Well said - this is exactly how I felt and to some extent still feel. I learn a little more each time I dive but I feel that the basic, core classes are not detailed enough. Underwater communication is my big problem right now for me - everyone has different hand signals and while it would be nice to cover them before going down, there's always something that comes up while I've been diving. We laugh about it when we surface but it is frustrating to have no idea what they are trying to tell me....I bought a arm band slate thing but haven't tried it out yet.

 

[don Francisco]

They should be divers capabale of making novice dives with peers. If they are not then they got short changed.

I agree absolutely. After completing OW one should be able to do a novice dive w/o any serious untoward consequences.

Problem is that as newly certified divers, they won't have the experienced based judgement to make good decisions about what is or isn't a "novice" dive. Nor will either be equiped to assist the other in case of a serious unforeseen problem.

The old saying that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing comes to mind. Whether it's diving, driving, or education in any field there will always be that combustable mix of youthful enthusiam and over-confidence. There's a reason that second year high school and college students are called sophmores.

I love nothing more than watching fledgling divers spread their wings and fly, I'm just suggesting that they do it with a safety net. dF

 

[DiverLS]

I agree with the statement that OW should be a "learner's permit." I dive with a dive club with many fairly unskilled divers. When they ask me why they sould take the Advanced class, I used to say, to practice the skills you learned in OW. That's kind of flakey and now I have a new answer.

I took my OW and AOW back to back as a class in school. So I'm not sure what I missed. Thanks all for your insight.

 

[themagni]

I had a great PADI OW class. I was taught by a navy guy named Brian Lougheed. It's been 5 years so I may have missed a letter in his name.

He taught us some neat tricks, including a slick way to don of your BC, some site-specific entry techniques, when to abort the dive, etc.

One thing he taught was, "If you swim with your hands, I'm going to swim up next to you and rip your mask off." I don't swim with my hands.

We didn't go over any type of gas management, except for the RNL / PG calculations that you normally get. I don't know what my SAC is. I am aware of the gas laws and how temperature and pressure relate, but I knew that before I started diving. I couldn't see this section in either the OW or AOW books.

We went through the drills and compacted the test dives, giving us 2 extra "fun" dives at the end of the course. This let us practice a little more than you'd usually get to during an OW class. Two people (of five or six) failed the course.

By the end of OW, I was swimming horizontally.


My AOW was not very well taught. It consisted mostly of the really buff instructor telling us how you had to be really buff to dive. There are a lot of Charlie Foxtrot stories on that course, and I could easily start with my shortcomings. One of the people in that class died on a later dive. (Goodbye, Glen.)

 

[soamelt]

Two things I wish we spent more time on my OW class is -

Getting properly weighted. We went over it, but practiced the skill (eye level on the surface with a full tank and lung full of air and then add 5lb). I've since removed 8lb's and am still feel that I am too heavy.

The second thing is practicing a slow ascent. I don't have many dives in, but really struggle not to ascend too quickly.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I think it must depend on your instructor. I felt very confident after my OW with JnD Scuba here in Palm Bay. There have been many times I've been on a boat where other divers are doing some dangerous or careless stuff. The most interesting to me was boat etiquette. Once the people on the boat were such pigs that I asked the captain of the boat why the divers didn't know to be more careful and not hog all the boat space. He laughed at my question and I told him that I learned in my OW that you need to be more aware while on a boat. He told me that I had a great instructor. I already knew that, but it amazed me that divers were so careless. I'm not going into detail, but I'll be happy to share some of the very dangerous things I've seen divers do on a boat.

I felt I did learn more about diving with AOW. Not really safety issues or emergencies, but fish id, nav., and such.

Nitrox class you learn about nitrox. LOL

I'm just starting my rescue course, even from just reading the materials I feel I learned ALOT.

 

[Digger54]

Fin Kicks, definitely. We were taught to be careful not to silt up things and bang into or touch coral for the coral's sake as well as ours. But a good section on the usefulness of various fin strokes would have certainly gone a long way to help with that.

I felt that control of your vertical position (buoyancy control) was taught pretty well but not control of your horizontal position.

I've not explored U/W photography as a specialty yet. Surely they cover some fin strokes for stability while shooting?

 

[SkipperJohn]

My OW was strictly testing and little of that. No learning. My 4 dives went around 45 minutes each. Each time with 6 to 10 other people who were just diving (one group was that non-certified vacation diver thing). Then the last 3 minutes I demonstrated my ability to remove my mask, replace it, signal out of air, swap regulators, etc etc etc. While my skills may be lacking I learned not to panic which is good.
I am smart enough to know that although I am a card carrying diver, I am not a diver yet. I will choose my next few dives carefully and my buddies even more so and go slow!