I have a friend that does close to 400 dives a year to depths that would scare most people, 200ft plus is nothing to this guy. Probably has more than 5000 dives by now. He has never taken any other class outside of Basic and nitrox. Never taken a decompression class but has more than 750 decompression dives, Never taken a deep air class but has more than 800 dives past 200 feet on air. Other than the posters that will flame a guy that dives like this, what level do you think he is? When should he have taken the advanced class? He has taught himself how to do these dives without Instructor supervision and has 5000 dives under his belt with several stories to tell about it, some good some bad. I can think of at least 6 occassions wher he ran out of air, 2 occassions where he got wrapped up in fishing line and had to save himself, 90 percent of his dives are solo dives, he has violated decompression a few times that I can recall him telling me about. In the big picture that is less than 1 percent of his overall dive total, learning each time and applying the lessons to future dives.
The question then is, does experience make you an advanced diver, because if it did then by every definition, he has experience, or does a good attitude make you advanced diver. Would a class early on, before making some of the mistakes, benefited him more? Would an advanced class helped him understand the basics of planning dives like the dives he learned the hard way on? Would a decompression class covering SAC and having enough gas to breath been beneficial to him before learning the hard way and not having enough gas to complete a decompression schedule. Would a deep air class been beneficial to him to learn exactly what narcosis does to him at 200+ feet? I will be the first to admit that he has been extremely lucky to not have been seriously hurt even when he ran out of air at 160 feet and had to blow bubbles for a long time.
Would any diver benefit early on from a course to give them the tools to at least properly plan future dives that will challenge them or would it be better to attempt these dives on their own to prove that they can do it before learning how to do them properly? Would learning buoyancy on your own be more beneficial then professional guidance from someone that can teach it? Would learning the compass be more beneficial if you got lost a few times first before taking a class to learn how to do it properley? Would trying to figure out how to find orientation on a night dive after the One (1) light you carried quit working be better on your own before learning in a class or pool? Would figuring out how narcosis affects your decisions at depth be more beneficial then under the close eye of a professional?
Students are only required to complete 4 to 5 dives to be certified, thats it. Do you think then with only 4 or 5 dives you are ready, or would another class be beneficial? Say an advanced class for lack of a better word, be nice for them to accomplish right out of the shoot setting the stage for future diving and giving them the tools to make better decisions or would floundering away at 25 or 50 dives with little to no direction be better? With rare exception, most divers just want to have fun and scuba dive. Most are content to follow a divemaster and be on the boat with 500 psi. Very few take this sport and run with it. I think less than 1 percent go on to be instructors. So yes, I think an advanced course is quite advisable after basic, in fact I encourage everyone to take advanced straight out of basic. This course gives you the things you need to work on for future dives and also gives you a measuring stick to see how far you have come and, more importantly, how far you have yet to go. I didnt realize I would write this much...phewwww
Brian
The question then is, does experience make you an advanced diver, because if it did then by every definition, he has experience, or does a good attitude make you advanced diver. Would a class early on, before making some of the mistakes, benefited him more? Would an advanced class helped him understand the basics of planning dives like the dives he learned the hard way on? Would a decompression class covering SAC and having enough gas to breath been beneficial to him before learning the hard way and not having enough gas to complete a decompression schedule. Would a deep air class been beneficial to him to learn exactly what narcosis does to him at 200+ feet? I will be the first to admit that he has been extremely lucky to not have been seriously hurt even when he ran out of air at 160 feet and had to blow bubbles for a long time.
Would any diver benefit early on from a course to give them the tools to at least properly plan future dives that will challenge them or would it be better to attempt these dives on their own to prove that they can do it before learning how to do them properly? Would learning buoyancy on your own be more beneficial then professional guidance from someone that can teach it? Would learning the compass be more beneficial if you got lost a few times first before taking a class to learn how to do it properley? Would trying to figure out how to find orientation on a night dive after the One (1) light you carried quit working be better on your own before learning in a class or pool? Would figuring out how narcosis affects your decisions at depth be more beneficial then under the close eye of a professional?
Students are only required to complete 4 to 5 dives to be certified, thats it. Do you think then with only 4 or 5 dives you are ready, or would another class be beneficial? Say an advanced class for lack of a better word, be nice for them to accomplish right out of the shoot setting the stage for future diving and giving them the tools to make better decisions or would floundering away at 25 or 50 dives with little to no direction be better? With rare exception, most divers just want to have fun and scuba dive. Most are content to follow a divemaster and be on the boat with 500 psi. Very few take this sport and run with it. I think less than 1 percent go on to be instructors. So yes, I think an advanced course is quite advisable after basic, in fact I encourage everyone to take advanced straight out of basic. This course gives you the things you need to work on for future dives and also gives you a measuring stick to see how far you have come and, more importantly, how far you have yet to go. I didnt realize I would write this much...phewwww
Brian
