OW v. AOW

[Daryl Morse]

My contention is that a diver should not be able to go for AOW cert till they have a minimum of 50 dives. I also think that getting your AOW WHILE you are getting your OW cert diminishes the meaning of ADVANCED. I've seen divers with AOW cert with less than 15 dives, which I think is misleading. AOW cert SHOULD mean you have some dive experience and not just be a meaningless card. As someone suggested, OW1 or OW 2 would work too, but the word Advanced in the AOW cert is misleading, it seems.

I wish I had a dollar for every time this topic came up. I keep thinking this horse must be dead, but it always gets up for more flogging.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and mine is different from yours. I took AOW immediately after OW and for me, it was the right decision. I have completed 25 dives since spring of this year. If I didn't spend so much time travelling on business, I'd have double that number or more. Oh well. Since completing AOW, almost all my dives have been "deep" (70-90 fsw), and some have been night dives, wreck dives, and boat dives. (For what it's worth, all of my dives have been in a dry-suit.)

I've dived with people who have completed many more dives than I. On no occasion did I feel I didn't have the necessary skills to dive with them. I don't think I'm an "advanced" diver, and contrary to what some people seem to think I haven't met anyone with AOW who thought they were "advanced". What can I say, but for me AOW was a course that broadened the scope of dives I could do. Don't blame me for the name, I didn't pick it.

 

[pilot fish]

I'll agree that AOW is a misleading title, in that ADVANCED is hardly appropriate.

webjr said it best by mentioning PPB, which I think should be mandatory to AOW along with Deep and Nav. Having said that, I also agree that maybe 25 dives should be required, as you do need to get wet a few times to appreciate what AOW teaches you.

In my mind I think that more people would benifit strictly from taking the PPB specialty than bothering with the AOW.

What do the initials PPB stand for?

 

[ChillyWaters]

What do the initials PPB stand for?

peak performance bouyancy

- ChillyWaters

 

[paolov]

What do the initials PPB stand for?

PPB - PEAK PERFORMACE BUOYANCY

AOW, is being introduced to techniques beyond the initial dip of OW.

recomended AOW training

offcourse the 1. DEEP and 2. Navigation plus

3. PPB <-- this has to be done soonest
4. night
5. freediving hehhehehehhe this is the part before you do your scuba dive

 

[NauticalbutNice]

There are also those people that get certified and are addicted from the beginning and get as involved and active in diving as they can.

Guilty as charged! :lookaroun

I did my AOW pretty much straight after my OW, with a few dives in between. For me it was the right thing to do - I got to experience a lot of different dive environments, learn some important skills (navigation, deeper diving) and got me more experience in the water.

It doesn't make me think that I'm an "Advanced" diver. It does make me think - "Oooo I might try the wreck diver speciality".

For me the fact of the matter is - I want to dive. I want to get as much experience diving as possible. I want to learn new things, go to new environments. If I can afford it and the weather's good, I want to dive at least once a week. I don't want to be a vacation diver (sorry to those guys who are - but I have an LDS in the same town as me. I don't have to travel anywhere for diving and I'm a single gal).

I think everyone agrees Advanced Open Water isn't an appropriate name. But a course by any other name would dive as deep

Nauticalbutnice :fruit:

 

[lostinspace]

depends on the agency.
you need 5+ dives to certify as OW with BSAC.
you need at least another 20 before you are allowed to start the Sports Diver with BSAC. There's nothing in between.
I had over 50 dives as an OW before I started my SD training.
That was good timing for me.
By dive 50 I had done a night dive, wreck dive, down to 35m (ok not allowed under OW guidance, but I had an instructor with me), etc.
I felt pretty darn comfortable and could do a 35m dive (no-deco) on only half a 10L tank.
At the same time I was diving with (not as a buddy pair) a bloke who had his PADI AOW and was technically more qualified than me but had only done 22 dives, and floundered like an elephant under water.
It depends on the individual.

 

[pilot fish]

peak performance bouyancy

- ChillyWaters

Thank you. Obviouis, once you see it :brain: My instructor said that I was ok with that. They felt very comfortable with me in the water. Maybe they tell all their students that to get tips?

 

[pilot fish]

Guilty as charged! :lookaroun

I did my AOW pretty much straight after my OW, with a few dives in between. For me it was the right thing to do - I got to experience a lot of different dive environments, learn some important skills (navigation, deeper diving) and got me more experience in the water.

It doesn't make me think that I'm an "Advanced" diver. It does make me think - "Oooo I might try the wreck diver speciality".

For me the fact of the matter is - I want to dive. I want to get as much experience diving as possible. I want to learn new things, go to new environments. If I can afford it and the weather's good, I want to dive at least once a week. I don't want to be a vacation diver (sorry to those guys who are - but I have an LDS in the same town as me. I don't have to travel anywhere for diving and I'm a single gal).

I think everyone agrees Advanced Open Water isn't an appropriate name. But a course by any other name would dive as deep

Nauticalbutnice :fruit:

Nauticalbutnice, love that name, you bring good points to the discussion. I think we can all agree the Advanced part of AOW is a misnomer? The point for divers having a set minimum dives before they can apply for AOW seems reasonable and prudent to me. Do you want a diver with only 10 to 20 dives going to 100ft? gulp, I did

 

[Keysdrifter454]

That's what the resort course is for.

But there's not too many resorts in Knoxville, Butte, or Minneapolis.

 

[Keysdrifter454]

I have a firm grip on reality, but that schedule you've outlined won't provide an adequate OW course, forget about adding in AOW until you've fixed that.

And no one will pay for it.