PADI BS or not?

[RikRaeder]

I do the vast majority of my diving and training here in Asia, and at least in the Philippines it is keyed to the book somehow. One instructor (friend of a friend with no reason to lie about it) told me that "the card is in the book." Maybe the temp? If it's making them more money you can bet that system will be coming to a country near you soon!

 

[Whatgoesdown]

Dive-aholic has answered the original post. The situation is this; PADI wished to get away from the bundle of photocopies that instructors used to hand out and try to standardise their materials. If you sign up for a PADI course you get a book. PADI would like every student to have ready access to their training materials and thus requires every student to have their own copy (or login to e-learning). I don't think we can argue that this is a bad idea. In part thanks to e-learning, you do not have to tear pages out of your book any more, some KRs will be handed in as printouts, some photocopied etc. However, in certain parts of the world PADI was selling a lot less books than the number of certifications being requested. In those areas they introduced a book that comes with a sticker which must be affixed to the PIC. One book= one sticker= one certification. It is entirely possible in the future that all learning will be online and they will do away with the books altogether but that is a long way off.

 

[Dive-aholic]

I do the vast majority of my diving and training here in Asia, and at least in the Philippines it is keyed to the book somehow. One instructor (friend of a friend with no reason to lie about it) told me that "the card is in the book." Maybe the temp? If it's making them more money you can bet that system will be coming to a country near you soon!

Whatgoesdown already addressed this, but in response, I doubt the system will come to the US. The problem was places overseas that had a "library" of books they would lend students to review while on vacation. They were issuing hundreds of certs every year but never selling a book. Now they have to sell books. In the US, most LDSs are more than willing to make a little extra money on the book sales.

 

[Supershark]

OPEN WATER COURSE: "student divers have, in their possession, a personal set of materials for study and use during the course and for reference afterward;(unless the materials are not available in a language understood by the student diver)"

"Student divers must have a current version of these required materials:
- PADI Open Water Manual* or multimedia.
- RDP-Wheel, table or erdp/erdpml including associated Instructions for Use booklets
* note: for those using the manual, the PADI Open Water Diver Video must also be viewed.

ADVENTURES IN DIVING:student divers have, in their possession, a personal set of materials for study and use during the course and for reference afterward;(unless the materials are not available in a language understood by the student diver)"

"Student divers must have a current version of these required materials:
- PADI Adventures in Diving Manual or Multimedia
- Deluxe Data Carrier
- RDP-Wheel, table or erdp/erdpml including associated Instructions for Use booklets

I could go on and on and on and on and on.

There is no requirement that students hand in their KR's. They sign the document to verify they understand any questions they missed.
I will NOT accept KR's completed in pencil, they can be erased and the book sold on etc!

With regard to the post made about Enriched Air course, please supply the name of the instructor plus their number. Part of the course is that you have the tables to plan your dives. If you do not, you are in danger.

Dive safe

 

[Supershark]

OPEN WATER COURSE: "student divers have, in their possession, a personal set of materials for study and use during the course and for reference afterward;(unless the materials are not available in a language understood by the student diver)"

"Student divers must have a current version of these required materials:
- PADI Open Water Manual* or multimedia.
- RDP-Wheel, table or erdp/erdpml including associated Instructions for Use booklets
* note: for those using the manual, the PADI Open Water Diver Video must also be viewed.

ADVENTURES IN DIVING:student divers have, in their possession, a personal set of materials for study and use during the course and for reference afterward;(unless the materials are not available in a language understood by the student diver)"

"Student divers must have a current version of these required materials:
- PADI Adventures in Diving Manual or Multimedia
- Deluxe Data Carrier
- RDP-Wheel, table or erdp/erdpml including associated Instructions for Use booklets

I could go on and on and on and on and on.

There is no requirement that students hand in their KR's. They sign the document to verify they understand any questions they missed.
I will NOT accept KR's completed in pencil, they can be erased and the book sold on etc!

With regard to the post made about Enriched Air course, please supply the name of the instructor plus their number. Part of the course is that you have the tables to plan your dives. If you do not, you are in danger.

Dive safe

 

[Atomic_Diver]

well... when I took my Adv OW course my instructor had us do the knowlage reviews, tear it out, and turn it in.

 

[NudeDiver]

They were issuing hundreds of certs every year but never selling a book. Now they have to sell books.

I had this experience. Much to my surprise, a liveaboard I was on in Australia offered the AOW course for free. There were 5 or 6 of us. We all used the same book (a real one, not photocopied) to do the knowledge reviews. We didn't have to buy anything, or even pay extra for a c-card.

The nice thing is that I had signed up for (and paid for) an AOW course on my next liveaboard, and I was able to cancel it and get my money back

 

[Bobby Demosthenis]

I am having to get all the books again, including my DM crew pack because of the lost knowledge reviews etc and due to the fact I can remember very little

 

[Road Guy]

my wife and I used the OW DVD and just printed off the KR's, we never got a book for open water. We did just get the book pac for the "advanced" it does seem to me to be a racket to require new books / pacs for the classes, they wanted us each to have our own book, so we got one book, one dvd package.....

 

[williama]

Thanks for posting this. I just renewed my credentials after a 4 year break and was very happy to see they could keep it and turn in copies at the end of class. This question came up every time since the pages were not always perforated to make them easy to tear out.

There appears to be mistake on the part of the instructor, please feel free to contact PADI quality assurance (QA) with ALL the details, who, what, where, when ect. The e-mail address is QA@Padi.com, I would also request replacement books.

From the PADI 4th quarter 2005 training bulletin for instructors et cetera:

"4. Knowledge Reviews for each Knowledge Development section signed by the student

(You must either retain the student diver's completed and signed Knowledge Reviews or document in the student's training record that you have reviewed the student's completed Knowledge reviews. The Student Record File may be used for the purpose"

Note: Student divers can submit to you photocopies of their completed Knowledge Reviews if the prefer to retain the original in their manuals as a reference and study tool. You and your student are not authorized to photocopy blank Knowledge Reviews."