Padi/ Bsac

[DrSteve]

Custer I suggest you contact NE Essex BSAC branch 54 via BSAC HQ and ask them to put you in touch with Steve Allen, the instructor concerned. I am sure he will be happy to relate his experience. As PADI wasn't very big in the UK back then I would also assume the class was held in the London area. He announced this to the whole club at our weekly meeting. I personaly don't need any proof as I was there *smiles* But you know where and who to go to for proof.

 

[Custer]

DrSteve once bubbled...
Custer I suggest you contact NE Essex BSAC branch 54 via BSAC HQ and ask them to put you in touch with Steve Allen, the instructor concerned. I am sure he will be happy to relate his experience. As PADI wasn't very big in the UK back then I would also assume the class was held in the London area. He announced this to the whole club at our weekly meeting. I personaly don't need any proof as I was there *smiles* But you know where and who to go to for proof.

No cite, no evidence, no credibility, as far as that PADI bashing statement.

Just a ten yr old secondhand anecdote.

Check.

 

[budgy]

In the club the ability of our sport divers and our master divers is not regarded as that high, some of our instructors are not bad divers for amatuers, but don't expect them to have any brains. Our sport diver is about the same level as a rescue diver and is the minimum certification. By our club standards which many berate as low, a Padi AOW diver hasn't enough basic skill training to be in the water unless accompanied by a qualified instructor.

 

[DrSteve]

Custer - you asked for a cite...I gave you as much as I can. You want further proof I've given you all the information you need to contact the source of this claim, or would you like me to look up BSAC HQ's address for you as well? Annecdotal to you it may be, first hand it is to me End of my input to this meta discussion.

Budgy - so true.

BSAC has a more rigerous syllabus than any organisation I am aware of. Safety is number 1 priority. Instructors teach not as a way to make money (they become PADI/SSi instructors for that) but to put something back into the club they learned from all for free and because they enjoy it. Would it work anywhere else? I truly doubt it, it suceeds as it does because it is club based. As someone else said, it is not the right way for those people who want to dive 3-4 times a year in the tropics. But for people who want to learn more and not have to keep putting another dollar in, BSAC would be a highly recommended way to go. I would much rather dive with a BSAC novice than a PADI/SSI/etc AOW, except I can't, I am not qualified enough.

 

[Custer]

budgy once bubbled...
In the club the ability of our sport divers and our master divers is not regarded as that high, some of our instructors are not bad divers for amatuers, but don't expect them to have any brains. Our sport diver is about the same level as a rescue diver and is the minimum certification. By our club standards which many berate as low, a Padi AOW diver hasn't enough basic skill training to be in the water unless accompanied by a qualified instructor.

Right. You handhold your divers for months or years, while millions and millions of PADI divers worldwide are on their own after a week or two.

Hmmmmm.

 

[DrSteve]

That's right we do. We let them into open water after about 3 months of pool time with the equivalent of a Dive Con/Master Diver. They are better trained and more competant divers because they have received much longer and more in-depth training than the other agencies offer. We were drilled so it was second nature (there's a reason military forces practice drills and the same should be true of diving). I'm proud to be a BSAC diver, even if my highest qualification is a novice, I just happen to hold SSI and PADI C-cards because I had no other options available to me.

 

[Custer]

DrSteve once bubbled...
That's right we do. We let them into open water after about 3 months of pool time with the equivalent of a Dive Con/Master Diver. They are better trained and more competant divers because they have received much longer and more in-depth training than the other agencies offer. We were drilled so it was second nature (there's a reason military forces practice drills and the same should be true of diving). I'm proud to be a BSAC diver, even if my highest qualification is a novice, I just happen to hold SSI and PADI C-cards because I had no other options available to me.

I'm happy that you're happy. But the fact that you had no other option than PADI shows which system is more internationally viable.

 

[Custer]

Custer once bubbled...


I'm happy that you're happy. But the fact that you had no other option than PADI shows which system is more internationally viable.

And few or none in this country would pay for 3 months of pool sessions when two days will obviously suffice.

 

[sheck33]

Custer once bubbled...


And few or none in this country would pay for 3 months of pool sessions when two days will obviously suffice.

of course, that is why PADI is as big as they are, PADI gives people what they want, a c-card as fast as possible with the least amount of effort. so sometimes i think we should bash wanna be divers rather than PADI :wacko:

and 2 days obviously does not suffice, that is the whole point.

 

[MikeFerrara]

sheck33 once bubbled...


of course, that is why PADI is as big as they are, PADI gives people what they want, a c-card as fast as possible with the least amount of effort. so sometimes i think we should bash wanna be divers rather than PADI :wacko:

and 2 days obviously does not suffice, that is the whole point.

I've already thought of that. It's very hard to sell a good class. Every one is in a hurry and they don't have any money to spend cuz they spent it all booking the trip.