PADI course for idiots?

[Bob DBF]

Yes -- what I didn't get into my post was that, despite the sometimes patronizing tone of the PADI materials, there is a lot of good information in them. I really like, for example, the Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving, as a resource for recreational divers . . . but there are times I'd like to slap the writer up side the head for the tone. Still, at least, unlike GUE, PADI employs proofreaders

If it's just for reference, get the old version of the Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving as it will not give you ADD while you are reading.
Aside from being less expensive, the older book keeps to the subject and dosn't use a lot of unessary color and pictures to entertain; I guess if you can't read they figure you might as well be entertained.



Bob
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I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

My wife is just in the process of getting her OW certification and I was having a flick through her course book. It appears to be written for school children, honestly are people so stupid that they need to be told what order to pack their equipment bag? For the first time in my life I am scared to dive, because apparently there are people out there who are diving and need a book to teach them basic life skills.

Guess what common sense is not that common anymore. What may be common knowledge for you may not be for someone who doesn't know anything about scuba and just started learning. And as stated before, if you had read the age requirement, you would have know it was written for school children.

 

[skankpile]

You can add IANTD to the list. It's shocking a times.

hahaha.. you mean the all the photos of Tom's x wife? Thats one of the reasons I prefer the IANTD materials.

 

[graham_s]

I would be more worried if the book didn't cover very basic stuff.
More often than not it's the stuff "that everyone knows" that causes problems when teaching something.
It's a mistake to assume a student knows basic stuff.
When I first joined the military, the drill instructor taught people how to wash.
You'd think it was a simple thing that everyone knows how to do.
You'd be surprised.

 

[Colliam7]

More often than not it's the stuff "that everyone knows" that causes problems when teaching something. It's a mistake to assume a student knows basic stuff. When I first joined the military, the drill instructor taught people how to wash.

I also think that the 'basic' level of the PADI (and other agency) OW manual reflects 1) a desire to emphasize consistency early in training. and 2) a bit of a 'safety net' for the student (and the organization), in case the instructor fails to emphasize a basic, but fundamental, point not directly related to the actual act of diving..

I am regularly amazed, and not infrequently annoyed, by the lack of situational awareness evident in the routine behavior of human beings. One small example of that deficiency is often seen on dive boats, where a 'less than fully aware and informed diver' (I think the technical / scientific term is actually 'clueless moronic idiot') will open their dive bag as the boat motors toward the dive site, spread out ALL of the gear in the bag in an ever expanding radius of chaos in front / to the side of them, while looking for their BCD, for instance (or regulator, or wetsuit, or fins). Had they been shown / told how to pack their gear bag, perhaps they would have had the various pieces of gear readily accessible when it was needed for assembly.

The problem is bigger than PADI, bigger than diving, etc. I cannot say with authority that the problem is as pervasive in other (i.e. beyond the US) cultures, although I see more than a few examples when traveling internationally.

 

[Scott]

I guess that is why before we take a group trip we teach them how to pack their gear so the airlines don't damage the gear, and then it is different when we pack for a SoCal boat trip and then again it is different how we pack a bag for a warm water boat. So many ways, it's all just so confusing.
I'm off to write a course outline.

 

[Iknee]

hahaha.. you mean the all the photos of Tom's x wife? Thats one of the reasons I prefer the IANTD materials.

You wouldnt be talking about his "Complete Guide to Underwater Modeling" book would you?

 

[fire_diver]

......, honestly are people so stupid that they need to be told what order to pack their equipment bag? .......

Yes, many of them are.

 

[ScubaSteve1962]

I guess that is why before we take a group trip we teach them how to pack their gear so the airlines don't damage the gear, and then it is different when we pack for a SoCal boat trip and then again it is different how we pack a bag for a warm water boat. So many ways, it's all just so confusing.
I'm off to write a course outline.

I'll bite, how do you pack your gear so the airlines won't damage it, and how could they?

 

[AussiePro]

I'll bite, how do you pack your gear so the airlines won't damage it, and how could they?

Wrap your mask in a towel and away you go. If you have anything delicate, put it in a tough case or take it carry on.
To me, these things seem like something people should figure out themselves. If you can't figure out that something could be damaged in flight and take measures to prevent it, well you will learn a very valuable lesson when you reach your destination and need to buy something new or just miss out.