PADI Equipment specialist Class Any Comments?

[DavidHickey]

Just wondering if any of you have taken the class and if you felt it worthwhile or had a better experience. I took the class and was totally unimpressed by it and felt that they should have paid me for attending. The class was scheduled for 3 hours. During the 1st hour or more of the class it was literally in my mind a Sales Pitch. The instructor showed us all of the new cool gear they had gotten in or would be getting in and passed them around the room to look at. We then went from Sales pitch to the you will rot in hell for all enternity if you buy off the internet speach. Its life support equipment, buy off the internet and you risk children growing up with no parents, all internet equipment is junk that will disintegrate in water. BUT it may be alright to buy some things off the web such as travel bags. We then went to a break were the cash register was open and running as people were buying some of the trinkets they were shown. After break we were shown how to properly drain water from a BCD. Hmmmmmmmm I thought we all knew how to do that. Guess I was wrong. After the BCD demo we basically went into why you as a moron should never attempt to work on equipment yourself. You should ALWAYS bring it into the shop for service. We were then shown diagrams of BCD inflator hoses to show how many little parts there are in them that morons like us have no business messing with. And to conclude the class and prove their point, they then dissassembled a instructors regulator to show us how many little parts actually come out of it. I think I could have learned how to dissassemble and reassemble the reg in less time than the speach they gave about buying off the internet. All in all I thought the class was pretty much worthless and was geared more towards the LDS's interests than to actually attempting to teach you anything. I for one feel no more like an equipment specialist than the day I signed up for my OW class. I knew it was not a repair class but I still expected more. Did I just get a bum class or is this generally the way it goes? I cant believe I actually get a little card certifiying I took the class. Basically certifies I sat thru a sales presentation. I will say I did enjoy seeing all the new equipment but I actually thought we were going to learn something.

 

[TwoBitTxn]

You got a bum class.

Sorry for your disappointment.

TwoBit

 

[pete340]

Did I just get a bum class or is this generally the way it goes?

Sounds like a bum class. When I took OW we spent an hour on selecting equipment, taught by a guy who tests new equipment for manufacturers. No pressure to buy, good explanations of what to look for and why. I later did the Equipment Specialist class. It was six hours long, and we covered all of the basic gear. Went out to the sales floor several times to look at the things we'd been talking about. Not as a sales pitch, but to touch and feel. If you've only used a 3-mil wetsuit it's useful to get your fingers on a 7-mil to get a sense of the difference. We also went into the repair shop and did some of the steps in a visual tank inspection, rebuilt the swivel connector for an SPG (that just means replacing o-rings), and looked at the insides of a regulator. I don't think I got any new information from all that, but it put things in better perspective. It also gave me the confidence to replace my SPG hose myself. Worked fine. <g>

 

[emtdan]

I sat in for the lecture of Equipmet Specialist, and didnt end up getting the certs. I was on actionquest. Everyone brought their reg, so we had diaphram and pison regs. We took everything apart, learned how it worked, we cleaned it, and greased it, then put it back together. Since it was our own gear, we tested it on tanks, and played with BCs.
I think you got a bum class? If I may ask, how muich did you pay for the sales pitch? Are you accually getting a card out of it?

 

[ScubaFreak]

lets hear it for bum class...

Sounds like you got shafted dude! We've ran some equipment courses, but they involve more how the equipment works, what it does, different terminology, comparison of equipments and brands and pretty much how to take care of your gear overall.

Bummer though, sorry about your experience- equipment specialist- even though its another moneymaker for PADI, can be a decent class to take if you've got a good instructor!

SF

 

[DavidHickey]

The class was 50.00. So I really am not worried about the money, I was just looking forward to learning more. I figured I might have got a bum class as I thought I read that PADI recommends a 6 hour course and this was only 3. And yes I do get a card for it and it will count towards AOW I think. I don't really blame the LDS even though it was geared towards sales, I think if this is a PADI approved course they should have clear set objectives to what is or should be accomplished during the class. Seems to me from all that I've read, its basically up to the LDS to outline the course. Maybe even a PADI work book for the class that would give them an outline to follow. Oh well just something else to do until spring comes and we can get in the water!!!

 

[ozarkjim]

I don't think it counts for AOW but it does count for Master Scuba Diver.

 

[StingRob]

Recommended time for this PADI specialty is 6 hours.. you got three; Thsi specialty would not count for AOW... but will do for Master Scuba or if you go Instructor but then is a whole new thing.

http://www.padi.com/english/common/courses/rec/continue/equipmentspecialist.asp

... I took the class and was totally unimpressed by it and felt that they should have paid me for attending. The class was scheduled for 3 hours...

Robert

 

[FreeFloat]

If I'd personally paid for a class like that, I'd make an inquiry to PADI standards.......

 

[redacted]

The class was 50.00.!!

For $50.00 worth of "equipment specialty" training, try this: http://airspeedpress.com/

But it may take you a lot more than 3 or 6 hours and no plastic card.