Question on Form - How many logged dives since certified?

[Beau Holden]

Cozumel, probably a completely different story.

I went from quarry to the Great Lakes. Started in Lake Erie doing some wreck archeological work in 40 to 60 feet of water. Cold and good vis was 15 feet average vis was 5 feet. Erie is a different lake as for as conditions and it sets in SW to NE direction. I have entered the water with 1 to 2 foot wave and came up in 3 to 5 foot swales and breaking waves. This lake can turn nasty real quick. Huron and Michigan I have seen very rough. But Erie can hurt you real quick.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I went from quarry to the Great Lakes. Started in Lake Erie doing some wreck archeological work in 40 to 60 feet of water. Cold and good vis was 15 feet average vis was 5 feet. Erie is a different lake as for as conditions and it sets in SW to NE direction. I have entered the water with 1 to 2 foot wave and came up in 3 to 5 foot swales and breaking waves. This lake can turn nasty real quick. Huron and Michigan I have seen very rough. But Erie can hurt you real quick.

Sounds like my kind of place!

 

[Beau Holden]

Sounds like my kind of place!

Yes it is. Some amazing wrecks up there. I really enjoyed cutting my teeth there. Just the older I got and the colder it got above and below the surface it was not the fun it once was. Then I started cave diving and I just didn't have that interest anymore. Might go back one day, who knows.

 

[Blackcrusader]

I cannot prove how many logged dives since first certified in January 1986. I do not have any of the paper log books as some were lost during a move from one country to another. Others were thrown out as trash because my wife at the time was doing a house cleaning. I had several hundred dives logged on the Suunto desktop but not like I carry that around.

This year when diving I found that when you turn up with your own diving kit and camera gear and they see you wearing a Perdix with hundreds of dives logged and even though had not dived in over a year no one suggested a refresher course.

Now for the Wild Scuba diving done in torrents, well no dive history will show your ability to handle that. With my age and my fat body the thing is some will think am I fit enough? will I have a heart attack? lol Suffer cramps, not have enough stamina for the dives? After the first dive the op owner was really pleased I could handle all that. My instructor buddy and I found it a rush.

The third diver with us found it pure terror and panicked. Will he ever tell others about that? I think not

 

[mstevens]

3. Are you currently taking any prescription medication other than the contraceptive pill? Yes No

I mean... I have medical licenses in 5 states and have had in 2 others. That's a LOT of documentation and intrusive questions (all of which get verified), and renewals (every 1, 2, or 3 years for my states) have a lot of repeat questions along those lines. I've never been asked for a list of medications for any of them. Arguably, being on certain medications could pose clear risks in terms of some of some typical medical activities.

I agree that it would be the rare dive operator, diver, or even physician who'd be competent to tell if that topical steroid cream, prescription vitamin D supplement, or prescription-strength oral fluoride rinse would impair fitness to dive, so there's really no point in asking such a question.

 

[mstevens]

It was a judgment call.

Thank you so, so much for spelling "judgment" correctly. Seriously.

 

[tridacna]

Thank you so, so much for spelling "judgment" correctly. Seriously.

Depends on where you were brought up.

UK is “judgement”. US is “judgment”.

Is this not an international forum? Seriously?

 

[mstevens]

the value of AOW

And what even is AOW?

Our certifications are NAUI, from 1980 through 1982. Our initial certifications were "Scuba Diver", which involved copious air-sharing, mask-off, regulator retrieval, ditch & don at depth, CESA, and other drills that are for the most part not a part of OW training. It took 12 weeks of classroom and in-pool training. My son's PADI AOW didn't approach that "basic" course. Our "Advanced Scuba Diver" certifications took an entire college semester (although probably would have been less if not done for credit!) and included multiple forms of search, rescue, and recovery, navigation, deco theory, chamber rides, etc. When my wife's card broke and she sent to NAUI for a replacement, they sent her a "Master Scuba Diver" card. My card is just a bit cracked, so I still just have "Advanced Scuba Diver".

So, two divers who went through the exact same training together in high school and college but with different C-cards. I feel confident in claiming that NAUI "Scuba Diver" from 1980 involved more classroom and pool training than PADI AOW today. Even then, the cards tell me hardly anything useful about the diver - if I hadn't been in the water for the past 40 years it doesn't matter what my card says. Lots of divers aren't merit badge collectors and only get training or certifications when they need it, even while they're racking up considerable experience.

In the card vs experience debate, consider the pilot's license I got at the end of my junior year of high school in 1979 and instrument rating I got later that year, never to fly again. Sure, it's expired, but I have the card. Would you rather have me fly you around today, or a freshly-minted private pilot? Or, my medical license legally entitles me to do surgery and I was pretty good at minor procedures at the end of my internship in 1989. If stranded in a remote location with my wife and a 4th-year medical student, I know who I'd want to do an emergency appendectomy (or even a skin repair) if my wife needed one, and it would not be me.

 

[mstevens]

Depends on where you were brought up.

UK is “judgement”. US is “judgment”.

Is this not an international forum? Seriously?

Eh. In the UK "judgment" is used in official and legal documents. I was brought up in Germany studying British English, but my parents are Americans, so I'm bilingual in British and American forms of English.

If you would routinely use "after the child was brought to hospital we used our judgement and manoevred round the 3-meter grey-coloured fibres in the centre of the paediatric surgical theatre" instead of "after the child was brought to the hospital we used our judgment and maneuvered around the 10-foot gray-colored fibers in the center of the pediatric operating room", I'll spot you the extra "e". But then you'll have to use plural verbs for organizations ("British Airways announce the arrival of Flight 213" as opposed to "American Airlines announces the arrival of Flight 213"), use "quite" to mean "not very", punctuate differently, and use the many other subtleties that distinguish British English for American English.

I deduced from language cues that most participants are native speakers of American English.

 

[Blackcrusader]

I mean... I have medical licenses in 5 states and have had in 2 others. That's a LOT of documentation and intrusive questions (all of which get verified), and renewals (every 1, 2, or 3 years for my states) have a lot of repeat questions along those lines. I've never been asked for a list of medications for any of them. Arguably, being on certain medications could pose clear risks in terms of some of some typical medical activities.

I agree that it would be the rare dive operator, diver, or even physician who'd be competent to tell if that topical steroid cream, prescription vitamin D supplement, or prescription-strength oral fluoride rinse would impair fitness to dive, so there's really no point in asking such a question.

I declare I take meds for high blood pressure. Never been asked to get a doctors opinion....