First, how exactly do you get a transponder at Dutch with just "OW, AOW, Nitrox, Dry Suit, Rescue" ? Copied from your profile
That's one easy mystery to solve. I got the SDI solo card last year, but I haven't updated my profile in a long time!
All of my problems, every last one, stem from my inability to maintain static trim.
That's certainly possible.
There is no patch for correcting that.
You might be surprised how helpful an experienced pair of eyes watching you underwater can be. If you are having problems with your trim, maybe give Wayne a call....
---------- Post added May 4th, 2014 at 05:24 PM ----------
As a new diver, I haven't figured out why so many people are down on card collectors or patch divers. There are other underwater activities such as photography, spear fishing, and bottle collecting that produce little trophies to annoy friends and family with. What is so wrong with someone who likes the challenge of learning a new skill and then receiving a merit m badge for it other than it being a little dorky if they glue their patches to their drysuit? I've noticed that of the students that were in my OW class, it is the ones that continued to take other classes that dive more often. Considering that I went through AOW and rescue in my first year of diving I m probably a patch diver. I still think it's worth it, especially the the rescue class. Each class has made me feel more confident and aware on my non class dives. I've already decided to keep collecting a few patches a year as I want to keep building skills. Oh, to the OP, a custom, private, class to work on what I need to personally work on sounds awesome too, even if there is not a trophy.
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I think that you may have misunderstand my post. I didn't mean to imply that there was a problem with training and earning certification cards at all. To the contrary, training is obviously very important in everything from scuba diving to pole vaulting to cardiothoracic surgery. What I was referring to was the type of diver who sees certification cards as an end in themselves, and who rapidly progresses through classes at the expense of taking the time to dive between classes and apply what they have learned in practice. "Patch diver" is just an old figure of speech for this type of diver, it doesn't refer to people who like actual physical cloth patches.
And you are right - a custom, private class is a great thing to budget for during the season. It doesn't have to be more than a single dive, and it's really not too expensive, but it's money well spent.