"Self taught" scuba diving

[MXGratefulDiver]

Oddly, you can't rent scuba equipment without a certification card ... but you can easily buy it ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[blackvans1234]

The first time I dove was in a neighbors pool in FL, my dad let us use his gear. Of course I then got certified by PADI, but I feel as though you could easily teach yourself in a safe manner these days, all you would need to do is make sure you do the research of risks and things not to do online and through scubaboard

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

The first time I dove was in a neighbors pool in FL, my dad let us use his gear. Of course I then got certified by PADI, but I feel as though you could easily teach yourself in a safe manner these days, all you would need to do is make sure you do the research of risks and things not to do online and through scubaboard

I think that would make it possible to learn how to breathe underwater without injuring yourself ... but learning how to dive would, at a minimum, require someone who knows what they're doing to watch you underwater and provide some kind of feedback. Otherwise, you'll almost certainly develop bad habits that, while you can dive that way, will inhibit your ability to do so efficiently ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I'm not the scuba police but to my knowledge there isn't any laws (in the US) requiring anyone to be certified to buy scuba gear, compressors, fill their own tanks and dive off their own boats. I'm sure there are local laws that limit the type and purpose of diving but those also pertain to certified divers. Personally, I don't think that makes real good sense not to get certified but that's just my opinion.

I think it depends on the instruction.
There are good instructors and not so good instructors.
If someone gets top notch instruction through any agency and the instructor goes above and beyond to make sure the student gets it, then they are probably better off to start with.
On the other hand if someone gets run through a minimal course by a crappy instructor who just runs them through then I think they might be worse off in some ways because they might have a false sense of knowing what they are doing when in fact the instruction fell short and they were not exposed to everything they needed to know to get the right start. At least in the old book there is stuff covered that is not in newer teaching materials, but it's still up to the individual to want to learn it and have the self discipline to make sure they know it.
With either, that is just a starting point and most of the learning comes after classes in the real world diving with good mentors and getting a lot of dives in challenging environments.


Regardless, Isn't this just supposed to be a theoretical discussion on wether it's possible or not?

 

[captain]

Oddly, you can't rent scuba equipment without a certification card ... but you can easily buy it ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

You also can buy a plane or car without a license
even though by law a license is required to operate either and you can't rent either without a license.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I also started driving when I was 9 because we lived in the country and later on a private 2500 acre ranch.
By the time I got my license when I was 16 I had already been driving for 7 years and could operate a vehicle better than many adults.
Learning the city was new but at least operating a vehicle was automatic so I only had to learn about intersections, lights, traffic, etc.

With diving I think it would be kind of cool to already have 100 or so dives and have been taught by friends, and then fly through an open water class like a journeyman.

 

[Thalassamania]

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[Aussiemike]

Even in 2011, there are graziers flying around the outback of Australia who have never had a lesson from a qualified instructor; and no, I don't get in the 'plane with them.

I understand that in the US you can fly a single seat ultralight aircraft legally without a licence. Is that a good idea? I'm not sure, things happen a lot quicker in an aircraft taking off and landing than they do diving. You don't have a lot of time to work things out from first principles.

mike

 

[TMHeimer]

My older brother dived ('60s) in 15-20 feet of water to get clams. He wasn't certified and I recall he got tank fills at some gas station (?). Never had an incident that I can recall.

 

[Aussiemike]

I'm pleased to see so many responses; after the second response I worried that Scubaboard was more pc than I thought and that I might be labelled a troll.

Another thing that militates against being self taught now is the complexity of the gear we use, in '76 a course cost more than a second hand 72 with reg and harness and if you new to breathe out when ascending you couldn't get in much diving related trouble shore diving although you could get into serious trouble on the surface without flotation if you got your directions wrong underwater. There really weren't the same opportunities to get on a boat and jump into 100 fsw.

The reason I brought this up was I wondered what the consensus was about the relatively new electric hookahs that are now about. I've got one and love being able to jump off the back of my boat and much around thirty or forty feet down, but can see a non diver getting into trouble with AGE etc when the battery runs down, entanglement etc. I always clip a knife onto one side of my swimming costume and a Spare Air onto the other. Where I go lots of people use the new, near unbeakable braided line. Snorkelling I do the same and add a very compact belt PFD1 inflatable life jacket.

So, should hookah users be encouraged to have some training.