Should I go into AOW right after completing OW???

[sleepyhead]

Hi
I guess i am the only diver who will say that you would be better off doing AOW after your OW. It teaches you the basics of using compasses, watching certain stuff. The knowledge goes into your head straight away. You can put it to practice after finishing AOW. I did my AOW five days after OW. It taught me lots of stuff. You won't be confused and be following other divers advice doing diving after OW. Of course experience would teach you well. But You alone would and should be the best judge on whether it's safe to listen or not to listen while you are fresh.
I am diving with NAUI guys now and they were teaching me to oral inflate while coming up. So it's different from what you are taught.
Good luck..

 

[Fitzy]

Another good reason to wait a while, is as a certified OW diver you will dive with other people, buddies. Most likley you will dive with divers that have more experience.
YOU OWE THEM to have as much dive experience as possible so you can be a good and trusty buddy, being able to assist them if needed. . AOW cert can give the impression that u may be more experinced than you are.

I have found that experinecd divers are happy to buddy up most times, but they may only do it once if you dont give them the feeling of being safe and confident.

I dont agree with sleepyheads comments, as there is so much to take in and learn from the OW, that it can take quite a few dives for everything that you learnt to all come together.

 

[BobRussell]

There are two schools of thought on this subject. The most important thing is to get diving immediately after your O/W cert and practice your new skills. I feel that if you can get in about half a dozen dives between, you will gain more from your A-O/W training. If you don't easily have an opportunity to get diving, your A-O/W will provide it.

 

[Sideband]

Hi
I am diving with NAUI guys now and they were teaching me to oral inflate while coming up. So it's different from what you are taught.
Good luck..

Why would you inflate your BC by any means while ascending?

We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.

Joe

 

[northcoast_diver]

I am in the middle of my OW class and was just wondering if it is a good idea to go right into the AOW class right after this or should I wait? Anyone have any advice???

definitely yes, especially if PADI certified you in the first place.

 

[sleepyhead]

It might sound weird but i was taught by these guys to conserve as much air as possible. I was practicing doing descending with oral inflation and ascending with oral inflation. It reduces the need to use the air supply to the minimum.

On my first few dives, i use 5 bars of air while going to 10 m for about 15 mins.

It was quite fun learning new stuff that i weren't taught before.

 

[Pillow]

If I could do it over I would take the AOW after OW. and Yes in the off season. I only have about 36 dives. I have not taken AOW because I hate to pay for elelctives that I have used all the time.

One the flip side if it is a choice between AOW and buying equipment I would get the equipment 1st. The money you save on rentals will quickly add up to AOW cost.

 

[SquattingRadishDM]

1st point: I'd say get some more experience then do AOW. Make sure your ok with bouyancy, air consumption and all the general skills and techniques before you give yourself the added pressusre of having to do compass skills and new tasks in new/deep environments etc.

Then I'd advise you to take the Rescue Diver after 50 or so dives.

2nd point: Sleepyhead wrote: "It might sound weird but i was taught by these guys to conserve as much air as possible. I was practicing doing descending with oral inflation and ascending with oral inflation. It reduces the need to use the air supply to the minimum."

Oral inflating the BC is a very useful skill to learn, say if you have to turn off your air and breath from ur buddy like in a free-flowing reg situation. But I dont know if it is worth conserving the 3 or 4 lungfulls of air that you will use to inflate ur BC. WOW you added another 40 secs dive time! (maybe useful in a cave diving emergency, but we aint talking cave diving).

Also "Descending with oral inflation" ? how does that work? I hope you dont mean breathing the air that you expell from ur BC while decending. Read ur BC manual, it isnt recomended and again its only a tiny bit of ur air supply.

-Jack

 

[mempilot]

I am in the middle of my OW class and was just wondering if it is a good idea to go right into the AOW class right after this or should I wait? Anyone have any advice???

The agencies set minimum number of dives as prerequisites for moving on in training. In some cases this isn't very high or non-existent. They like to sell c-cards you know. But, you should look at the type of diving you want to do. Pick the training agency and course that meets the requirements. Then hold yourself to a higher set of standards than the course requires. Only move on to additional training when you feel comfortable in your current diving. If you move on with a good set of basic skills, the additional training will be more fun and you will get more out of it. If there is an area you're weak in, buoyancy for instance, get some one-on-one instruction in that area first. How many dives first? It depends on you and your ability. You may be ready after a handful of dives, you many not. The AOW isn't hard. It is also not really a defineative thing like Rescue. The AOW really just introduces you to some new things. Where you go from there will depend on how often you dive and practice the skills neccessary to move to more advanced areas in diving.

 

[sleepyhead]

Jack
It's really not worth it from what i feel now. But i'm not thr guy teaching me. The guys i'm with for DM happens to be a NAUI CD and NAUI instructor that are doing the things. They happen to be tech divers that do it.

I just appreciate what they are teaching and ponder on it later, it's quite a useful skill to have anyway.