Solo cert when already tech certified

[SlugLife]

That seems like quite a strong statement. I see that situation a lot.

• Every dive operator I have experienced requires dive certification for anyone diving with them. Almost all offer that certification.
• All the dive operators I know in South Florida require AOW or higher for deeper NDL dives. They all offer that certification.
• All the dive operators I know that run technical dives require technical diving certification for those dives. They all offer that certification.

So no one should take those classes from those operators?

Fair point. Whenever using words like "never" there's a high chance someone can discover exceptions to that rule. It's a bad habit of imprecise language, such as "never make same-day big purchases" which technically has a number of exceptions.

I'm more talking about the concept of being "Salesman-ed" into buying stuff you probably shouldn't have, and some rules-of-thumb one can use to avoid being scammed, pressured, bullied, etc. Start with the "rule" and then figure out if it's an exception.

I'm perhaps getting off into the sea-weeds here, but a really slick salesman can make you think this is a situation of "this is a deep-dive, and everyone knows you need AOW" and next thing you know, you've spent $600 on a certification for peeing in a wet-suit.

 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

I'm perhaps getting off into the sea-weeds here, but a really slick salesman can make you think this is a situation of "this is a deep-dive, and everyone knows you need AOW" and next thing you know, you've spent $600 on a certification for peeing in a wet-suit.

I don't wear wet suits so I see no need for me to get the certification.

 

[formernuke]

I don't wear wet suits so I see no need for me to get the certification.

It's a super important. The only more important one is the peeing in a drysuit one......

 

[formernuke]

I'm not going to do the class. I looked and it is actually against standards for him to teach me a class while I'm on CCR with not being certified on any rebreather at all.

 

[OMyMyOHellYes]

I'm not going to do the class. I looked and it is actually against standards for him to teach me a class while I'm on CCR with not being certified on any rebreather at all.

Wait. I'm confused. would I need a separate class for peein in my wesuit if I'm on CCR and not OC? So that's TWO classes?!?

 

[formernuke]

Wait. I'm confused. would I need a separate class for peein in my wesuit if I'm on CCR and not OC? So that's TWO classes?!?

Peeing in a suit on a CCR is a different cert so to be complete you need.....

Peeing in wetsuit OC
Peeing in drysuit OC
And the the same for CCR.

 

[Marie13]

I'm not going to do the class. I looked and it is actually against standards for him to teach me a class while I'm on CCR with not being certified on any rebreather at all.

So if you don’t do the class with him, are you diving OC or cancelling the trip?

 

[formernuke]

So if you don’t do the class with him, are you diving OC or cancelling the trip?

Either not going or using a different operator.

 

[ajchapman]

I can think of a few reasons why a solo card for the only CCR diver on a trip would make sense, though I'm far from convinced it'd be the best solution to those issues.

• Solo diver would have redundant gas but an alpinist CCR diver wouldn't, which would limit the assistance that diver could provide to a buddy. Having bailout has been standard practice for rebreathers for quite some time but perhaps the operator isn't aware of that.
• A rebreather diver could stay down a lot longer than single-tank OC divers, continuing after the OC buddy had surfaced. I'd expect there are rules against this but perhaps previous divers have given the operator reason to think these are likely to be ignored.
• Concern that an OC diver who is unfamiliar with rebreathers won't be able to assist a CCR buddy who gets into trouble. The buddy check/briefing would be longer but this doesn't seem insurmountable.

I agree with OP that there probably isn't much reason to do that course for knowledge or skills, and that it'd be worth checking with other operators.

 

[BlueTrin]

I guess the only non obvious thing in the solo class for you may be to make sure that you gave the details of the dive to someone with instructions about what to do if you don’t show by time XYZ and some basic idea of your whereabouts so people could look for you?