Tech diving, equipment, awareness and too much too soon

[Bob Vincent]

We know it's not about the cards, but how long did it take to realize that when we began? Back in the day when we carried dive knifes a foot long, had CO2 on our BC's etc. etc. I know what people are going to say ... But, wait a sec! When an Open Water student gets his card and the first thing he should do is sign up for an advanced class. Why? We all know and I hammered into students advanced means ready to learn more. I rather have a newbie diver that I can watch and make sure he/she is learning the right way and safely. To many divers out of OW class go there own way "to practice" and pick up bad habits and alot of times push their limits being unsafe. I kind of like card chasers .... ones that we bring along safely into our world.

 

[The_DivePirate]

Hello,
This is true with new divers, and not so new divers alike. It's kinda like thae person that thinks they can sing like nobodies business, when in reality they can't hold a tune to save their life. It's our place as experienced divers to help them and not discourage them. THEY are our future. I know sometimes it's hard not to tell someone, "You should maybe look into something else! Scuba is not for you!!!) Kinda like my wife!! The problem is, There are instructors out there that have NO business with an instructor card, I realize that I took to SCUBA like a fish to water, but, when you can out dive an instructor? Seems a little(no ALOT) scary. Now, I'm not saying all instructors a joke, anything but, just that, time served seems to worth something. Also, in all things, you only get out what you put in, some just put in more. The #1 goal in teaching SCUBA should be the safety of all divers involved.(including the instructor) If you have students that do not show proper bouyancy and basics skills, THEY SHOULD NOT PASS!! Like I say, It took my wife 2 tries, and I'm not really sure she should have passed that time. now she's my problem, her bouyancy, like most new divers stinks, but the first time you rode a bike you didn't ride with no hands did you? It's great to see that some instructors have the balls to say" You did not show adequate skills and I don't feel comfortable giving you a c-card for OW diver, there is always Scuba Diver, if they even showed that much skill. In the overall end, YOU can only really rely on one YOU!! DON'T OVER DIVE YOUR OWN SKILLS :no THE LIFE YOU SAVE MAY BE YOUR OWN!!!!!!

Dive safe/Train hard
The Dive Pirate

 

[evaldez]

Hello,
This is true with new divers, and not so new divers alike. It's kinda like thae person that thinks they can sing like nobodies business, when in reality they can't hold a tune to save their life. It's our place as experienced divers to help them and not discourage them. THEY are our future. I know sometimes it's hard not to tell someone, "You should maybe look into something else! Scuba is not for you!!!) Kinda like my wife!! The problem is, There are instructors out there that have NO business with an instructor card, I realize that I took to SCUBA like a fish to water, but, when you can out dive an instructor? Seems a little(no ALOT) scary. Now, I'm not saying all instructors a joke, anything but, just that, time served seems to worth something. Also, in all things, you only get out what you put in, some just put in more. The #1 goal in teaching SCUBA should be the safety of all divers involved.(including the instructor) If you have students that do not show proper bouyancy and basics skills, THEY SHOULD NOT PASS!! Like I say, It took my wife 2 tries, and I'm not really sure she should have passed that time. now she's my problem, her bouyancy, like most new divers stinks, but the first time you rode a bike you didn't ride with no hands did you? It's great to see that some instructors have the balls to say" You did not show adequate skills and I don't feel comfortable giving you a c-card for OW diver, there is always Scuba Diver, if they even showed that much skill. In the overall end, YOU can only really rely on one YOU!! DON'T OVER DIVE YOUR OWN SKILLS :no THE LIFE YOU SAVE MAY BE YOUR OWN!!!!!!

Dive safe/Train hard
The Dive Pirate

But of course, absolutely true...

- john
www.abc-of-diving.com

 

[tbeindit]

A lot of people forget about the basics after awhile and get in trouble, that's why I like to review a lot of stuff.

 

[kalidor's8]

Very good posts from everyone! I am just starting to get into more "technical diving"; learning about the equipment, practicing my drills, plan my dives and dive my plans and getting input from my instructor after I dive even if he is not there. I have not been on a true "tech dive" since I do not believe my skills are not where they need to be but I would like to at least have a good base for it. So thank you for even more info and things to look for!

 

[greyzen]

It's funny, I've actually recently gotten my OW cert and this exact question is coming up in my mind.

I personally felt I did a decent job with the skills, I knew from my parents several of the minor things and learned a ton of new stuff to add to that.

I *want* to take the AOW just because I personally feel AOW is OWII and would give me the actual skills needed as a "solo" diver. My wife and I took the course, she is not a real fan of scuba (vacation diver) but supports me in my want to go further than the occasional drift dive.

I'm sitting here quite literally torn on if I should sign up for the AOW and get the supervised 'advanced' knowledge, or if I should suit up/grab my buddy and head to the lake to hone what I've learned in OW.

I hate thinking

 

[Doubles]

I *want* to take the AOW just because I personally feel AOW is OWII and would give me the actual skills needed as a "solo" diver. My wife and I took the course, she is not a real fan of scuba (vacation diver) but supports me in my want to go further than the occasional drift dive.

First Congratulations on your ow cert. That's a ticket to go out and learn. The AOW course will get you more dives under the supervision of an instructor - but it won't come close to getting you ready to be a solo diver if thats where your headed and most of the AOW courses offered are not really "advanced".

I would search the threads for solo diving and read all of those posts and find a few solo divers to chat with here. To do it right you will need to get more gear than the regular recreational diver and will need lots of dives to be ready for that training

Cheers

Steve

 

[GDI]

It's funny, I've actually recently gotten my OW cert and this exact question is coming up in my mind.

I personally felt I did a decent job with the skills, I knew from my parents several of the minor things and learned a ton of new stuff to add to that.

I *want* to take the AOW just because I personally feel AOW is OWII and would give me the actual skills needed as a "solo" diver. My wife and I took the course, she is not a real fan of scuba (vacation diver) but supports me in my want to go further than the occasional drift dive.

I'm sitting here quite literally torn on if I should sign up for the AOW and get the supervised 'advanced' knowledge, or if I should suit up/grab my buddy and head to the lake to hone what I've learned in OW.

I hate thinking

You might want to go back and read my original post. AT the OW diver level you are not ready for solo diving flat out. Many divers having the minimum logged 100 dives are not ready for the mindset or skill set of solo, IMHO This of course could be a result of not having a truthfully completed log book or they just don't work on bettering themselves on each and every dive. As Gilless pointede out there is also equipment considerations.
I would suggest that you enjoy your diving working on basic skills first. As you acquire equipment work it until it becomes "FIRST NATURE". Then at the 100 dive mark you may consider to be looking at solo diving. I teach solo diving and I can tell you many have come looking for the class and IMHO have not been ready.

My foundational belief is that every diver needs to plan a dive as a solo responsibility and then conduct it as a social event. Simple test: What time do you have?

You had to look at your watch or a clock on a wall. This required very little if any thought process. You knew where your watch or a clock on the wall is and made the required motion to see what time it was, turning your head, turning your wrist and looking. This is the simplist of starting point examples to see if a diver understands what is needed to solo dive. In my solo class if you had a problem I will not help you, short of letting you injure or kill yourself.

 

[greyzen]

I need to correct myself... I did not mean "solo diver" as in a true "solo", my apologies.
I was using solo diver as in "diving unsupervised" or "diving single". With buddies or even groups, but not in a "Alright, do the following things" way.

The concept of true solo diving is not really something at this point in my training I have even considered, GDI I agree whole-heartedly with your "Do 100 dives, then you are ready to even think about solo dives."


My questions were more along the lines of:
"I just got my OW... should I continue on the AOW course... or should I go out and get some experience and THEN take on the AOW course. Which would benefit me the most?"

 

[The_DivePirate]

Exellently put! Diving is a never ending path of self advancement. If you lie too yourself about your abilities, your only cheating yourself and loved ones when you don't return home from a dive you had NO business diving!!!! The trick for returning home is good navigational skills, not following the silted out waters back. What will happen when you finally get some finning technique, and don't leave a silt trail? Lost and out of air? SCUBA is not a game!!!! Don't cheat yourself, practice and get the training. If an instructor tells you that your skills are not adequate to advance to the next level, ask them what you should work on and if they have any suggestions on how too achieve success in those areas. Most instructors will give advice for free. It's not in their best interest get you hurt, in reality, you won't come back for more training if your dead. Instructors that are willing too pass students that are not qualified too pass are only interested in their own pocket book, not the safety of their studens or the benefit of the sport. It's sad too see there are way too many of those type of instructors out there!! Not too say that is the norm, but way too often!!