What is exact outcome of AOW courses?

[Blackcrusader]

The point I was making is that an agency undertaking deco training has to have a set of objective pre-requisites because they want to protect themselves. "Additional training and experience" that doesn't result in a piece of plastic that says "I have been trained to this standard" is not objective. It varies from diver to diver and environment to environment and someone, either the instructor or at HQ, has to prove compliance with a subjective standard. When I did my technical training there was the allowance for "or equivalent experience", I'm sure it's still the same now, but I totally understand why agencies ask for a minimum AOW in the first instance.

I totally agree that additional experience can make an OW-certified diver capable of diving well beyond 18m. I had a year long gap between OW & AOW and I was more experienced than the divemasters on my AOW were. But if your concern, like an agency providing deco diving certs, is proving that you checked that divers are appropriately trained to be accepted then life gets a hell of a lot easier if you just ask for a second tier training cert.

As I said, I think AOW is bollocks as a formal certification. But it's that 2nd tier of certification and, rightly or wrongly, businesses and agencies use that as a proxy for someone who is not a novice.

You do realize that some agencies teach DECO from OW like CMAS and BSAC. There is no requirement to have AOW to do deco courses. No idea where you did your "technical training" but Deco isn't considered technical diving by some agencies. Do tell which agency is claiming you need AOW to start Deco courses.

 

[scubadada]

Not quite. The prereq for Nitrox was AOW or OW plus ten dives beyond OW training. This was true when PADI opened the course in 1996, and did not change until 2003.

Added for completeness: In 2006 the requirement for dives was eliminated.

I did PADI EAN in 2002. I had an OW certification and 40 dives. The course required 2 dives. I started diving a computer at the same time.

In keeping with this thread, I did not take AOW until 2004 when I had 79 dives, 18 of which were >100 feet . I mainly took AOW at that time so that I could easily dive the Spiegel Grove and Duane in Key Largo without having to prove recent deep dives with my logbook.

 

[lizardland]

Yes you are cherry picking and you are also WRONG.
Do you know why DAN basic insurance covers an any certified diver to 40m depth?
I emailed them and asked. They replied because the certified recreational depth limit for any certification is 40m depth. There is a thread on this already. You can also buy DAN insurance to deeper depths.

Padi's website does not state a certified OW diver is limited to 18m. Padi cannot limit the depth for any diver as it Padi has no legal authority over divers.

I really don't know what you are arguing about. Take it up with PADI then, their website content **** all to do with me. I'm not part of the pyramid scheme.

I think we are all aware that there is no dive police and a diver can do what he or she wants.

 

[tursiops]

Do tell which agency is claiming you need AOW to start Deco courses.

The first level of deco training within PADI is TEC 40; the student prerequisites are (1) AOW (or equivalent from another training organization, showing proof of training beyond entry level with experience in deep and underwater navigation), (2) Nitrox certification, and (3) Deep certification or proof of at least 10 dives to at least 100 ft.

 

[Blackcrusader]

The first level of deco training within PADI is TEC 40; the student prerequisites are (1) AOW (or equivalent from another training organization, showing proof of training beyond entry level with experience in deep and underwater navigation), (2) Nitrox certification, and (3) Deep certification or proof of at least 10 dives to at least 100 ft.

Yes that I am aware of but that if not considered recreational diving as the OP wants. Padi calls it a TEC course. OP could simply go from PADI OW to BSAC Sports Diving deco course without any other certification or special training.

 

[lizardland]

You do realize that some agencies teach DECO from OW like CMAS and BSAC. There is no requirement to have AOW to do deco courses. No idea where you did your "technical training" but Deco isn't considered technical diving by some agencies. Do tell which agency is claiming you need AOW to start Deco courses.

My comment was in reference to someone else's post who made the statement that AOW was generally a deco diving course pre-req. Ask them what agency they were talking about.

As to where I did my technical training... with one of the founding directors of IANTD and my cert numbers are in double digits.

 

[tursiops]

Padi calls it a TEC course.

It is still within 40m so meets that rec definition, but allows up to 50% Nitrox, which does not, and allows limited deco It is a transitional course, like the SSI deco class.

 

[divingmb]

Here it is read at your own pace pluck out what you want and dive into knowledge

https://diveraid.com/free-learning/

Thanks for the link. This is really helpful.

 

[pelagic_one]

More about me. OW instructor was Captain Jim Wyatt. I have over 50 logged dives. Deepest depth 45 feet. Boat dives during training, since then shore and dock dives. Several dives are longer than one hour. I work on my own equipment to the extent I can. Intended purpose is observation of marine wildlife, mostly small things, not sharks or groupers, search and recovery in lakes, not just the "I'm breathing underwater!" vacation experience. Lake diving is murky, 3-6 feet visibility. I want the AOW card to get on a boat in the Keys and see wrecks and small wildlife at depth. If I can get the next AOW course this fall, I'll report my experience. The original post was questioning exactly what an AOW certification is, how far it goes in the certification process, and it seems to be at least a gateway to more difficult dives when a boat operator is involved. And thanks for all of the discussion!

 

[tursiops]

More about me. OW instructor was Captain Jim Wyatt. I have over 50 logged dives. Deepest depth 45 feet. Boat dives during training, since then shore and dock dives. Several dives are longer than one hour. I work on my own equipment to the extent I can. Intended purpose is observation of marine wildlife, mostly small things, not sharks or groupers, search and recovery in lakes, not just the "I'm breathing underwater!" vacation experience. Lake diving is murky, 3-6 feet visibility. I want the AOW card to get on a boat in the Keys and see wrecks and small wildlife at depth. If I can get the next AOW course this fall, I'll report my experience. The original post was questioning exactly what an AOW certification is, how far it goes in the certification process, and it seems to be at least a gateway to more difficult dives when a boat operator is involved. And thanks for all of the discussion!

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