AOW Specialties

[utdivermatt]

I honestly know next to nothing about dry suits (outside of the whole not getting wet part). What temperature ranges do you use them in? I honestly havent dived in TN, so is it too cold for even a thick wetsuit? Thanks!



edit: are they hard to rent? I know they are pretty expensive and I am but a poor college kid. Renting seems like it would be an option though if i went with that specialty (how much do they run to rent? My goal of buying all my gear was to stop wasting money renting)

 

[TheRedHead]

I'm a wus. If the water temp is below 70 F, I would be more comfortable in a drysuit. Martha's Quarry is probably the most popular dive site in Tennessee. If I recall correctly, there is a thermocline where the water temp drops into the 50s? It's the surface interval that kills you in the winter. If you have to wear a wet bathing suit under your dry clothes, you're going to get cold. I don't own a drysuit, but plan to buy one.

 

[Humuhumunukunukuapua'a]

Yeah if you're actually going to dive in cold water, drysuit is a good one if only because you can try out a $1000+ piece of gear without buying it

I think it does involve some pool sessions though.

 

[RonFrank]

Have you discussed this with the LDS? Often you are more limited than you may think about what they are willing to do. I know in our area, they offer a set list of AOW options. You are right that Deep, and Nav are not options. But our LDS basically told us what they offered, and it was set. Think about it, one instructor is not going to be able to take a class of 4 and offer 12 different specialities over a weekend assumng that each individual wants different things.

In any event, I'd discuss this with your LDS and see what they have to say. Peak Performance Buoyancy is a good choice. IMO night as speciality is one that you don't really learn much with. Ours did require out and back navigation, but other than that it was just a night dive. We do altitude here which is likely pointless in your area, but a very good thing to understand.

You could do Wreck, DPV, Search and Recovery or one of the Fish ID or Naturalist activities. Don't be too quick to judge the specialities. For example FISH ID could be a VERY good speciality, and some people spend an entire lifetime studying marine life. While I'm not sure what exactly PADI covers, with the right instructor FISH ID could be a very worthwhile subject assuming you have places to dive where learning about the fish is worth doing. I'd say that a good Fish ID class in the FL keys for example could be excellent!

 

[M_Bipartitus]

I honestly know next to nothing about dry suits (outside of the whole not getting wet part). What temperature ranges do you use them in? I honestly havent dived in TN, so is it too cold for even a thick wetsuit? Thanks!

I've dove 47 deg in wetsuits, but that doesn't mean I would have rather have had a drysuit.

edit: are they hard to rent? I know they are pretty expensive and I am but a poor college kid. Renting seems like it would be an option though if i went with that specialty (how much do they run to rent? My goal of buying all my gear was to stop wasting money renting)

If you are going through a shop that uses drysuits and you wear a typical size you should be able to rent one, many places require a specialty cert before you can rent. Last time I looked I would expect $70-100 for a rental. Myself (poor graduate student), I am saving, watching ebay, and local shops for a good price. I know of a few places that will sell inexpensive suits for $600-700.

 

[Floridawannabe]

In my .02 I would take this class. You never know when you are out diving and need to react with a calm and fast reaction, to save a fellow diver. Just like knowing CPR, it saves lives. Someone will appreciate and thank you if you ever have to use your training. Just IMO

 

[RonFrank]

I honestly know next to nothing about dry suits (outside of the whole not getting wet part). What temperature ranges do you use them in? I honestly havent dived in TN, so is it too cold for even a thick wetsuit? Thanks!



edit: are they hard to rent? I know they are pretty expensive and I am but a poor college kid. Renting seems like it would be an option though if i went with that specialty (how much do they run to rent? My goal of buying all my gear was to stop wasting money renting)

Diving dry is great. I do enjoy the getting wet part of diving, but if the water temp is too cold for a 3mm fullsuit, then I dive dry. Basically a drysuit does exactly what it sounds like, it keeps you dry. It has seals on the neck, and wrists and the feet are in attached booties (in most suits). So you wear underwear (like a thin snowsuit) underneith the drysuit for warmth. You can also get dry gloves for those REALLY cold waters.

There are two basic types of drysuits, crushed neo, and laminate suits. I use a Bare Nex-Gen with is a bi-lam suit, and it's great. There is some learning curve to diving dry as one must add air to the suit to prevent squeeze when diving at depth, and then of course one must dump the air as one ascends, so experience is required to get ones buoyancy down.

I'd do dry if it's an option, however I'd expect some added costs. The drysuit class is about $100 as a stand alone speciality. Not sure how they handle it when combined with AOW, but I'd say doing ONE dry dive would be kinda worthless as you really will not get a feel for it, however if you could do all your dives in a drysuit that would work. But get ready to fail peak performance buoyancy if you are trying it dry

 

[mark99]

RonFrank has a good point, you better see what your LDS will offer before you get too set. My LDS announced that besides the Deep and Navigation, I would take 1. Boat diving 2. PPBuoyancy and 3. Underwater naturalist. That day amounted to "Here's the boat, yes you're weighted correctly and there are the fish".

 

[oly5050user]

Would I actually use Search and Rescue? Im not sure how many things Ill be searching for anytime soon. Sometimes I know I say that now and wish laster I had known how, so I am curious as to how much it is used.


Also, I forgot to mention I am taking a Nitrox class along with it, so no reason to use Nitrox in my AOW. Also, I wanted to do wreck diving as one, but there is no where around here with wrecks from what the instructor was saying. Thanks again for the help!

you are required by standards to do navigation and deep..they are called "core" dives..the electives are as you say..Very often the instr. picks out the dives..here in NY we use search/recovery--wreck--night..they are the 1st dives of their specialties. its what works and what is popular in our geographic area...gives you a small taste of what the speciality course is for whatever dive it is..if you chose different electives here in NY there may be additional fees-example if you pick dry suit we have to take you in a pool first(our recommendation) along with the rental of the suit would greatly increase the cost to you to do the class..same with photo..I cannot put a $500.-$3,000. camera system in your hands for the same price of the normal priced adv. course..

 

[utdivermatt]

I talked to my LDS when i picked up my book last week... they made it sound like I can do anything that is not wreck (no wrecks in the quarry he owns)