How many dives did you have when you did AOW

[boulderjohn]

"Advanced" is a pretty poor term, but getting a head start on skills at an early stage can make experience pay off a lot sooner than experience alone. Just my $.02

I agree. As I said before, the name is simply wrong for the course. It is designed to introduce divers to some of the various possibilities beyond OW. It is by no means advanced. Anyone who has a respectable number of dives under the belt will find it a yawn.

 

[D_B]

I disagree. AOW is a joke. It's important to get a better OW course and to follow it with a real Advanced class and skip AOW entirely.

A better OW course would be good, a "real" AOW would be a good idea too

but as the training standards are now I had to take AOW to do Rescue
I think that following basic OW with more training, including rescue, is worthwhile ...

 

[GA Under Water]

I understand that it doesn't come natrually to everyone, but navigation is not a skill that is unique to diving. One could just as easily practice their navigation skills in their backyard, or in a park with a compass. It's the same. No need to take a course in navigation... right?

Everyone needs to learn how to use a compass. Just knowing that the needle always points north isn't enough for most people. (Have you never watched "Street Smarts" a LOT of people are Idiots. I am glad you aren't but that doesn't mean Momma's boy round the corner knows how to shoot a back Asmuth. They teach every Marine how to figure out how far you have walked and how to walk a straight line and get back to where you started. Now they do this in to woods guess how many we had lost out of about 210 Recruits?? At least 1/2 it isn't something that everyone can walk out in thier back yard to learn.

Bouyancy gave taught me how to figure out too about 2 pounds before I even get into the water and believe me having to add 1 pound to each pocket is MUCH easier.



Well, I need to stop this I am fighting for Specializations not AOW. Read, Knowledge Review, One dive x 5 = AOW and you get Adventure Diver after the first 3.


But remember, Save the Knowledge Reviews because THOSE are the first 1/2 of the Specialty Knowledge Review. I was :11: but I went on and did the whole book not just 5 dives.

 

[Ontwreckdiver]

I had 7 dives, including OW dives

 

[chipwd]

I was OW certified in May of this year. I took my AOW in Oct after 40 dives. I feel I got more from AOW than if I had taken it sooner. By the 40th dive, I was fairly confident in my basic skills and familiar with my gear. This allowed me to really focus on the AOW classes and dives and the skills taught.

I probably could have taken the class after my first 25 dives and been able to get the same benefits from the class.

Two of the AOW students in my class had just been OW certified. They spent much of the dives bouncing up and down fighting their buoyancy and fidgeting with their gear. While the class helped them in their skills, I'm sure they didn't get as much out of it as I did.

I fall firmly on the side of "20 dives at least" school of thought.

Some of the responses to this post believe that AOW is a farce but my thought is that the instructor AND the student determine if it is worthwhile. They both contribute to the whole experience.

I dive with several DMs and instructors all the time that have years and years of experience and they have taught me so much in such a short time. My AOW was really an extension of my diving lessons. Every time I dive I learn a little more.

 

[The Horn]

Two of the AOW students in my class had just been OW certified. They spent much of the dives bouncing up and down fighting their buoyancy and fidgeting with their gear. While the class helped them in their skills, I'm sure they didn't get as much out of it as I did.

They should never have been OW certified:shakehead

 

[Jason Ooi]

I had approximately 15

 

[Scuba Do]

I had 7 dives, including OW dives

Exactly my situation. I still have only 13 dives, and do not feel "ADVANCED," I really learned a lot more during AOW than I did doing OW. It's more like OW II rather than a real advanced course.

 

[gurumasta]

55-60

 

[Gary D.]

I disagree. AOW is a joke. It's important to get a better OW course and to follow it with a real Advanced class and skip AOW entirely.

Boy, are we on the same sheet of music.

There are some major flaws in the system I don’t know if they will ever get ironed out.

In 1999, after 37 or so years of diving, I had to go to the shop and get an AOW card so I could dive on a trip.

I called the outfit we were diving with and they required an AOW card and would not accept anything else. I mean Navy Diver card, PSD certification or any of my commercial specialties. It’s a sad day when you need proof of lesser training to go play with lesser trained people.

That card means nothing. There needs to be proficiency test and forget the card. It wouldn’t be hard at all for the dive operations to just watch the person with the credit card get suited up and hit the water. Then a few quick skill checks and your good to go.

Just the suiting up process can tell you an awful lot about what their other skills are going to be like.

The system just keeps getting more dollar oriented.

Gary D.