What is the real difference in certification levels

[rivers]

The BSAC AD will have been assessed on Dive Management, Rescue Management in addition to demonstrating diving in a variety of conditions and situations. Like leading the dive, dives to 30m plus, with and without deco stops; night, low vis, freshwater and salt, drift, wreck; hard boat, RIB and shore; organising transport, accommodation, boats, compressors; in other words anything to do with running a diving trip or expedition.

Can you tell me is the BSAC AD above BSAC Dive Leader?,,,
Only reason I ask is that over the years I have seen "more than one" BSAC Dive Leader who was no better than anyone else on the boat - in terms of ability or air consumption,,, but YES they really did believe that they were "Something Special" as they were BSAC .
All certifying bodies produce the good, the bad and the ugly divers and IMHO most of the comments on here point to one seriously important factor ,,,,,
THE Instructor,,, he or she can make a huge difference.

Yes advanced diver is above dive leader. but again, the name means nothing. i know a bsac advanced diver i wouldn't do a 10m fresh water puddle dive with, but i know newly certified divers i would happily dive to the limits of their qualifications with. it's all down to instruction and attitude.

 

[Edward3c]

The BSAC AD will have been assessed on Dive Management, Rescue Management in addition to demonstrating diving in a variety of conditions and situations. Like leading the dive, dives to 30m plus, with and without deco stops; night, low vis, freshwater and salt, drift, wreck; hard boat, RIB and shore; organising transport, accommodation, boats, compressors; in other words anything to do with running a diving trip or expedition.

Can you tell me is the BSAC AD above BSAC Dive Leader?,,,
Only reason I ask is that over the years I have seen "more than one" BSAC Dive Leader who was no better than anyone else on the boat - in terms of ability or air consumption,,, but YES they really did believe that they were "Something Special" as they were BSAC .
All certifying bodies produce the good, the bad and the ugly divers and IMHO most of the comments on here point to one seriously important factor ,,,,,
THE Instructor,,, he or she can make a huge difference.

Yes BSAC AD is the next level above Dive Leader; then we have 1st Class Diver above that.

Like any agency there are those who hold the qualification, but haven't kept their skills up to date.

 

[-hh]

Today the instructor plays a major role given the similarity on training for OW certification. Back in the 1960s when I got certified by Los Angeles County, the "OW" cert was far more rigorous and allowed us to dive to 130 fsw. The course also included deep dives and rescue training.

With some of those old OW classes also including Deco training, and even Harassment sessions too.

Which really brings us back to examining what the real question here is:

Is the basis of the underlying question really rooted in a concern over the training not really being 'robust' enough anymore? Examples such as the above illustrate that contemporary basic training practices have been stripped down and are now consist of just the most meagre of essentials such that the underlying concern is now that the pendulum has swung too far, as the concern is that there's not a suitably robust safety margin to protect against things like Agency and Instructor variability in the training product.

-hh

 

[scubadada]

With some of those old OW classes also including Deco training, and even Harassment sessions too.

Which really brings us back to examining what the real question here is:

Is the basis of the underlying question really rooted in a concern over the training not really being 'robust' enough anymore? Examples such as the above illustrate that contemporary basic training practices have been stripped down and are now consist of just the most meagre of essentials such that the underlying concern is now that the pendulum has swung too far, as the concern is that there's not a suitably robust safety margin to protect against things like Agency and Instructor variability in the training product.

-hh

No deco or harassment in my 1970 LA County Basic Scuba course