DancinDiver
Registered
Hi all,
My fiance and I have been lurking on SB for a few months now, and finally decided to introduce ourselves. We're in the greater Washington, DC area. We've been OW certified (PADI) for about three years, mostly diving in the Florida Keys around Marathon. We recently decided to get our AOW certification after having a fanastic trip to Maui.
However, as we work through the AOW book, we both find ourselves incredibly disappointed. Instead of the expansion of skill sets I was expecting, I find a lot of rehashing of skills I already know, and a bunch of "specialty" padding that seems like fluff.
I had a few specific skills I wanted out of this course; how to rig and use a pony bottle, the risks of an overhead environment and how to handle it in an emergency (I'm thinking of swim-throughs), and how and when to deploy SMBs. Most of these I only know from discussions at my LDS and from reading threads here. Heck, the only reason I know I need a reel with my SMB is from SB, not from any of my training material. I want to go and experience these skills first in an environment where I have help from an experienced professional.
Is this typical for dive training? We're spending a significant amount of money for a "certification" that feels like it's just a toll we have to pay to move on to the stuff we really want. Is the AOW-equivalent cert for other dive training agencies more informative? Once we complete this, could we switch? If so, to whom? Would it be worth it?
If this is the way of the dive world, then so be it…we'll suck it up and pay the $$s. But if there's a better way and we can jump to another agency without being back at square one…well, we will seriously consider it.
Cheers!
DnD (and fiance)
My fiance and I have been lurking on SB for a few months now, and finally decided to introduce ourselves. We're in the greater Washington, DC area. We've been OW certified (PADI) for about three years, mostly diving in the Florida Keys around Marathon. We recently decided to get our AOW certification after having a fanastic trip to Maui.
However, as we work through the AOW book, we both find ourselves incredibly disappointed. Instead of the expansion of skill sets I was expecting, I find a lot of rehashing of skills I already know, and a bunch of "specialty" padding that seems like fluff.
I had a few specific skills I wanted out of this course; how to rig and use a pony bottle, the risks of an overhead environment and how to handle it in an emergency (I'm thinking of swim-throughs), and how and when to deploy SMBs. Most of these I only know from discussions at my LDS and from reading threads here. Heck, the only reason I know I need a reel with my SMB is from SB, not from any of my training material. I want to go and experience these skills first in an environment where I have help from an experienced professional.
Is this typical for dive training? We're spending a significant amount of money for a "certification" that feels like it's just a toll we have to pay to move on to the stuff we really want. Is the AOW-equivalent cert for other dive training agencies more informative? Once we complete this, could we switch? If so, to whom? Would it be worth it?
If this is the way of the dive world, then so be it…we'll suck it up and pay the $$s. But if there's a better way and we can jump to another agency without being back at square one…well, we will seriously consider it.
Cheers!
DnD (and fiance)
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