Redesigning AOW

[Buoyant1]

Wouldn't it just be easier to leave it as is, and change the name of the course to Open Water part II?

I think advanced open water is when you've done some dives and took that basic stuff you learned in OW and applied it to real life...I have a problem with people that do their 4 OW dives, then 5 AOW dives and get to go to the head of the line on dives that they have no business doing ONLY because they have a card! (as opposed to someone with logged dives, and a proven record of diving that doesn't have the card, but can't do an "advanced" dive because they DON'T and that's the only reason!!)

I took AOW for that reason.

Anyway off the soapbox...I think AOW should be a course where you prove what you can do, and have steps taken to improve what you can't!

If your buoyancy and trim sucks, then that's what you work on, if your dive planning is of question, you work on that, if you've never shot a bag (or safety sasage) or used a reel, there's something to learn. It's already a course that you suit to your interests, but there are things that you need to learn and work out that basic OW doesn't teach you, or stress enough.

I did a wreck course last year, and one guy on the boat with me did wreck and boat as two of his electives....For AOW, the wreck part was dive one for the wreck course which was seeing the wreck and evaluating it, nothing too taxing, the boat course was...diving off of a boat! Hardly Advanced!

 

[BDub]

There's not a whole lot an instructor can do with a student who's just card collecting for vacation.

I have to disagree with this. Presented properly, an instructor can let the student come to his/her own conclusion that diving to 100' on an al80 isn't the smartest thing to do. A discussion/presentation on basic gas planning and management makes that abundantly clear.

 

[ucfdiver]

I think teaching the different compartment models might be a bit much at this level of interest in diving. While you can never know too much; you can teach too much. Stuff most people don't think is useful to them.

PS-ucfdiver Your green mask doesn't match your blue drysuit. We're going to need to get you on that fashion emergency TV show.

I've sold the blue drysuit and have a black one now. Also have a low profile black mask. Rule #6 of cave diving is to look cool, and we all know wearing all black is how to do that, so I had to rid myself of color before taking intro to cave here shortly. The blue/green 2nd stages do need to go, I'm just trying to figure out which ones I want.

 

[PCBCaptChris]

AOW was previously called OW 2... Given market conditions I don't think, financially speaking, any of the agencies would go out on a limb and go back to that...

 

[PCBCaptChris]

Wearing black is the true sign of a cool and proficient diver. Forget all this C-Card nonsense... (Of course I wear all black).

 

[BDub]

I think teaching the different compartment models might be a bit much at this level of interest in diving. While you can never know too much; you can teach too much. Stuff most people don't think is useful to them.

You don't have to teach all the compartment models, but if you have a basic discussion on slow tissues vs fast tissues, and how minimum deco will get you out of the water much cleaner than the tradition ascent profile, it's pretty easy to grasp.

 

[PCBCaptChris]

I don't see anything wrong with a short dive to 100' on an 80...?

 

[PCBCaptChris]

That paragraph discribes a 5 minute talk added to the course or that could be had on the boat prior to the dive...

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

What kind of real academics would you recommend? Do you have any ideas for specific material?

I wrote my own ... along with another instructor who participates here (BDub). It includes the topics I listed above, as well as information on gas management and buoyancy control. The academic portion of my AOW can take anywhere from 6 to 10 hours, depending on the background of the students and how inquisitive they are about learning the material in more depth. I also require my students to read the NAUI Advanced Student Diver book and take the NAUI test ... but I think that both are pretty lame, and really nothing more than a review of stuff they should've learned in OW. But NAUI requires it, and I do think it's important to follow standards. The students understand, however, that the class will involve much more than that, and go into greater detail in "how to" on each topic we cover.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[littlejohn]

If I were setting things up it would be something like

BOW - 6 Dives
60’ max
Same as OW is now

OW - 12 Dives
Buoyancy/Trim
Deep/Gas Management to 90’
Night


AOW – 30 Dives
Deep & Gas Management to 130’
Peak Performance Buoyancy
Stress & Rescue
Navigation - Search


Master Diver - 60 Dives
Advance Stress & Rescue
Overhead Penetration (Wreck/Cavern)
Recreational Dive Lead
Advance Search