Gambitt
Registered
I've recently been posting in the Diving without Certification thread...
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/331834-diving-without-certification.html
and it came to me, that a lot of the posters advocating not to do it, are those with a vested interest in having someone "take a course". DM's, Instructors etc.
I personally know lots of Divers who have Never taken any course beyond the Open Water, and only that just to have a "piece of paper" to get a tank filled. And some of these guys have 3-4000 dives.
I have a dive buddy (we've been friends for 40 yrs) , who's not "technically" an instructor, but he's a Sat-Rat on the Hibernia Oil rigs. He showed up at the house one day, with 2 Draeger Re-breathers, Kirby-Morgan dive hats (complete with voice-gear) , and said "Come on, we're gonna do some "Real" Wreck diving today. Off we went to Brockville to dive the wrecks.
Being used to 1 hour dives; it was totally new to me, to be doing 1 hr Decompression stops!!!! He monitored me (including that I was comfortable), my gear, and our dive times using his skills that he's learned over the years.
So bottom line... This guy is not an "Instructor", he took an "unqualified diver" deeper than they had ever been before, using equipment that I had never seen; and yet I felt SAFER diving with him, than with many of the "Instructors" I have dove with at other destinations.
IMHO, You can have all the "pieces of paper" you want, but it don't mean crap, when it comes to real world experience.
Thoughts?
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/331834-diving-without-certification.html
and it came to me, that a lot of the posters advocating not to do it, are those with a vested interest in having someone "take a course". DM's, Instructors etc.
I personally know lots of Divers who have Never taken any course beyond the Open Water, and only that just to have a "piece of paper" to get a tank filled. And some of these guys have 3-4000 dives.
I have a dive buddy (we've been friends for 40 yrs) , who's not "technically" an instructor, but he's a Sat-Rat on the Hibernia Oil rigs. He showed up at the house one day, with 2 Draeger Re-breathers, Kirby-Morgan dive hats (complete with voice-gear) , and said "Come on, we're gonna do some "Real" Wreck diving today. Off we went to Brockville to dive the wrecks.
Being used to 1 hour dives; it was totally new to me, to be doing 1 hr Decompression stops!!!! He monitored me (including that I was comfortable), my gear, and our dive times using his skills that he's learned over the years.
So bottom line... This guy is not an "Instructor", he took an "unqualified diver" deeper than they had ever been before, using equipment that I had never seen; and yet I felt SAFER diving with him, than with many of the "Instructors" I have dove with at other destinations.
IMHO, You can have all the "pieces of paper" you want, but it don't mean crap, when it comes to real world experience.
Thoughts?