Yes, you are wrong.
PADI Self-Reliant is a full-fledged PADI Specialty, requiring specific certification for that class in order to teach it.
PADI Self Reliant vs SDI Solo
- Thread starter Pyramid65
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Yes, you are wrong.
PADI Self-Reliant is a full-fledged PADI Specialty, requiring specific certification for that class in order to teach it.
CamG
Contributor
One item to consider is to find the dive destinations or quarries and ask if they allow Solo diving.
I know for a fact the insurance companies at my local quarry have been challenging the owner on allowing Solo.
I do know that the words self-reliant and Solo need to be on the policy to be in effect for the said quarry.
I am not sure if Self-Reliant is or not, Solo is for sure.
For how long it remains open to Solo diving I do not know it is the only area I know of in my area.
I do dive Solo there and see others doing the same.
All the other Solo divers are well known by the staff and we are held to a higher standard.
If the owner wishes he asks about the dive plan not really a big hassle just goes with the territory.
His pool, His rules no worries.
CamG
I know for a fact the insurance companies at my local quarry have been challenging the owner on allowing Solo.
I do know that the words self-reliant and Solo need to be on the policy to be in effect for the said quarry.
I am not sure if Self-Reliant is or not, Solo is for sure.
For how long it remains open to Solo diving I do not know it is the only area I know of in my area.
I do dive Solo there and see others doing the same.
All the other Solo divers are well known by the staff and we are held to a higher standard.
If the owner wishes he asks about the dive plan not really a big hassle just goes with the territory.
His pool, His rules no worries.
CamG
The PADI Self reliant course is a "Solo diving course."
It requires experience and redundant air source and critical supplies, exceptional skills extensive dive planning. On paper it's a 3 dive course. Which can be done in a day. My course the way I teach it, is a 2 day course, with at least two dives being completely solo.
I use this course as an intro to tech diving type course.
The difference between the SDI and PADI course comes down to names and specific standards that don't really make the biggest difference in the end. At least in my opinion. As a disclaimer I am a PADI Self reliant diver instructor not a SDI solo diver instructor.
It requires experience and redundant air source and critical supplies, exceptional skills extensive dive planning. On paper it's a 3 dive course. Which can be done in a day. My course the way I teach it, is a 2 day course, with at least two dives being completely solo.
I use this course as an intro to tech diving type course.
The difference between the SDI and PADI course comes down to names and specific standards that don't really make the biggest difference in the end. At least in my opinion. As a disclaimer I am a PADI Self reliant diver instructor not a SDI solo diver instructor.
I did not want any ambiguity. While the two courses are similar and both intended to facilitate recreational SCUBA solo diving I did not like the word game being played by PADI. A solo diver is a self reliant diver but a self reliant diver need not be solo. I do not wish to play this game, so SDI Solo for me.
We did part of a dive with no mask, we did a one fin swim, we did a Doff and Don on the bottom (in a sandy area) and a mid water Doff and Don accompanied by a swim while carrying the gear. We shot a buoy, a few other things. I was required to have an alternate air source which was a 19 cf slung auxiliary bottle. I did not do a 600 yard swim as I think it was pretty apparent that this would have been wasted time for me.
Did I learn anything new, no, not really. Was it useful, yes, if I can dive solo from charter dive ops and resorts etc. And I had not done a midwater Doff and Don in a while so that was fun and mine was at least as pretty as my instructor who got his "long hose" rigged primary regulator tangled through his arm webbing on his plate. Which would not have happened had he not been rigged with a secondary and again which per the SDI manual is a good idea to remove for the solo diver.
It was fun and I have yet another card
.
N
We did part of a dive with no mask, we did a one fin swim, we did a Doff and Don on the bottom (in a sandy area) and a mid water Doff and Don accompanied by a swim while carrying the gear. We shot a buoy, a few other things. I was required to have an alternate air source which was a 19 cf slung auxiliary bottle. I did not do a 600 yard swim as I think it was pretty apparent that this would have been wasted time for me.
Did I learn anything new, no, not really. Was it useful, yes, if I can dive solo from charter dive ops and resorts etc. And I had not done a midwater Doff and Don in a while so that was fun and mine was at least as pretty as my instructor who got his "long hose" rigged primary regulator tangled through his arm webbing on his plate. Which would not have happened had he not been rigged with a secondary and again which per the SDI manual is a good idea to remove for the solo diver.
It was fun and I have yet another card
.N
The wording is kinda the point with PADI. You said it perfectly a solo dive will be self reliant but a self reliant dive may not always be solo. The skill sets for a self reliant diver and solo diver are essentially the same.
With this course PADI makes the point that you don't HAVE to be SOLO. You may if you wish but it's not required. This course is meant for divers whom wish to dive solo, or are in situations where they need to be self reliant due to their situation, like a dive master,instructor, photographer, tech diver, overhead diver.
As far as I know our local quarries accept the PADI card all the same and I have yet to be asked by a local wreck boat in NJ or NY for my solo diver card.
With this course PADI makes the point that you don't HAVE to be SOLO. You may if you wish but it's not required. This course is meant for divers whom wish to dive solo, or are in situations where they need to be self reliant due to their situation, like a dive master,instructor, photographer, tech diver, overhead diver.
As far as I know our local quarries accept the PADI card all the same and I have yet to be asked by a local wreck boat in NJ or NY for my solo diver card.
Does anybody cringe at the thought that a dive agency even has to offer a specific specialty to help its divers become more self reliant? Have we really degraded the training this much so that rational people would have to pursue this "special" training?
There is not a printed manual by PADI.
Thanks Scott. That is what I understood. I know of one shop that uses part of the Tec 40 manual for teaching the Self-Reliant course. Now I haven't taken it obviously (I will be taking tec 40/45/50 in July - reading the manual now as there is a whole lot of information). From what I've read so far, I can see how concepts from the tec 40 manual can be applied to being a self-reliant diver. Personally, I prefer manuals to work through, so I get information through different sources (book and instructor). But that is just my learning style.
I do find it strange that I do not see a Self-Reliant specialty listed on the PADI online course catalog here: Professional Association of Diving Instructors.
If you go to the page you link then click on Distinctive Specialties it comes up.
PADI Distinctive Specialty Diver Courses | PADI
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