Question Advanced Specialties Discussion

[tursiops]

Search and Recovery Diver -- 'Sawright. The material was mostly about search patterns and using a DSMB.

DSMB? You mean a lift bag? They are not the same device, and work differently. The class involves using a lift bag for an object up to 100 pounds...try THAT with a DSMB! This can be a difficult class, with four dives and a lot of swimming. In low-viz water -- like your local quarry -- it is NOT an easy class! And you better know how to tie certain knots. It is best taught with two buddy teams working together.

Equipment Specialist -- Not particularly useful. The material was informative but basic/superficial. It didn't enable me to do anything to my gear.

Depends on who teaches it. A good instructor will include some field repair instruction, especially what you should NOT try and do yourself in the field. It is NOT an equipment service technician class. this is a great class to take in the winter when you are not diving.

 

[inquis]

would you say night is worth it?

As a class that costs money? I say no way. Just go dive with someone who has done it before.

 

[ScubaBadger32]

True for SDI and SSI, but not PAID or NAUI, for whom night means night.

i like the idea of night AND limited vis, cause 1. not a money grab (which padi seems to enjoy), and it helps draw lessons that these are similar, and skills CAN be carried over!

 

[tursiops]

i like the idea of night AND limited vis, cause 1. not a money grab (which padi seems to enjoy), and it helps draw lessons that these are similar, and skills CAN be carried over!

Having done a lot of night and low-viz diving, I think the skills needed (and motivations for that kind of diving) are rather different. One typically does night diving because the critters you see at night are often very different from the ones you see at the same site in the daytime. One typically does low-viz diving because that is the water available to you. A big deal in night diving is light discipline and light signaling. A big deal in low-viz diving is losing your buddy and losing your orientation. A truly uncomfortable dive is a low-viz dive at night. Wreck and cave/cavern penetration can quickly turn into low-visibility dives due to kicking up silt; this can be life threatening if you lose your way, hence the use of guidelines....not a night-diving class skill set.

 

[stretchthepenn]

DSMB? You mean a lift bag? They are not the same device, and work differently. The class involves using a lift bag for an object up to 100 pounds...try THAT with a DSMB! This can be a difficult class, with four dives and a lot of swimming. In low-viz water -- like your local quarry -- it is NOT an easy class! And you better know how to tie certain knots. It is best taught with two buddy teams working together.

It might've been a lift bag -- it was a few years ago, and I don't remember much from the course. I didn't learn heavy-lift techniques, in any case.

 

[Blackcrusader]

would you say night is worth it?

As a course no. Just go night diving with other divers who do regular night dives. I've never done a specialty course for night diving.

 

[Ulfhedinn]

Fundies, Drysuit, Rescue (never really though of it as a specialty), Psychological Diver.

 

[Marie13]

Fundies, Drysuit, Rescue (never really though of it as a specialty), Psychological Diver.

I forgot about drysuit since I did it with OW.

 

[tursiops]

Fundies, Drysuit, Rescue (never really though of it as a specialty), Psychological Diver.

He is SSI; Rescue is a specialty in SSI.
I'd prefer to think of Rescue as a mandatory class, not an optional choice.

 

[jlcnuke]

Whats your favorite/most important advanced class to take? I am very interested in getting quite a few of these (already have my EAN), and was wondering what yall have done before, and what you have gone to complete first.

looking at doing night, nav, deep, and wreck soon!

(also i use SSI if that helps!)

You already have OW and nitrox, so you have the basics already. Past those, there are three reasons for taking classes imo:
1. You need the certification to do something you want to do (i.e. Advanced if you want to go on dives through an operation that requires you to have advanced to join their dive trip etc.).
2. You believe that you will learn beneficial skills from the course that you wouldn't easily figure out without taking the course or otherwise learning from someone else directly.
3. You wish to have a professional instructor help you in the water (this is often a reason that newer divers, not yet confident in their skills, will chose to take an "easy" specialty as it gives them some new skills on a small portion of 1-4 dives under the supervision of an instructor for the entirety of the dives).

Courses that I think commonly fall into #1 include:
A. Nitrox
B. Advanced/AOW
C. Drysuit (in some places)
D. Most tech courses and their prerequisite courses if going that route

Courses that I think commonly fall into #2 include:
A. Rescue
B. Drysuit
C. Self-reliant
D. Sidemount
E. Cavern
F. Peak Performance Buoyancy (only IF your instructor for OW/AOW did not cover this topic with you sufficiently, which is sadly the case for many divers).
G. Navigation (for some, this comes naturally, others need a lot of mentoring to get this set of skills down well).
H. Search and Recovery (similar to nav, this can be a very helpful class for some and quite useless for others).

I think pretty much any course can fall into #3, including the above.