PADI AOW

[mmerriman]

I see no difference between someone purchasing a manual and them purchasing eLearning. Why should someone need prereqs to read something?

I'm not trying to prevent someone from purchasing materials, but I do think its a disservice not to doublecheck that the buyer is getting the right thing.

 

[tursiops]

I'm not trying to prevent someone from purchasing materials, but I do think its a disservice not to doublecheck that the buyer is getting the right thing.

LOL. Maybe the buyer could double-check too!

 

[Rickk]

I have a vague memory that AOW certifies you for up to 130 ft depth but lately I keep seeing that 100 ft is the depth limit. Was 130 the old limit and they have reduced it recently?

I took my OW over Xmas New year 1996/97. PADI

At the time I was told that I was good to go to 40 m/135 ft, but strongly advised not to go beyond 30 m/100 ft without additional training.

My dive sites in Canada only had 30 m/100 ft in accessible depth so I only went that deep on my AOW+ ( No longer offered but it was the same as AOW just 9 dives not 5). We never went deep on recreational dives since it was 4C and dark due to turbidity in the water.

I stopped taking formal training then but was surprised when I took some training in 2019 that the rules were changed to 30m /100 ft on AOW. ( Or I was given bad information in 1997.)I did take the deep certification so now am good to 40 m 135 ft.

 

[tursiops]

I took my OW over Xmas New year 1996/97. PADI

At the time I was told that I was good to go to 40 m/135 ft, but strongly advised not to go beyond 30 m/100 ft without additional training.

My dive sites in Canada only had 30 m/100 ft in accessible depth so I only went that deep on my AOW+ ( No longer offered but it was the same as AOW just 9 dives not 5). We never went deep on recreational dives since it was 4C and dark due to turbidity in the water.

I stopped taking formal training then but was surprised when I took some training in 2019 that the rules were changed to 30m /100 ft on AOW. ( Or I was given bad information in 1997.)I did take the deep certification so now am good to 40 m 135 ft.

Nothing has changed. You "can go" to 130 with the AOW card, you are just not trained to go that deep. Same with AOW; you are still able to go to 130, but you are not trained to go that deep. Finally, with Deep, you are trained to go to 130.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

I'm not trying to prevent someone from purchasing materials, but I do think its a disservice not to doublecheck that the buyer is getting the right thing.

Given how poorly paid/informed many shop employees are, I’m not surprised. Pay peanuts, get monkeys.

 

[Bob DBF]

Although this is probably the most vague & ambiguous "pre-requisite" that PADI has. I spoke with two different PADI shops in two different countries and I got two different answers.
The PADI shop close to me at first stated that I need to have completed the AOW course before I could enroll in RD. This is NOT accurate. I just need to have successfully completed the Navigation Adventure Dive

Ages ago I discussed this with my Rescue instructor, and it seems that the you need AOW was a conversation timesaver. He knew the requirements, but it would cost more, and possibly take longer, to do minimum requirement. Individual adventure dives were not regularly scheduled training. They also would most likely be private lessons, which would increase cost, as well as same training materials cost for either training.

PADI "urban myths" abound indeed..

Unfortunately these days people need to be right more than accurate, it causes issues.

I may be wrong, having started diving in 2005, but I think many decades ago there was no recommendation or "training" to either 60 or 100'. These depths came in years later.

The recommendation of limiting initial diving to 60’ until one had experience diving was in the 1980 PADI OW manual.

In addition that same sort of recommendation, I’d have to look up whether there was a stated depth or just a warning to gradually increase depth as one got experience, was in my first SCUBA manual in 1962. The depth limit at the time was 190’ or NDL diving.

 

[dmaziuk]

The depth limit at the time was 190’ or NDL diving.

I believe it still is for some agencies in some countries. But their training structure and progression is different from PADI's.

 

[Bob DBF]

I believe it still is for some agencies in some countries. But their training structure and progression is different from PADI's.

Initial recreational SCUBA training was NDL, which ends at 190’ per tables. The US Navy generally limits scuba divers to 130’ because of the limited work time at depth. This seems to be a reason it was instituted as the recreational limit, however I have not found anyone who knows when it was instituted. I’ve always been mostly solo and out of the loop so I never noticed.

 

[FinnMom]

I’m bored so I decided to do the PADI AOW eLearning just for kicks. I am a bit amazed at how simplistic the course was. First observation, there really is no ‘testing’ which I completely understand why. It’s supposed to be more diving than book work and it’s not a mandatory course.

My daughter did Padi AOWD on our 1st liveaboard trip. I enjoyed reading the text enough that I read the whole thing in just a day or so despite having plenty of other interesting things to read & folks w/ whom to chat. Admittedly I do read fairly quickly - was one of those kids that always had my nose in a book.

 

[dmaziuk]

Initial recreational SCUBA training was NDL, which ends at 190’ per tables. The US Navy generally limits scuba divers to 130’ because of the limited work time at depth. This seems to be a reason it was instituted as the recreational limit, however I have not found anyone who knows when it was instituted. I’ve always been mostly solo and out of the loop so I never noticed.

USN table does go to 190, though.

My understanding, from the reading, is 55-60 msw is where PPO2 gets uncomfortably high when diving air and oxtox risk becomes too great. 1.4 at 21% is around 190 feet or 56.6 metres, depending on units you count in and where you round 'em. (At 1.6 it's 66 msw/216', I suspect there is no NDL at that depth.)