A question of when....

[stingray01]

I have a question for you guys out there regarding specialties...

I'm taking my OW class starting next Tuesday. Beings as I am in the NW, my final dives will be in waters around 50F degrees, so I'm urged to do so in a Dry Suit. As such, they are working a Dry Suit specialty in for me. Then I asked them, "So what specialties can I get before I complete the OW?" I was told that I can get

• Dry Suit
• EANx (Nitrox)

I have read on here others opinions and have read a little material on the benefits of EANx but I'm a little hesitant to sign up for the Nitrox because I have a feeling that I might need a bit more experience before I can actually benefit from the use this specialty? Can I get some opinions?

 

[Walter]

All agencies have different standards. Some agencies require X number of dives after certification prior to beginning a nitrox course. Actually, there's no reason I can find for such a requirement. I wish my agency would allow me to teach nitrox with OW. They actually fit very well together. If I were allowed to combine the classes I could do it with very little additional time as most of the nitrox material is already covered in my OW class.

WWW™

 

[WantToBe]

You can get the EANx cert. and decide when you want to dive EANx(Get the most out of EANx). I hope this helps.

 

[stingray01]

Originally posted by Walter
They actually fit very well together...... I could do it with very little additional time as most of the nitrox material is already covered in my OW class.

If this is true, then maybe I should take it. My OW starts on the 6th and the EANx class is offered the 8th. So I'll have one day class under my belt (it is a 5 week class)..

It's tempting. I hear a lot of great things about Nitrox. I also heard that beginner divers need to get better control of their AC to benefit from using EANx. Is this true?

 

[TexasMike]

Whoa!

Did I read your post correctly??? That you are able to be certified for dry suit BEFORE you are certified for open water???

From all that I know about instruction, that don't jive. You need to be certified for o/w first before you can hit the specialties.

In fact, I would recommend that you do it that way. O/W covers the basic buidling blocks that all of the specialties require you to have before you can start with them. I agree that you might want dry suit, but you gotta walk before you can do the fancy dances.

The specialties that you mention can usually be taken with the "Advanced" open water course. And from what I have leared about most training agencies, you can do the advanced cource right after you have completed the o/w course.

So probably the correct track for you is to complete Open Water, then tackle Dry Suit.

Nitrox (EANx) will be a good specialty to take after you have several dives under your belt and are looking to explore depths beyond those that your basic o/w limit you too. Myself, I took it after 20 dives, and before a trip where I could utilize it.

Hope this helped.

 

[Walter]

Nitrox allows you more bottom time before requiring stage decompression. If you can't get the allowable bottom time on air due to poor air consumption nitrox won't be as beneficial to you on a single dive. OTOH, if you are making repetitive dives the shorter surface intervals and longer bottom times on subsequent dives will still be helpful. Then there are the folks who dive nitrox on air tables/computers for a greater safety margin.

WWW™

 

[WantToBe]

The class I was in takes one session for 5-6 hours and a test at the end. It covers some of the OW dive planing.

 

[WantToBe]

TexasMike - Some of the agencys will have a drysuit orientation course and after you could use drysuit on the checkout dives. In the checkout dives include the checkout dives for drysuit (in addition to the WO checkout dives).

 

[TexasMike]

WTB --

Thanks for clearing this up. I'm not up to speed on how things are done in the colder climates, so what you said now makes more sense. What I posted earlier was based on my "warm water" experiences alone.

Thanks again!

 

[stingray01]

Originally posted by WantToBe
TexasMike - Some of the agencys will have a drysuit orientation course and after you could use drysuit on the checkout dives. In the checkout dives include the checkout dives for drysuit (in addition to the WO checkout dives).

Maybe this is closer to what I'm actually doing but I'm pretty sure that inquired about specialty status after the class and they said that I would have attained that specialty.....

I'm reading the OW book prior to the class and I've been given a Dry Suit specialty book that I'm reading as well. I'm going to be taking a class on Dry Suit on the 13th (after two of the classes for my OW) and doing some pool dives with the Dry Suit.

Maybe I don't actually get the specialty until after the open water, now I'm not so sure. I just tried to call my LDS to check, but they aren't open yet. In a way, I was almost expecting a response like TexasMike's, because I was a bit leary, but if it is kosher, then I'm all over it. I don't think that dry suit is something that I can just jump into and go, so I asked about some sort of training andin fact it was recommended by my LDS.