Capt Jim Wyatt
Hanging at the 10 Foot Stop
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Just realize, and I am sure you already do. Taking an AOW course, and passing does NOT make you an Advanced diver.
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Lol Yes I realize that....Just realize, and I am sure you already do. Taking an AOW course, and passing does NOT make you an Advanced diver.
So this is actually what I was thinking or a safety course (react right, cpr for water injuries etc.)Most agencies also have Equipment Specialist specialty that gives you a better understanding of how the equipment works as well as routine maintenance. Again, can be done online and in a shop.
So this is actually what I was thinking or a safety course (react right, cpr for water injuries etc.)
I was thinking it was more of a overview that was a little more in depth than the OW course but not quite technician level. I am pretty happy with LDS so I would bring reg to them regardless.The equipment maintenance course does not teach you how to service your own regs, just in case you were wondering about that.
From what I've read the course tends to vary a lot according to shop/instructor. For me it was OK, but nothing much that really helps me with my diving. I had a lot of money at the time and was a card collector, otherwise I wouldn't have taken it.I was thinking it was more of a overview that was a little more in depth than the OW course but not quite technician level. I am pretty happy with LDS so I would bring reg to them regardless.
Hello. I have found this very interesting.The equipment maintenance course does not teach you how to service your own regs, just in case you were wondering about that.
Lol Yes I realize that....
So definitely want to move up and continue training. I have been trained with PADI SSI and NAUI at this point. It appears that the advanced certification has a few required courses and a few elective courses. Is that right? I know I want Deep, Nav, and Night, but was wondering what others did and why? Also will probably need a pony bottle setup for deep, so what are people doing there?
I'm not specifically looking to collect cards, but I also want to open what type of dives are available to me as well. That and I'm looking to broaden my training which is also why I'm looking for thoughts on others experiences with certain specialty course and not just a cookie cutter buffet offered by whichever training provider. As stated above looking to maximize my time out of the water with additional training as well. Not for the sake of a card but to become knowledgeable and then find ways to apply the knowledge. For example taking an equipment course will help me understand the mechanics of a regulator and while I may not be able to service my own, I know what is within a "save a dive" as opposed to catastrophic. Taking safety courses will make me a better buddy. When I think Deep, Night and Nav, I think of diving conditions and how I can manage them. Low visibility, lost underwater, low air at depth, and how to react correctly to those conditions.@Jody Freitas - what you’re hungry for is high quality training. You want to be able to smartly dive deeper, to navigate confidently and to dive at night.
When you capitalize those simple nouns (deep, navigation and night), it makes me think you’ve already taken the bait of the PADI rubric. At the risk of inducing some acrimonious convulsions with the PADI Posse, I’d encourage you to look beyond the horizon PADI puts in front of you.
Although you can find great instructors in PADI, that’s a real challenge when you’re a beginner and you don’t have the experience to distinguish between what just sounds good and what really is good. The PADI model of doing a certain dive and getting credit towards a specialty certification was probably virtuous when it was developed but what I’ve found is it’s just a technique to get you to sign up for another diluted course where there doesn’t really seem to be a concerted passage of experience-based techniques nor a culminating exercise. I paid another dollar in for a couple of specialty certifications through PADI but I didn’t feel any more proficient.
Collect training and experience, don’t collect certification cards. If it seems really easy, then you’re probably getting cheated somehow.
Read @Jim Lapenta ‘s post again. That’s the radio station you want to tune to. Call him and just have a conversation with him. I bet he widens your aperture. Maybe he won’t be your DJ but he’s playing the music you want to listen to.