I take an empty, clear plastic bucket down and fill it up with rubble on the bottom. (That way I don't have to haul anything heavy around pre- or post- exercise).
AOW as an experienced diver
- Thread starter AfterDark
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I also use a cinder block that is already there. Move it horizontal 100 ft with a lift bag, bring to surface up a slope adjusting buoyancy on the way from about 30 feet. Then take it back down the same slope adding air to keep it neutral and putting it in the original location. So they are controlling the bag and themselves. Teaches patience and requires them to think about what they are doing and when.
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as usual a great idea!
I dove a night dive with some AOW students tonight. They had a total of five dives previously OMG. They were silting up the bottom badly. grrrrrr.
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OP
AfterDark
Contributor
I still like the wallet. He can even put it in a waterproof bag! I think it shows conidence in his teaching abilites and students. Slkin in the game, yaknow. 
It is very challenging for instructors when they have very experienced divers in an AOW course. I usually try to have the divers choose Night, Search and Salvage, drift (if the currents are favorable) and I sometimes offer NITROX/EAN if they express interest in also getting their EAN Card. . These coupled with the Deep and Navigation in my opinion help the divers become better more confident divers.
There are some adventure dives which I just dont offer such as Boat because 4 out of 5 of the dives in my AOW Courses are being made from a boat, and we can cover the material in conjunction with other dives..
If you feel as though you are wasting your money, you probablly are. So you might want to talk to the instructor and seek out more challenging dives..... Dont discount the importance of the Search and Recovery dive
)Cheers,
Roger
davidbaraff
Contributor
Interesting thread. I have about 120 dives over four years, got certified in Monterey. By a funny coincidence, I am doing an AOW class in Catalina in two weeks with a bunch of divers (two of whom are my friends which is why I am going, mostly to be social and have someone to dive with for once) who just did their OW 2 weeks ago, so these AOW dives will be their 5th dives and up. The instructor let me join the class after strictly (but nicely) asking that I be careful not to impart any bad habits to her students. (Translation: shut up about the fact that I sometimes (cough) solo dive the dive park in Catalina. [But i stay fairly shallow when I do.]).
The main reason I'm doing the AOW class is because they're doing a night dive (which I've never done, so that will be neat and I've wanted to do one for a long time now) and because I think it will be interesting to see what gets taught in these classes. I don't actually think I'm going to get a bunch out of it because it's eight divers each of whom has only their O/W dives, and me, diver number nine. It is a somewhat startling revelation to me that people are going to finish this class, be AOW ---- and still have less than ten dives.
My take home is that AOW may teach you something, but the fact that dive operators are requiring it sounds like so much BS to me. The fact that you're AOW says nothing. The fact that you're not AOW also says nothing.
People really require AOW? My diving is limited to Catalina, Monterey, and Hawaii --- other than my C-Card (which they don't even always ask for), nobody's said "boo" to me about being AOW, ever.
The main reason I'm doing the AOW class is because they're doing a night dive (which I've never done, so that will be neat and I've wanted to do one for a long time now) and because I think it will be interesting to see what gets taught in these classes. I don't actually think I'm going to get a bunch out of it because it's eight divers each of whom has only their O/W dives, and me, diver number nine. It is a somewhat startling revelation to me that people are going to finish this class, be AOW ---- and still have less than ten dives.
My take home is that AOW may teach you something, but the fact that dive operators are requiring it sounds like so much BS to me. The fact that you're AOW says nothing. The fact that you're not AOW also says nothing.
People really require AOW? My diving is limited to Catalina, Monterey, and Hawaii --- other than my C-Card (which they don't even always ask for), nobody's said "boo" to me about being AOW, ever.
Yes, many operators require the AOW card to go on more challenging dives such as Dives Below 18M/60FT, sometimes drift, sometimes Night. I would hesitate to take a guest on a dive which greatly exceeds his/her level of training or experience without first doing a check-out dive with that guest.
Most places ask for proof of certification (for liability purposes), I know I have always been asked for my C-card while traveling but I have never been asked for my Log-book.
Cheers,
Roger
OP
AfterDark
Contributor
That's what I asked. Some do, some don't. Last charter I went on people didn't know me from a hole in the wall. Looked at my OW card saw "more than 1400 dives" and a few hours later I'm in 110fsw 15 miles offshore. Another charter said OW no way. But I've dived there before I've got the logs. No way. What can ya do? I was probably diving those sites when he was in school doing finger painting.
Like it or not, the country the two of you live and dive in is litigation-happy. You really can't blame operators for protecting their interests and mitigating risks... they might have to turn away a customer or two, but the money they lose is peanuts when compared to the costs defending themselves from a lawsuit brought by grieving relatives and the ensuing bad press that damages their earnings potential even more. Remember that even if the diver expressly accepts all risks--including going to depths beyond those commonly associated with OW dive qualifications--families almost never believe that their loved one might have provoked an incident himself, and they will almost always look for somebody else to bear the responsibility, and to sue for liability. If the family can't say "the op was negligent for letting him do this dive," the risks of finding themselves at the defense table are that much smaller.
Just make the best of the AOW, find a way to enjoy it (such as quahog fishing), and help your dive ops keep the lawyers at bay.
OP
AfterDark
Contributor
Well that's just what I'm doing. Making the LDS, and operator happy and comfortable. However the AOW and NItrox class cost me $400.00. Last week I needed to fill my home heating oil tank, cost: $900.00. Ya get where I'm coming from? I'll acutally be doing less diving this year, because I took these classes, and can't afford to take the time off or spend the money that I usually spend on diving. Now how does that help? I'll stop here if I keep going we'll wind up in the Whine and Cheese section!
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