OK...Let me begin by saying that I'm a geek and work as a mechanical engineer. I am in the process of getting certified and am going through a PDIC dive shop. I have been read through the text and have found it to be the worst written piece of instructional material I have ever put my hands on. The text attempts to address technical issues without getting too technical, understandable (not everyone is a technical person). But there should be some level of explanition of certain technical issues to determine whats going on. For instance, defining the difference between psi and psig. In addition, the text seems to wax-poetic over issues that don't really, in my oppinion, require all the verbage.
In addition, a page long paragraph discussing the benefits of a snorkel is a little overboard in my opinion. I don't need a two to three page discussion on why my snorkel is good. In fact, over two to three pages that is all the information I came away with...having a snorkel is good. Then began the explaination of the benefits and uses of the snorkel. Amazingly this section was less than a page long. Most of the PDIC book is like this.
It is my opinion that with a good technical writer, hell just someone who can write, could cut this book in half and actually have some information with some substance.
Is this something that prevalent over all the diving agencies, PADI, NAUI, YMCA, etc, or is PDIC written poorly? I'm not upset about the level of information, I would have thought that a little more effort would have been put forth to present the information. To be completely honest, I have read mechanical engineering text books that would keep my interest and keep me awake longer than this book.
In addition, a page long paragraph discussing the benefits of a snorkel is a little overboard in my opinion. I don't need a two to three page discussion on why my snorkel is good. In fact, over two to three pages that is all the information I came away with...having a snorkel is good. Then began the explaination of the benefits and uses of the snorkel. Amazingly this section was less than a page long. Most of the PDIC book is like this.
It is my opinion that with a good technical writer, hell just someone who can write, could cut this book in half and actually have some information with some substance.
Is this something that prevalent over all the diving agencies, PADI, NAUI, YMCA, etc, or is PDIC written poorly? I'm not upset about the level of information, I would have thought that a little more effort would have been put forth to present the information. To be completely honest, I have read mechanical engineering text books that would keep my interest and keep me awake longer than this book.