Free SSI Science of Diving Specialty

[David Novo]

The physics chapter of the course contains errors.

This is not surprising as most diving manuals I have seen (from several training agencies) contain errors.

Nothing really critical is wrong (I do recommend that course) but some details are.
Hint: proof reading is a key task.

- argon is not lighter than air
- heat conductivity does not depend that much on density (unless it's a vacuum)
- telling that some people call volume capacity is a bad idea. Two tanks of the same volume can have different capacities. The course should describe the difference between those two and not equate them.
- and more

The course is good. It contains a lot of usefull and correct information, but proofreading was lacking.

The Buoyancy Control System section has a bit of indocrination (the "BPW are for tech dives" idea is all over the section) and a bit of odd ideas ("Because divers are not always in an upright position when they need to vent air", "(dump valves) in the rear at waist level, for a diver in a head down position").

 

[TMHeimer]

Unimportant question (or one I should know maybe)-
I'll take this SSI cert. as an example.
A non-certified person can join scubaboard, read about, and (I guess) take this course. Get certified, card and everything. Can he/she present that card at a shop and get fills? Or would the shop ask for a card that included dives?

 

[David Novo]

Unimportant question (or one I should know maybe)-
I'll take this SSI cert. as an example.
A non-certified person can join scubaboard, read about, and (I guess) take this course. Get certified, card and everything. Can he/she present that card at a shop and get fills? Or would the shop ask for a card that included dives?

OW is a requirement for this course...

 

[BlueTrin]

Unimportant question (or one I should know maybe)-
I'll take this SSI cert. as an example.
A non-certified person can join scubaboard, read about, and (I guess) take this course. Get certified, card and everything. Can he/she present that card at a shop and get fills? Or would the shop ask for a card that included dives?

As a side note, I was never asked any kind of card to get air fills in the UK.

I doubt this card can entitle to any diving: it is not a diver grade just a specialty.

 

[TMHeimer]

OW is a requirement for this course...

I figured that. But I never officially submitted any card to SSI. I guess Henry just took my word for it or looked it up online with PADI as I see he would obviously have access being a PADI MSDT. Maybe a non PADI shop might not have access to PADI or other agency data?

 

[tridacna]

I figured that. But I never officially submitted any card to SSI. I guess Henry just took my word for it or looked it up online with PADI as I see he would obviously have access being a PADI MSDT. Maybe a non PADI shop might not have access to PADI or other agency data?

Anyone can look up a PADI cert. Name and DOB et voila! No instructor necessary.

 

[TMHeimer]

Anyone can look up a PADI cert. Name and DOB et voila! No instructor necessary.

Thanks.

 

[chimong]

I saw SSI offering this free program so I signed up as a new member. But I was also confused about the meaning of "* SSI only offers the Science of Diving Digital Kit and Certification free of charge, not the complete course. SSI recommends to contact an SSI Training Center for training (potentially at additional charge) and certification."

Anyway I haven't finished this course yet. But does it mean if I want to receive the certification I need to eventually contact a dive shop to issue it to me? Feels a bit awkward because the website allows me to choose any dive shop to sign up, so I chose a random one, and I haven't contacted it yet. So I should expect the dive shop to charge me a fee for the certification once I pass? It seems like the whole thing is SSI trying to use this free online program to hook some students up with their dive shops and thus generate a little income for them?

 

[saxman242]

Different SSI shops charge different amounts, so your mileage may vary. Honestly, unless you're planning on going down the instructor/DM route and need the cert for that, there really isn't any reason to pay to finalize the cert, other than helping out a dive shop with a little source of funding during these times. The information you learned is the valuable part here.

 

[chimong]

The information you learned is the valuable part here.

Yes that's my main goal. I'm newly OW certified so definitely not thinking about becoming professional at the moment. Last week I was so bored at home because of the virus situation that I dug out my OW manual to read all over again and began to think about where I want to go for diving next time. Then I came upon this!