Have you heard of this?

[raider11]

My wife and I became very good friends with our instructor and she told us that the problem with some LDS that don´t let you take the course without buying a book per student is that with the book they get the coupon to ask PADI (in our case) for your C-Card, if they don´t sell you the book they have to paid for that coupon, it´s not much, but they loose the book selling and they have to pay an extra fee. My LDS let my wife and I take the courses with the same book, but only because they know we spend same money on equipment and travels regularly.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

PADI implemented a standards change a couple years ago which requires each diver (NOT diving family) to have a copy of the manual or up to four divers can use one multimedia set.

PADI is a publishing company. They make money by selling textbooks and other various training materials. They package these things in various ways and sell them to their customers - mostly dive shops and PADI dive instructors.

PADI does not directly sell books or classes to the general public. PERIOD. If the student does not buy the book from someone, PADI loses out on a sale to one of their customers.

You can argue all you want about whether it is a good idea or not (I think not), but PADI simply instituted a rule: If PADI's customer (the instructor or dive shop) want to issue a PADI certification, then they are responsible for being sure that the student has a copy of the manual.

As to the OP, it seems the obvious way to work around this with the least hassel and expense is to buy one copy of the multimedia for up to four family members. If, however, you are willing to go with other instructors, you may find different policies with courses designed by different agencies.

 

[Scuba Laura]

As a PADI Instructor and a PADI Dive Center, we do ask that each student has their own copy of the Manual. It makes it easier when conducting classroom sessions. As to the comment made "how many people actually refer back to their manual?" I'd say probably many do. We see it all the time. Because we are in the Caribbean, and most divers only dive a couple to few times a year while on vacation, they refresh themselves beforehand. Just my observation and experience. Who is anyone to say which diver continues on with their education? They may not do it right away, but, sometime in their future they may desire to. When taking Dive Master and Instructor Courses, you do need to refer back to all Course manuals.

After saying all that, if a family comes in and shares books, ie photocopied knowledge reviews, do I turn them away? Heck no, we are not that evil and do believe that teaching the Course and getting people excited about it is the main idea.

Sometimes these little spats are just silliness.

 

[bfw]

PADI standards specify that each student has their own book. The only exception I'm aware of is the multimedia CD can be used for up to four people.

HAS their own book, present tense, as in during the course, as in no sharing books among students in the class, and the standards don't say anything about where they GET the book.

 

[bfw]

To the best of my knowledge NAUI does not have the PADI requirement mentioned in a previous posting. NAUI does not require students to rip the quiz pages out of the textbook.

Nor does PADI - lots of students photocopy their knowledge reviews because they don't want to mess up their expensive textbooks.

 

[bfw]

You do not have to buy the PADI manual from the dive centre.

If you have a book that is intact and current, you're good to go. Two students cannot share a book, however, so you would need two physical copies of the manual when doing the course together.

Just how does one prevent two students sharing a book? Nothing says the student has to BRING the book to class with them.

 

[bfw]

Is there anything you would go back and say to the guy at the store because 70 bucks a peice is a lot of money! Thanks again everyone

Yeah, I'd tell him I found a shop that didn't play such petty games, and if you spend 5 minutes with the phone book, you will.

 

[bfw]

Not that I look for places to defend PADI, the manual is supposed to be a future reference book for the certified diver, in their library.

That's why God created Scubaboard!

 

[John_B]

That makes a lot more sense. During my NAUI Open Water course the instructor had the students write out the answers to the questions prior to coming to class. The students wrote out the answers on a separate sheet of paper. He then went over the questions with the students before having the students pass in their written answers.

With the PADI OW manual, I thought you could photocopy the unanswered knowledge reviews and turn in your answers on the copies (leaving the book unmarked and intact)?

 

[PinkPADIgal]

Just how does one prevent two students sharing a book? Nothing says the student has to BRING the book to class with them.

If you take a class from me, or any of the instructors in my dive center, you must bring your book to class. We reference the material during the lecture part of the class. If you have the CD Rom version, you must bring the printed pages with the KR complete. I also require students to write in the book. I encourage the students to do the quick quizes and highlighter throughout the book too. Call me a hard-ass but it is one way I know the students have read the materials and understand the KR. Most students comply happily.

I have been an instructor for 6 years and I still use my PADI open water manual for reference. I encourage students to take it with them to read and review on the plane ride to their warm destination. I also keep an ERDP, regular table and EAN tables in my log book and use them for reference too, even though I can download all my dives off my computer.

A few years ago, there was a problem with dive centers in the Caribbean letting students use "shop copies" of the manuals. In many countries outside the the US, there is a hologram sticker that must be attached to the PIC when the student mails in the PIC card.

There is a lot of discussion on this board about taking short cuts with the CW and open water sessions. Making sure each student has his/her own materials and has completed the chapter review questions is another way for us to ensure a student understands why it is important to know and understand everything we teach them.