Master scuba diver - why the negativity?

[MXGratefulDiver]

Who cares what a non-diver assumes? So... if you get an MSD card... it might get you laid once in a while when flashed around in a bar. Makes it worth the small cost.

... I must be going to the wrong bars ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Kern]

You're all a bunch of Master debaters....

Yes, when theres a mass debate, you're often in the thick of it.

 

[boulderjohn]

Pretty much ... I've discovered that the farther "down the road" I go with my scuba education, the more "road" I see in front of me.

But the more I think about it, the more I realize I have another objection, which is the implication that this is the summit of accomplishment and training for a recreational diver. ... MSD is by no means the end of the road.

I agree with this very much.

It is a phenomenon you see in many areas. People who have a medium level of knowledge acquisition think they are much closer to full knowledge than they really are. People who have progressed farther know how much more there is to know. Paradoxically, the people with the lesser amount of learning/training often feel more confident and even boastful about their level of learning than do people with far more learning/training.

What follows is a guess...

I think this might be changing in the future with PADI. For years they handled technical diving through a semi-related organization (DSAT), but they have now taken technical diving under the PADI name. They had a cave diving certification back in the 1970's but stopped it after a year--it has since started up again, as a distinctive specialty taught by a handful of instructors only. If they are doing this, it seems logical to assume that the continuing education chart may eventually change to give students a better glimpse of the road ahead.

 

[Kern]

Is it, "put another dollar in" or "continuing education. I''m just so confused. Anyway, screw 'em, I decided to be happy with just falling in the water, flopping around for a while, & when I'm finished floating to the surface. Works a treat.

Although, even if I say so myself, I have become a master at falling in the water.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

It is a phenomenon you see in many areas. People who have a medium level of knowledge acquisition think they are much closer to full knowledge than they really are. People who have progressed farther know how much more there is to know. Paradoxically, the people with the lesser amount of learning/training often feel more confident and even boastful about their level of learning than do people with far more learning/training.

I think it's more a function of personality than anything else. Some people just have the need to feel that they're at the apex level of whatever they're doing. You see it in every human endeavor ... and you see it here on ScubaBoard almost daily.

I don't know which I find more irritating ... the old curmudgeons who've been diving the same way for the past 40 years and figure they know it all ... or the young "experts" who've been diving for less than a year, have very limited in-water experience but have read everything about diving they can get their hands on and figure they know it all.

Both are rather self-inhibiting ... not to mention a real pain in the arse to be around. These folks lose sight of the fact that it's just a recreational activity ... that there's many different ways to achieve "success" ... and that their idea of "success" may not be the same as someone else's.

Give me the guy with the card collection, or the patches on his jacket, any day ... as long as he's learning something in the process and enjoying himself while he's doing it.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[TMHeimer]

Not that long ago PADI required a night dive for Advanced. There were some people that couldn't handle a night dive so it was eliminated.
IMO to be a Master Diver a night dive should be mandatory.
The master thing could be beat to death. Pretty much already has.
As someone posted, it might be better to have levels instead.
In skydiving they have 4 license levels , A,B,C and D. At a drop zone they
had certain jumps that require a certain license to participate in certain jumps.
We live in a psychological marketing driven world. If they can make someone feel better about themselves they'll do it.
Both scuba and skydiving are spin offs of heavily disciplined military occupations. In the beginning they were much more macho oriented. As marketers saw the opportunity to make a living or corporation out of it , it evolved to where we are today.
Compare todays ntrox with computers specialty to two years ago. Wow , what a difference.
It's changing . Is it for the good ? I don't know, we'll have to watch the mortalities.

I've always said that MSD would mean a lot more if all 5 specialties had to be ones that actually improved your diving and safety. Those that disagree say the something like Underwater Naturalist or Photographer give you another skill, and they should count anyway. I did the Night course. Different, of course, and you learn a few basic things that are new. But I'm not sure if I would include it as a "required" one of the 5. I didn't find the course hard at all and doubt it contributed a whole lot to making me a "Master" Scuba Diver. Not that I consider myself a "Master" yet anyway.

 

[HowardE]

Both are rather self-inhibiting ... not to mention a real pain in the arse to be around. These folks lose sight of the fact that it's just a recreational activity ... that there's many different ways to achieve "success" ... and that their idea of "success" may not be the same as someone else's.

Give me the guy with the card collection, or the patches on his jacket, any day ... as long as he's learning something in the process and enjoying himself while he's doing it.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

And if I can add to this... people who think that there is only one way to dive, and that they know it...

 

[leabre]

I hope to one day get the Master Diver certification; it'd be nice to have one card showing all my certifications. For example, if I want to show on a charter I'm okay to dive over 60' deep (AOW, Deep) and am certified for Nitrox. Save wallet space. Not to show off.

The UTD cards show everything on the card: gas mix your certified to breath (air, nitrox, helium mixtures) and the depths you're certed to dive to (30', 60', 100', 130, 150, etc.)

Each time you take a class (with the agency) your new card reflects the changes.

IMO, this is how it should be. It truly does keep it to just one card you need to flash.

 

[leabre]

More envy too. I've never looked at a cert card and thought, 'god damn I'd give my left foot for that.'

Just your left foot? Man, you're selling yourself cheap...

 

[Kern]

The UTD cards show everything on the card: gas mix your certified to breath (air, nitrox, helium mixtures) and the depths you're certed to dive to (30', 60', 100', 130, 150, etc.)

Each time you take a class (with the agency) your new card reflects the changes.

IMO, this is how it should be. It truly does keep it to just one card you need to flash.

How many cards does it take to get to 300'.