OW and AOW

[Clark Fletcher]

The thread "Historical Equivalencies" actually got me thinking about this. However, I felt I would be hijacking that thread if I posted this question there. So, I felt it appropriate to start a new thread.

My question is, has PADI always had just OW and AOW? It was a long time ago that I first certified with PADI but, when I started back diving this year, some of the certifications are not what I recalled. I thought when I certified back in 1979 that PADI had a Basic Diver and Open Water Diver. I don't recall there being an AOW back then. And, unlike the current PADI Scuba Diver course, the Basic Diver allowed you to dive without an instructor. Did I dream that? Could it be that the current OW is what used to be called Basic Diver and that what is now AOW is what used to be OW diver? Or did they have Basic, OW, and AOW and I was just unaware of the AOW? If they did have Basic back then, what where the limitations of that certification. Someone please set me straight.

 

[RyanT]

I don't know the details of course structure, but indeed, today's OW course is less substantial than it used to be.

 

[Erich S]

Yes the Basic Scuba C card allowed one to dive without a DM or instructor. It was equal to today's OW cert.
When I took the course back in 76 it lasted six weeks and we also
had to be CPR certified.
PADI1970s Certs were:
Basic Scuba
OW
AOW
DM
Some specialities offered and Master Diver.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

Yes the Basic Scuba C card allowed one to dive without a DM or instructor. It was equal to today's OW cert.

Today's OW allows you to dive without a DM or instructor as well. Not sure where you were going with this.

 

[Erich S]

In the 70s OW was the next step up in progression but you could get air and dive anywhere you wanted to with just the basic certification.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

In the 70s OW was the next step up in progression but you could get air and dive anywhere you wanted to with just the basic certification.

I understand I was certified in 78 - I just am not sure of your point. Today with OW you can also dive without any supervision... Just like we could....


***** ADDING *****

Unless your point is that AOW is required for some dives due to Liabilities that were not there in the 70's that is a whole different thread and issue in my opinion.

 

[Erich S]

There's no point other than PADI removing their first level Basic Scuba cert sometime in the early 80s and making the OW their first certification level.

 

[Diver0001]

I don't know the details of course structure, but indeed, today's OW course is less substantial than it used to be.

Well this certainly isn't true.

I don't know exactly when the standard changed to the "modern" format but it must have been before about 1980. I took OW, AOW and Rescue in 1984/1985 and the course "structure" was virtually identical to how we were teaching students in 2007.

Recently PADI changed the standard to emphasize neutral buoyancy in a way that was never done before and still isn't by most agencies. This was a significant change to make the course "structure" more substantial than it had been in the past, not less. Before this change, most OW courses involved learning on the knees which it had been from the very beginning as I understand it. Since the recent changes to standards neutral teaching/learning has been put in proper perspective with, as a result, that students coming out of OW now probably have better buoyancy control on the whole than students we trained 10 or even 30+ years ago.

So yeah, the structure has, indeed, changed, but the misconception is that the changes were changes for the worse.

R..

 

[Diver0001]

There's no point other than PADI removing their first level Basic Scuba cert sometime in the early 80s and making the OW their first certification level.

I believe the basic certification is what is now called "scuba diver". Divers with with a scuba diver cert have done about 1/2 of the OW course and are limited to diving in 12m maximum depth and must be under supervision. People hardly ever request this course although some shops will give this certification to divers who qualify but are unable or unwilling to finish the OW course.

R..

 

[Erich S]

I believe the basic certification is what is now called "scuba diver". Divers with with a scuba diver cert have done about 1/2 of the OW course and are limited to diving in 12m maximum depth and must be under supervision. People hardly ever request this course although some shops will give this certification to divers who qualify but are unable or unwilling to finish the OW course.

R..

Not true, the basic cert allowed you to dive anywhere without supervision so it's not the same as the Scuba Diver cert currently being offered.