Blackwood
Contributor
I think his post was meant facetiously. At least, I hope so. I have no problem with the 140' he listed, but cave? He must be joking. Right?
Redesigning AOW
- Thread starter fisherdvm
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I think his post was meant facetiously. At least, I hope so. I have no problem with the 140' he listed, but cave? He must be joking. Right?
shotthebreeze
Contributor
Buoyancy and search and recovery
Recreational? Is that a requirement? Advanced open water right? 13 pages of posts. Question is how would I redesign AOW?
why call it advanced if you are not planning on teaching advanced skills. Then you have Rescue diver, why dont we all need to know that? then dive master, and deep diving, and Nitrox ok well lets get rid of those and just make the training program "what you need to know to do advanced dives" and call it Advanced Diving. then if you want you can learn to teach. since not everyone wants to teach.
That is how I would change AOW, I would include everything you need before you learn to teach basic divers. and everything that you might do before you take "Hero Diver" (dives to 400ft in Wrecks)
why call it advanced if you are not planning on teaching advanced skills. Then you have Rescue diver, why dont we all need to know that? then dive master, and deep diving, and Nitrox ok well lets get rid of those and just make the training program "what you need to know to do advanced dives" and call it Advanced Diving. then if you want you can learn to teach. since not everyone wants to teach.
That is how I would change AOW, I would include everything you need before you learn to teach basic divers. and everything that you might do before you take "Hero Diver" (dives to 400ft in Wrecks)
After reading your profile, your post makes sense. 10 or more years of diving, and only 50-99 dives. Go get yourself some continuing ed., or are you one of those people (gender not specified in profile) that thinks they already know it all? If so, if your ever in my neck of the woods and you plan on diving, let me know so I won't be around diving during that time. That way I won't have too be there when you end up hurt. There are steps you must take too become a safe diver. You wouldn't have a 3rd grader taking calculus before they new multiplication, division, algebra, and so on. They wouldn't have what it takes too carry on. They would probably learn too dislike math and drop out of school because of the humiliation.IMO I'm glad I went through the hoops I did on the way to where I am now, it gave me the confidence too build on too become an instructor and give my students the best chance of of becoming a quality diver.
Joe
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Why the need to read his profile to make sense of his post? It seems he is saying not enough "advanced" skills are included in OW. No reason to climb up his ass for that.
Totally agree with the guy.
Totally agree with the guy.
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I can only tell you why I include it.
It's not because sport divers will be doing S&R ... in reality, most won't ever have to use it to find anything. But it gives the student a chance to work on a few skills ... navigation, buoyancy and trim (to avoid stirring up silt that will prevent you from finding your target), managing an additional air source while ascending (bringing up the target using a lift bag), and using a reel (for specific search patterns).
Besides that, it just adds some fun to the class ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
Personally, I think S&R is a good manual skill to start refining diving skills. It is only when you start fiddling around with bits of kit that you really start to develop comfort underwater.
It is not quite the same point, but I remember doing my Wreck Diver course and doing all the reel drills. Piece of cake when you practice outside of the wreck in bright daylight holding your light. But when you do it again squeezing through narrow passages in low light, fine handling the reel, but keeping your bouyancy under control, avoiding kicking up silt, keeping an eye on air and your buddy, is all a lot more challenging. If the aim of the course is really to turn them into advanced divers, then it is refining manual skills and learning to still be able to do the basics well whilst doing them that helps people develop.
Just my view.
seaducer
Contributor
My S&R part of AOW taught me basic search patterns, which I might not have known otherwise, and they have come in handy looking for things over the years. It is one thing to read about search patterns in a book, something else to actually perform them in limited visibility and see how they work.The second part as I remember it was the use of lift bags. I think the skills I learned in that dive helped me out over the years. Granted maybe that has a lot to do with where I live. My AOW was Night, S&R, Navigation, Deep and Wreck.
Here in NJ local OW divers are looking to go out on the wreck sites and maybe bring a piece of history home. This is a nice package of dives and experiences that tie in nicely to those goals.
For a pure "advanced" flavor, I would drop that and wreck in exchange for a EAN -40 cert, making the program night, deep, nav, nitrox. I like the nitrox as not only will it enable you to dive a more appropriate mix it also teaches you more theory.
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I took the NAS 1 course a few years ago. It was taught by two professional archaeologists in the field from Parks Canada. We looked like a bunch of fools in the pool trying to take measurements, make notes, and draw sketches. We also learned a bit about the construction of boats. This was all useful information to a prairie boy such as myself. When we went to the local training site and did a preliminary survey of a small boat it was fun to put the skills to use.
The two dives we did tied together many skills such as buoyancy, working as a team, good dive planning (purpose, responsibility, gas management), and awareness of the marine environment.
This type of dive would be a useful way to have students demonstrate all of the skills acquired, or improved upon in an AOW course.
The two dives we did tied together many skills such as buoyancy, working as a team, good dive planning (purpose, responsibility, gas management), and awareness of the marine environment.
This type of dive would be a useful way to have students demonstrate all of the skills acquired, or improved upon in an AOW course.
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