solo training vs firefighters training whats the difference

[Stealth Mode]

I have seen PLENTY of divers with C cards whose skills completely sucked,I think it all depends on your instructor and your level of dedication.And you can assess your self taught skills against other divers that you observe,im not saying that everyone should try to teach themselves,im just saying with a few select people it is possible................

 

[DevonDiver]

I have seen PLENTY of divers with C cards whose skills completely sucked,I think it all depends on your instructor and your level of dedication.

Speaking purely about higher-level/advanced qualifications, which I consider solo diving to be, there shouldn't be too many divers around whose skills suck. Likewise, the quality of instructor should represent the level of diving which is being taught. There are obviously occasional disappointing exceptions to that assumption.

Most agencies that provide solo diving training demand that the instructor holds tech-level teaching qualifications as a minimum prerequisite. That should go a long way to ensure a higher degree of expertise and more robust definition of 'skill' is applied to the training and assessment.

And you can assess your self taught skills against other divers that you observe,

The point remains - what and how do you perform that self-assessment? How do you know if/what you might miss from the assessment?

Do you get to observe many peers dealing with critical failures on a regular basis? If not, how do you assess yourself against their ability to deal with those uncommon scenarios?

A capable advanced-level diving instructor (that's the olde school meaning of 'advanced') will have a myriad of ways to put the student under realistic pressure to see where the breaking strain is...and how their performance suffers in the worst case scenario. Such assessment cannot be equaled by conducting a hypothetical comparison with peers under more optimal circumstances. That's exactly the sort of 'flawed assessment' to which I referred earlier.

You cannot 'qualify' yourself as a competent solo diver based upon a finite appreciation of your ability under the best case scenario. In that, I am sure, the analogy to firefighting is very close.

 

[jbomb001]

Well its been a long summer,my friend is back and I have spoken with him about the solo class. His response was why do you want to take the class are you going someplace that requires a card? Your skills are more than proficient and I've seen you clear intanglements with no problems. I asked if there was anything in the course that I don't know already and he replied when I instructed you on how to dive I taught you how to deal with all the same issues with a buddy as well as without one. So I have dove solo most dives this summer. I have had one issue when I had to cut a bit of fishing line from my arm but did so calmly. I have found that the fire training has crossed over well mainly in the mindset of keeping calm and staying focused on the job at hand. Clearing lines from ones body seems to be more or less the same above and below. The main difference is that when I cut a wire in a bldg. The wire drops right away. When I cut things under water it drifts away.
I thank you all for your words of wisdom and and caution.
I read a couple post that stated if I have to ask if I should be diving solo then I should not ....I never asked if i should dive solo nor did I have any question if I was capable of doing so my question was whether or not solo dive training was going to teach me anything that my fire training had not and after speaking with my friend/instructor ive been informed that it will not teach me anything new. Perhaps it would teach someone whom took a class and had poor instructions or even had great instruction taught to the regular OW standard. Or has spent most of the time in the water in nice warm clear places or diving with a d.m/sitter. Or does not dive frequently. I was re assured to hear that was not how any of us in the dept. Were instructed. "teach above and beyond for those who are required to go above and beyond" again thanks to all that have replied.

 

[Stealth Mode]

Bottom line is still even though there are a lot of similarities between Firefighting and Scuba such as operating in an environment that cannot sustain our life form without kick ass equipment,protection etc, additional training and/or certification is most certainly required if crossing over from one side to the other.........