PADI has merged with AOL? Heaven help us all! :shocked2:
The more I read, the more I wish NAUI had a facility here in Tucson.
Worth it or just a $$ making scheme
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PADI has merged with AOL? Heaven help us all! :shocked2:
The more I read, the more I wish NAUI had a facility here in Tucson.
Covered in my AOW class from the actual class outline we go over each point in detail:
Advanced Equipment Configurations
While diving equipment is covered to different degree in every Open Water Course it would be remiss to look at doing advanced dives without discussing what options are available to divers undertaking these new tasks. Some dives may be done with what is normally thought of as recreational gear but by choosing gear for advanced dives based on some new guidelines we can add to the safety and comfort of the diver while at the same time simplifying configurations and reducing the amount of task loading. Using my own experience as a beginning technical diver, the advice of more senior instructors, and guidelines borrowed from Tom Mount’s IANTD Encyclopedia of Technical Diving, I suggest the following guidelines for students entering this course. Again Instructors should feel free to modify or add to these guidelines to meet the needs of their students. The suggested guidelines for advanced equipment configurations are:
1. Safe and Reliable
2. Comfortable and Well Fitting
3. Provide for adequate redundancy without being excessive.
4. Configured for self sufficiency and self rescue
5. Simple and Streamlined
6. All accessories and valves easily reachable
7. Allows for Buddy Assist and Rescue
8. Has a Low Drag Profile- Streamlined
9. Adaptable to the Divers Needs
10. Adaptable to the Diver’s Objective
11. All Equipment Identifiable by Touch and Location
12. Standardized with Fellow Divers Yet Versatile to Meet the Needs of the User
13. Equipment Placement is balanced and Instinctive
14. Any Changes have been made Gradually and with Careful Thought
15. Diver is open to Improvement to his/her Setup
16. All Cylinders are Properly Labeled with the Gas Mixture, MOD, and the Diver’s Name
In addition I cover gas management, SAC rates, Rock bottom, communications, rescue, navigation techniques and selection of them, Search and Recovery and selection of technique, Deco procedures as we do in OW class, tables, dive planning- Course has 8 hours of classroom plus on site classroom time. The dives I offer are listed below. The ONLY substitution I will make is a wreck dive instead of S&R but it involved more time and cost to get to an actual wreck. A school bus in a quarry is not a wreck to me. I have my first AOW of this year starting tomorrow night.
AOW DIVE GUIDELINES
1. Advanced Skills Dive- This dive is used to enhance the OW divers skills by reinforcing and improving basic skills as well as introduce the following new ones:
A: Anti-silting kicking techniques consisting of frog and/or modified frog kicks, helicopter turns, and back kicks.
B: Performing basic skills while swimming and hovering including mask removal and replace, regulator retrieval, weight removal and replacement, and sharing air. We must remember that students coming from other agencies may not have had to perform these skills while hovering or swimming.
C: Shooting a lift bag to assist in ascents.
D: Reinforcing proper weighting and trim.
E: Deployment of redundant air source (pony bottle)
These skills are best done in relatively shallow water (25-30 feet), and should be demonstrated by the instructor as with any other class. The bag shoot will be demo’d and then performed by the student. Buddy skills and communication is strictly enforced on all dives
2. Underwater Navigation- This dive is used as a follow up to the basic compass skills as performed during the OW checkouts. In addition to the basic patterns of a square and triangle the instructor should repeat the patterns but also have the student select an object on the bottom to use a reference at each turn. This small exercise in combined compass and natural navigation is used to illustrate the increased accuracy of this method and interest the student in further Navigation training. The following skills should be emphasized and evaluated.
A: Holding the compass properly
B: Maintaining horizontal trim
C: Maintaining position in the water column
D: Buddy awareness and communication
E: Accuracy
F: Attention to detail and selection of landmarks
G: Measuring distance through kicks, time, air consumption, or a line
3. Search and Recovery- This dive introduces students to basic underwater search patterns and recovery techniques. It must be made clear that this is not a public safety course but an introduction to the use of basic patterns to locate lost objects of small size. The techniques and tools are suitable for locating things like fishing rods, boat motors, wallets, and other such items. The lift bags used should not exceed 100lb capacity and smaller ones are preferred. 25-50 lbs is an ideal size for lifting an object such as a concrete block or bucket filled with weight. The use of a reel and line is also required for this dive to execute a circular pattern, grid, or as insurance should visibility be reduced by natural conditions or the actions of the searchers.
These skills are used in this dive:
A: Buoyancy control
B: Selection of search pattern based on object size, approximate location, environmental conditions
C: Attention to terrain detail
D: Maintaining trim and buoyancy while conducting a slow search using good anti-silting techniques
E: Securing object to be lifted
F: Lift bag use – raise object at even rate, achieve neutral buoyancy with the bag, bring object to surface and return to depth maintaining neutral buoyancy of diver and object.
4. Night/ Low Visibility- This dive is used to familiarize the student with the fascinating world of diving without natural light. The use of dive lights, strobes, markers, and new methods of communicating with the dive buddy are introduced. Night diving, while fun, presents new challenges and risks. The instructor needs to make absolutely sure the divers know the plan. They should also receive a thorough site briefing and know the procedures should the team or group become separated. The following skills should be practiced and evaluated.
A: Buoyancy control
B: Light use and selection
C: Use of strobe or marker to mark the anchor or down line
D: Buddy contact and communication
E: Lost diver procedures
F: Navigation
G: Site choice
5. Deep Dive- The deep dive is one of the primary reasons that divers take the AOW course. They wish to do dives exceeding the recommended OW limit of 60 feet. Whether it be a wreck, wall, or reef there is usually some reason for them to get a card that will demonstrate to a resort or boat operation that they are qualified to do the dive. Unfortunately this is usually the dive that also presents the most risk to the diver. Increased air usage demands a better understanding of management of the air supply. When doing this dive they may also be coming closer to the No Decompression Limits much faster than they realize. More attention to depth and times must be impressed upon them. Many will elect to begin looking at redundant air sources such as pony bottles. This is an area we should cover as well to be sure they get the proper equipment and know how to use it. And it goes without saying that we need to again make them aware of the effects of nitrogen narcosis. Skills evaluated would be:
A: Buoyancy control
B: Horizontal descent and ascent
C: Maintaining rate of descent
D: Situational Awareness via tests to judge effects of narcosis
E: Communication
F: Management of air supply
G: Ascent utilizing deep stops
H: Air share ascent from 90 feet to first stop at 50 feet where we retrieve stage bottles and switch to them for remainder of the dive
6. Buddy Skills and Assist- The Buddy Skills and Assist Dive is intended to reinforce proper buddy skills and also introduce the student to new skills that may be used to assist a dive buddy who has encountered different issues and now requires assistance from his buddy. At all times safety protocols must be observed and adhered to. This does not however preclude creating scenarios to test and challenge the student with the goal of increasing confidence, situational awareness, and overall safety of the divers. With this in mind the following scenarios can be used:
A. 100 foot no mask swim
B. 100 foot no mask air share swim
C. 100 foot no mask air share swim and ascent
D. Loss of buoyancy ascent assist
E. Unconscious Diver from depth ( not to exceed 25 feet)
F. Rescue tow of unconscious diver
G. Support of diver at the surface for 2 minutes and assist with establishing positive buoyancy. ie drop weights, remove gear, oral inflation of bc, etc.
Advanced Equipment Configurations
While diving equipment is covered to different degree in every Open Water Course it would be remiss to look at doing advanced dives without discussing what options are available to divers undertaking these new tasks. Some dives may be done with what is normally thought of as recreational gear but by choosing gear for advanced dives based on some new guidelines we can add to the safety and comfort of the diver while at the same time simplifying configurations and reducing the amount of task loading. Using my own experience as a beginning technical diver, the advice of more senior instructors, and guidelines borrowed from Tom Mount’s IANTD Encyclopedia of Technical Diving, I suggest the following guidelines for students entering this course. Again Instructors should feel free to modify or add to these guidelines to meet the needs of their students. The suggested guidelines for advanced equipment configurations are:
1. Safe and Reliable
2. Comfortable and Well Fitting
3. Provide for adequate redundancy without being excessive.
4. Configured for self sufficiency and self rescue
5. Simple and Streamlined
6. All accessories and valves easily reachable
7. Allows for Buddy Assist and Rescue
8. Has a Low Drag Profile- Streamlined
9. Adaptable to the Divers Needs
10. Adaptable to the Diver’s Objective
11. All Equipment Identifiable by Touch and Location
12. Standardized with Fellow Divers Yet Versatile to Meet the Needs of the User
13. Equipment Placement is balanced and Instinctive
14. Any Changes have been made Gradually and with Careful Thought
15. Diver is open to Improvement to his/her Setup
16. All Cylinders are Properly Labeled with the Gas Mixture, MOD, and the Diver’s Name
In addition I cover gas management, SAC rates, Rock bottom, communications, rescue, navigation techniques and selection of them, Search and Recovery and selection of technique, Deco procedures as we do in OW class, tables, dive planning- Course has 8 hours of classroom plus on site classroom time. The dives I offer are listed below. The ONLY substitution I will make is a wreck dive instead of S&R but it involved more time and cost to get to an actual wreck. A school bus in a quarry is not a wreck to me. I have my first AOW of this year starting tomorrow night.
AOW DIVE GUIDELINES
1. Advanced Skills Dive- This dive is used to enhance the OW divers skills by reinforcing and improving basic skills as well as introduce the following new ones:
A: Anti-silting kicking techniques consisting of frog and/or modified frog kicks, helicopter turns, and back kicks.
B: Performing basic skills while swimming and hovering including mask removal and replace, regulator retrieval, weight removal and replacement, and sharing air. We must remember that students coming from other agencies may not have had to perform these skills while hovering or swimming.
C: Shooting a lift bag to assist in ascents.
D: Reinforcing proper weighting and trim.
E: Deployment of redundant air source (pony bottle)
These skills are best done in relatively shallow water (25-30 feet), and should be demonstrated by the instructor as with any other class. The bag shoot will be demo’d and then performed by the student. Buddy skills and communication is strictly enforced on all dives
2. Underwater Navigation- This dive is used as a follow up to the basic compass skills as performed during the OW checkouts. In addition to the basic patterns of a square and triangle the instructor should repeat the patterns but also have the student select an object on the bottom to use a reference at each turn. This small exercise in combined compass and natural navigation is used to illustrate the increased accuracy of this method and interest the student in further Navigation training. The following skills should be emphasized and evaluated.
A: Holding the compass properly
B: Maintaining horizontal trim
C: Maintaining position in the water column
D: Buddy awareness and communication
E: Accuracy
F: Attention to detail and selection of landmarks
G: Measuring distance through kicks, time, air consumption, or a line
3. Search and Recovery- This dive introduces students to basic underwater search patterns and recovery techniques. It must be made clear that this is not a public safety course but an introduction to the use of basic patterns to locate lost objects of small size. The techniques and tools are suitable for locating things like fishing rods, boat motors, wallets, and other such items. The lift bags used should not exceed 100lb capacity and smaller ones are preferred. 25-50 lbs is an ideal size for lifting an object such as a concrete block or bucket filled with weight. The use of a reel and line is also required for this dive to execute a circular pattern, grid, or as insurance should visibility be reduced by natural conditions or the actions of the searchers.
These skills are used in this dive:
A: Buoyancy control
B: Selection of search pattern based on object size, approximate location, environmental conditions
C: Attention to terrain detail
D: Maintaining trim and buoyancy while conducting a slow search using good anti-silting techniques
E: Securing object to be lifted
F: Lift bag use – raise object at even rate, achieve neutral buoyancy with the bag, bring object to surface and return to depth maintaining neutral buoyancy of diver and object.
4. Night/ Low Visibility- This dive is used to familiarize the student with the fascinating world of diving without natural light. The use of dive lights, strobes, markers, and new methods of communicating with the dive buddy are introduced. Night diving, while fun, presents new challenges and risks. The instructor needs to make absolutely sure the divers know the plan. They should also receive a thorough site briefing and know the procedures should the team or group become separated. The following skills should be practiced and evaluated.
A: Buoyancy control
B: Light use and selection
C: Use of strobe or marker to mark the anchor or down line
D: Buddy contact and communication
E: Lost diver procedures
F: Navigation
G: Site choice
5. Deep Dive- The deep dive is one of the primary reasons that divers take the AOW course. They wish to do dives exceeding the recommended OW limit of 60 feet. Whether it be a wreck, wall, or reef there is usually some reason for them to get a card that will demonstrate to a resort or boat operation that they are qualified to do the dive. Unfortunately this is usually the dive that also presents the most risk to the diver. Increased air usage demands a better understanding of management of the air supply. When doing this dive they may also be coming closer to the No Decompression Limits much faster than they realize. More attention to depth and times must be impressed upon them. Many will elect to begin looking at redundant air sources such as pony bottles. This is an area we should cover as well to be sure they get the proper equipment and know how to use it. And it goes without saying that we need to again make them aware of the effects of nitrogen narcosis. Skills evaluated would be:
A: Buoyancy control
B: Horizontal descent and ascent
C: Maintaining rate of descent
D: Situational Awareness via tests to judge effects of narcosis
E: Communication
F: Management of air supply
G: Ascent utilizing deep stops
H: Air share ascent from 90 feet to first stop at 50 feet where we retrieve stage bottles and switch to them for remainder of the dive
6. Buddy Skills and Assist- The Buddy Skills and Assist Dive is intended to reinforce proper buddy skills and also introduce the student to new skills that may be used to assist a dive buddy who has encountered different issues and now requires assistance from his buddy. At all times safety protocols must be observed and adhered to. This does not however preclude creating scenarios to test and challenge the student with the goal of increasing confidence, situational awareness, and overall safety of the divers. With this in mind the following scenarios can be used:
A. 100 foot no mask swim
B. 100 foot no mask air share swim
C. 100 foot no mask air share swim and ascent
D. Loss of buoyancy ascent assist
E. Unconscious Diver from depth ( not to exceed 25 feet)
F. Rescue tow of unconscious diver
G. Support of diver at the surface for 2 minutes and assist with establishing positive buoyancy. ie drop weights, remove gear, oral inflation of bc, etc.
bowtieman427
Guest
My mistake to my original post. In PADI you have to take AOW before Rescue diver. I switch to NAUI after OW and I am more use to the way NAUI operates. To complete NAUI Rescue you need OW and CPR and First Aid certifications. The reason may be that NAUI teaches bits of rescue in all their classes and dives. Atleast the ones I have taken.
NAUI does indeed include rescue in all their classes as do we in Scuba Educators International.
Guy Alcala
Contributor
UTD Essentials of Recreational Diving. Talk to Don (ae3753); I'm surprised he hasn't responded to this yet. You'll need a long hose and either a back inflate BC or a wing, but they're less strict on equipment than GUE Fundies.
UTD standards can be found here:
http://api.ning.com/files/eVDjtAKAu...NC3NmKb1-JuYf2il810iBb/UTD_standards_v1_9.pdf
Guy
For those familiar with UTD and GUE recreational training, at what point does each agency begin to address such things as night diving, search and recovery, advanced navigation, full rescue training, etc. Rec 1, Rec 2, or Rec 3?
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I did not mean to leave SEI out, I am just not yet acquainted with the details of their programs.
No biggie. This is actually my program that SEI approved. I wrote it to meet the needs and interests of the primary AOW student I seem get that comes to me for further training. I also may require an interview, pool session, or a couple fun dives to assess the students skill and comfort level before allowing them to start the class. That is on my time and I don't charge for the assessment. If their skills are not where they should be they can do some formal training with me or just go dive and work on the areas I feel need improvement. If they choose the latter I will give them a list of the skills and suggest ways of improving them on their own.
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^^ we need more like you jim!
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That right there is a message the major agencies should listen to.
Six years ago a fellow NAUI instructor and I created an AOW curriculum similar to Jim's, because we felt that there were some significant gaps in the NAUI program that needed to be addressed for the typical Puget Sound diver seeking AOW. We identified the primary reason why these students were signing up for AOW as the fact that most of them wanted to do deeper dives ... which are very easy to do here from shore.
Our curriculum focused on dive planning, gas management, buddy skills, buoyancy, trim and propulsion techniques, and a lot of navigational skills. We co-wrote a "handbook" that was used in addition to the NAUI materials to teach the class, and came up with a sequence of six dives that focused on core skills we felt supported the goals of the program. Over the course of the following five years, we discovered that there are a LOT of people out there ... especially those just entering diving ... who felt that these skills were what they wanted out of an AOW class. I had people come to the Seattle area from as far away as Minnesota and Colorado to take this course ... AN AOW COURSE! It got to the point where I nearly burned out teaching it. My friend had a similar response.
Nowadays, there are about a half-dozen instructors in Puget Sound area teaching similar AOW classes. They are doing so because (a) they believe it's a really good idea, and (b) there are enough "new" divers out there who want this type of class to make it a feasible business decision.
"Customers" spoke ... and if the agencies aren't listening, at least some individual instructors are. That's how it needs to happen ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
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