I Like Going DOWN (scuba Diving)

[CWSWine]

Beaver lake I been there a lot. I agree with PADI certs, it's just a way for instructors to make money. Take a real cave/cavern courses when less than half the students pass. I had to take the cavern course twice, wearing a blackout mask I had to follow a line out of the cave without touching the cave walls, floor, ceiling plus not pull the line off that was just wrapped around rocks and if touch you failed no second chances. My side mount tech coarse from SDI I had to ascend from 30-foot dive and every 5 foot I had to stop and hover with a knot in the rope in the center of my mask for 3 minutes.

[D2Reid]

One of the guys that dove off my boat got into TDI/SDI rebreather instruction. Pretty cool stuff. He talked me into going for a PADI instructor card. During my Rescue Diver Cert dive he instructor also took AOW divers for their cert dives. I was aghast at how poorly they performed, no buoyancy control, very little gauge awareness. That ended my desire to be an instructor, I would never have signed them off. But by then I had hundreds of dives, so maybe I just didn't remember how poorly I performed in the early days.

[bertschb]

...the instructor also took AOW divers for their cert dives. I was aghast at how poorly they performed...

The problem is the testing is done by staff from your LDS. If they flunk you, they lose a customer. The LDS makes money by getting divers to add certs and then they make more money by selling you more gear for those certs. Nothing wrong with that model as it helps keep them in business and some divers enjoy (and need) the additional training. But, the certifications don't mean much because of how watered down the "training" is.

What would be cool is if all training had to be done by an independent testing organization and shops were banned from participating. That would be a huge hit to LDS's bottom line though.

[GeoffnCheri]

But by then I had hundredfor thems of dives, so maybe I just didn't remember how poorly I performed in the early days.

I think you remember correctly. I cringe whenever I'm on a dive boat and I see AOW with 10 dives who struggles to set up their own gear. I always try and be a supportive resource and encouragement for new divers, reminding them to stay within their skill sets. Not slighting the inexperienced diver (we have all been there) in any manner as we all have our natural progression of skill sets we acquire and master as our experience increases. But a certifying and educational entity such as PADI drives the $$$, not education and skill sets of the divers who are certified under its umbrella.

Sorry, I'll get off of my frustrated rant and try and find my old RDP wheel around here somewhere or read the latest copy of ALERT Diver.

[D2Reid]

The LDS makes money by getting divers to add certs and then they make more money by selling you more gear for those certs. Nothing wrong with that model as it helps keep them in business

Local Dive Stores (LDS) is kind of a tough business. I always supported my LDS often paying more for stuff than discount mega store. But then come minny season I didn't get any short fills.

I think you remember correctly. I cringe whenever I'm on a dive boat and I see AOW with 10 dives who struggles to set up their own gear. I always try and be a supportive resource and encouragement for new divers, reminding them to stay within their skill sets. Not slighting the inexperienced diver (we have all been there) in any manner as we all have our natural progression of skill sets we acquire and master as our experience increases. But a certifying and educational entity such as PADI drives the $$$, not education and skill sets of the divers who are certified under its umbrella.

Sorry, I'll get off of my frustrated rant and try and find my old RDP wheel around here somewhere or read the latest copy of ALERT Diver.

Good rant, and I totally get it. Diving off a private boat I got a lot of newbies freshly certified. I always tried to pair them up with experienced divers, but couldn't always happen. 4-6 is all I could carry. 95% of all our dives off Palm Beach were drift dives in current. If people didn't have their stuff together they got a sand dive. I got pretty good at judging who was going to have difficulty and who could find the reefs/wrecks.

[TGlock24]

One of the guys that dove off my boat got into TDI/SDI rebreather instruction. Pretty cool stuff. He talked me into going for a PADI instructor card. During my Rescue Diver Cert dive he instructor also took AOW divers for their cert dives. I was aghast at how poorly they performed, no buoyancy control, very little gauge awareness. That ended my desire to be an instructor, I would never have signed them off. But by then I had hundreds of dives, so maybe I just didn't remember how poorly I performed in the early days.

When my son certified at age 14 there was a grown man that was preparing for a pool session he strapped on his weights and dove into the pool to cool off. He sunk down to the bottom. I was already geared up and in the pool to video my son when I saw this guy trying to swim to the top to no avail. I dove down and stuck my octo in his mouth so he could breath and kicked him back to the shallow end of the pool where he stood up and said “thanks man you saved my life” and the instructor said “what....what happened?” All this guy had to do was drop his weight belt and his wetsuit would have brought him to the surface like a fishing bobber. He’s probably dead by now due to an unaware incompetent instructor.

[D2Reid]

I dove down and stuck my octo in his mouth so he could breath and kicked him back to the shallow end of the pool

Panic is a problem underwater, you just can't do it. I have a couple of experiences with it and was poo pooing the subject during my rescue diver training, how could anyone be so stupid. Then it happened to my dive buddy. My dive buddy had way more dives than I had, former military, the most squared away reasonable person I have ever met, until he ran his tank dry at 90'. I had a hell of time getting him stopped and wrestled into secondary, total panic. 15' is a whole different animal than 90+ feet. And it can happen to very experienced divers. I had my rebreather instructor buddy totally loose his cool when I twisted my high pressure hose off on the Spielberg in the keys. He practically made me swallow his pony tank thinking I was in deep ********, not knowing that I was with 2 other experienced divers and we had plenty of air left to decompression stops. I took his tank not because I needed it, but because he was totally freaked out and I needed to calm him down.

You guys are bringing up a lot of good memories. It was a hard decision for us to leave boating/diving and go rv'ing. That was 10 years ago and I have only a couple of dives since then. I have over 15 years of nearly every weekend dive memories and love to share them, but, I am sure you have your memories and experiences to tell also.

[GeoffnCheri]

. ..... they got a sand dive.

This made me laugh so hard... I had a friend come visit who I had not seen in several years. He had recently been certified for an upcoming end of summer vacation but he had not dove in about 2 months (since his certification). We were diving the local mud hole...aka Beaver Lake. Upon arrival and prepping gear, we are discussing the dive plan. I told him the max depth would be 45'. In his vast experience he reminded me he was certified to dive to 60' and asked me "what if I want to go to 60'?. I looked at him and dead panned, "Then your going to need that shovel" as I pointed to a shovel which was in the back of my truck. He gave me no indication of understanding what I meant. We were about 30 minutes in to the dive at a depth of about 42' and I look at him and he is laughing in his regulator. When we complete the dive and are discussing the how things went, he admits he did not understand the pre-dive shovel reference. He said when we were at about 42' it clicked in his head, the only way to 60' was to dig. We still both laugh about that dive to this day.

[TGlock24]

This made me laugh so hard... I had a friend come visit who I had not seen in several years. He had recently been certified for an upcoming end of summer vacation but he had not dove in about 2 months (since his certification). We were diving the local mud hole...aka Beaver Lake. Upon arrival and prepping gear, we are discussing the dive plan. I told him the max depth would be 45'. In his vast experience he reminded me he was certified to dive to 60' and asked me "what if I want to go to 60'?. I looked at him and dead panned, "Then your going to need that shovel" as I pointed to a shovel which was in the back of my truck. He gave me no indication of understanding what I meant. We were about 30 minutes in to the dive at a depth of about 42' and I look at him and he is laughing in his regulator. When we complete the dive and are discussing the how things went, he admits he did not understand the pre-dive shovel reference. He said when we were at about 42' it clicked in his head, the only way to 60' was to dig. We still both laugh about that dive to this day.

The North end if Beaver where the dam is located gets pretty deep. And the deeper the water the better the visibility at shallow depths. I always camp at Lost Bridge Camp Grown.
If you want to dive mud holes come to Kansas LOL.

[Wizbangdoodle]

Try Little Cayman. The diving is spectacular.