Training

[Rick Huggins]

<font color='#0000FF'>At present im PADI OWD with only 40 dives.
I already have the student pack for AOWD and intend progressing to rescue diver ASAP.

My question is:- Do I stay with PADI or do a cross over to BSAC then onto Sports diver?

My dilemas are:

PADI AOWD £125, RESCUE £150, No ties or politics with clubs.

V

BSAC Membership = £130 (Crossover and Sport Diver TRG) with regular weekly turnouts expected for meetings and lectures.

From what I have said above, I can see only one obvious choice, but any pointers or guidance would be appreciated.

P.S. If I X-over to BSAC, Do I have to inform my DO everytime I want a splash??

TIA

[Rick Huggins]

<font color='#0000FF'>&lt;silly thought&gt;
Are there no PADI Instructors here at YD that would like to take me through my AOWD at the cove?
&lt;/silly thought&gt;

[Dominic]

If you cross-over to BSAC sports then you'll be able to do deco stops, which you might find useful as you progress...

[Rick Huggins]

<font color='#0000FF'>

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]If you cross-over to BSAC sports then you'll be able to do deco stops, which you might find useful as you progress...

The &quot;PADI&quot; stylee diving I do just now is &quot;recreational&quot; no deco diving but I always stick a 1 min stop in at 10m and the normal 3 min safety stop at 5/6m.

Do BSAC add more stops in than this?

[Dominic]

BSAC allows full-on deco diving.

I'm not a big fan of spending ages doing deco stops, but at least it means you don't have to panic too much about &quot;Oh no, we're one minute over our bottom time!&quot; dives..

The time to &quot;panic&quot; Dominic is 1 minute before you reach your NDL not 1 minute after - Argos do a great Casio watch for £6!

Frogman I'd be happy to take you through your AOW but not at Stoney - too far away. I'm based on the NE coast so if I can be of any help to you send me a PM.

ATB,

Kev

[Dominic]

There's never a good time to panic

[Lou]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]If you cross-over to BSAC sports then you'll be able to do deco stops, which you might find useful as you progress...

So what stops you doing deco stops if you don't cross over?

Really, all BSAC do is teach you BSAC 88 tables. &nbsp;If you can hold a stop (which is no different to holding a PADI &quot;safety&quot; stop) then that 1 min isn't a problem, as long as you have planned it, or have the tables with you, or want to follow deco on a computer? &nbsp;Or am I missing something here?

Not that I am advocating randomly doing deco diving for inexperienced divers in any way.......

[Dr Stevil]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Frogman @ Jan. 13 2004,09:24)]P.S. If I X-over to BSAC, Do I have to inform my DO everytime I want a splash??

As a courtesy it's kind of expected you let him/her know your plans, as PADI OW or AOW you'd be considered entry level BSAC (Ocean diver) and most branches/DOs would prefer you to buddy a Dive Leader or similar, purely for your own safety. As BSAC Sports Diver you'd be &quot;entitled&quot; to dive with anyone of same or higher qualification, so a courtesy call/e-mail/text should be more than sufficient, with the understanding that you agree to follow BSAC Safe Diving Practices SDP

I've never yet met my DO (really!) it's a kind of virtual branch, I just let him know roughly what I'm doing and he knows I try to adhere to the SDPs as much as possible, though with YD gigs things tend to be more ad-hoc and it's not feasible to get everyone to go along with this.

One way in which I think you'd be very pleasantly surprised with the BSAC way is the mass of Skill Development Courses which are run basically &quot;at cost&quot;. SDC's

One drawback to the BSAC is (what I see as ) it's traditional semi-military style of doing things, which doesn't really go down with everyone these days, but as you've said you've been in the forces I don't suppose that'd be such a big deal to you.

[Dominic]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]So what stops you doing deco stops if you don't cross over?

Nothing, unless you happen to be one of those people who likes diving within their agency guidelines...