Yeah, I agree with your logic... Especially if, like you said, "PADI is the only game in town."
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15637494#post15637494 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tgreene
Once I've completed the 5 specialties after AOW, then I only need Rescue Diver before becoming a Master Diver in the PADI program... I figured that with a lot of hard work and effort, that I may as well max out the PADI scale before advancing into TEC diving, because I will have a superior understanding of the core procedures before I take things to the next level.
I don't know if you're going to feel like you've put forth a lot of "hard work and effort" to become a PADI Master Diver. While the title may sound pretty awesome, from knowing you, I think you'll breeze through the classes with ease. Not to sound anti-climactic or anything, but I've known a number of PADI Master Divers who became that in just a few months - with about 50 dives under their belt.
In fact, I've met a number of PADI "Instructor Trainers" with less than 100 dives under their belt and next to zero mental grasp on diving. Ask them about a MOD or OxTox or ATAs and they get all glazed over. These are the fundamental mental building blocks of "technical" diving, and rarely even touched on in any PADI specialty.
In short, if you're going a "tech" route, by definition, PADI can't take you there. PADI is the leading
recreational dive agency, and "maxxing out" your PADI knowledge doesn't necessarily put you in a better or worse position for "technical" training. In fact, it can be argued that "technical" training should start as soon as you're OW certified so that you don't learn any "bad habits" that you'll have to unlearn later.
Again, not that I'm recommending AGAINST PADI's specialty courses... It's just that I think you'll find more of what you are looking for from a more "technical"-minded agency, early in your dive career.
That said, I know a number of instructors that are cross-agency certified... That is they ARE both PADI and GUE instructors (and some have even more). These guys will show you the best of all worlds, and won't ever teach you something that you'll be forced to "unlearn" later if you progress into "technical" diving.
Nitrox -- This is obviously the first step in understanding and using mixed gasses, so it seemed to be a no brainer as well as an elementary requisite for Tec.
I totally agree. Good stuff is to be learned in any Nitrox course. It's usually a classroom-only course that can be learned in one day. You'll find it simple and enlightening in a variety of ways.
Night Diver - Caves are dark, duh!
Heh - true.
In my Night Diver classes, emphasis was placed on psychology and placement of gear so that you didn't have to be able to see it to operate it. Again, not sure if you'll find it something that you need to learn formally, although like I said, I am a supporter of ALL education.
Underwater Navigator - As a spelunker of many many years and a former member of the NSS, I learned a very long time ago that getting lost only puts the lives of your rescuers in grave danger. Knowing how to navigate in any environment is critical, but when you add in numerous other factors to the fray, it becomes mandatory. Remember, I was a wilderness guide for many years!
True - they'll teach you to navigate with a compass, use the lubber line, and take a bearing/heading. They'll also teach you to use natural naviation techniques, such as sunlight angle, notable flora, and sea bed angle to navigate. Again, I think you'd find it useful, but a little boring since you're probably already pretty doggone good at this.
In caves, my experience is that the techniques taught during PADI's Underwater Navigator class aren't the ones I use most when navigating. Handling cave line, on the other hand...
Peak Performance Bouyancy - Any and all classes that will help me to master bouyancy as well as being far more concious about minimizing silting seems like a mandatory step to take before ever considering Cavern diving.
I haven't taken a "Peak Performance Buoyancy" class from PADI, but I've dived with those who teach it... And PADI's idea of "Peak Performance" is nowhere near what GUE's idea of "Peak Performance" is... And with such a radical difference between "bars" that are set, I don't know if this class will benefit you much.
You'll have to dive with a GUE-trained diver to understand what I'm talking about.
True "Peak Performance" isn't simply a matter of buoyancy... It's also a matter of trim, which not only requires the right skill set (90% of it), but requires the right gear and gear modification as well. Anyone that's teaching "Peak Performance" in an upright, sitting, kneeling, or otherwise un-prone position - or in a jacket or back-inflate BC with no backplate and no weights in his trim pockets - simply isn't "Peak Performance."
Cavern Diver - Baby steps...
I can understand that... But I know of nowhere that you need a "Cavern Diver" certification to dive a cavern. As far as it being a precursor to cave diving, it's simply not... GUE's Fundamentals is a precursor to cave diving, and is the first "baby step" to becoming cave certified.
On the other hand, if you want to learn PADI's system of diving caverns, then by all means... Do the specialty. I just don't think you're going to learn anything that you don't already know from being a spelunker. In fact, I don't think you'll find that they cover near what you already know, diving or not.
If you're paying just $100 for each of these specialties, that's $500 that could go into some real, serious education that will do you well for becoming a full-cave certified diver. Since the class is typically about $400, you would then have $100 left over for travel expenses, and get your PADI Master Diver certification later, after you teach the instructor a thing or two about "Peak Performance Buoyancy."
That said, I don't think you can take a Fundies course without a backplate and wing any more... But those can always be rented if you needed to.
