newbie advice..

Please forgive me if any of the following are stupid questions...

What is the collective advice on buying things like cylinders and regulators
off of eBay?

I am in Scotland at the moment and am looking for a training course...
I hope to emigrate to New Zealand in a couple of years time. With this in
mind should I go for a PADI course or will a BSAC or SSAC training course be
as recognised in NZ as a PADI certificate?

any advice on courses in the lanarkshire welcome also..

cheers

In message <40ec60a8$0$7811$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk>, craig balsillie
<craig.balsillie@ntlworld.com> writes
>Please forgive me if any of the following are stupid questions...
>
>What is the collective advice on buying things like cylinders and regulators
>off of eBay?
>
>I am in Scotland at the moment and am looking for a training course...
>I hope to emigrate to New Zealand in a couple of years time. With this in
>mind should I go for a PADI course or will a BSAC or SSAC training course be
>as recognised in NZ as a PADI certificate?
>
>any advice on courses in the lanarkshire welcome also..
>
>cheers
>
>

Nearly as new as you, but completed PADI Open Water and Advanced Open
Water in Madeira in June.

My other half joined a Naui dive school in England, did her pool stuff
and theory, and then went to Sharm to do the open water dives. No Naui
dive schools so had to convert to PADI which, in reality, meant she had
to do the whole thing over again.

The school in Madeira where I trained said that they recognised all
qualifications, but that there would always be some extra involved in
converting from an alternative training course to a PADI one.

Seems like PADI are represented in a big way world wide, whereas the
others seem to be sporadic and/or thin on the ground, so PADI seems the
sensible way to go, (like it or not <g>).

As a beginner I will happily stand corrected and, whilst better than I
was at the end of the OW course, I dont feel particularly Advanced.

--
Richard Faulkner

"Richard Faulkner" wrote

> The school in Madeira where I trained said that they recognised all
> qualifications, but that there would always be some extra involved in
> converting from an alternative training course to a PADI one.

There's always money involved in everything PADI does. Of course, it's
likely there would have been money involved no matter what the conversion.

Lee

craig balsillie wrote:
> Please forgive me if any of the following are stupid questions...
>
> What is the collective advice on buying things like cylinders and regulators
> off of eBay?
>
> I am in Scotland at the moment and am looking for a training course...
> I hope to emigrate to New Zealand in a couple of years time. With this in
> mind should I go for a PADI course or will a BSAC or SSAC training course be
> as recognised in NZ as a PADI certificate?
>
> any advice on courses in the lanarkshire welcome also..
>
> cheers
>
>
When I was on holiday in NZ earlier this year my BSAC card was accepted
with enthusisasm, the guy in the dive shop commented that BSAC training
is well thought of over there.
Cheers
Graham

"Lee Bell" <leebell@ix.remove.netcom.com> wrote in message
news:5t1Hc.11657$yy1.8847@newsread2.news.atl.earth link.net...

do not care much for PADI's
> corporate attitude, even if some very good divers carry their cards (some
> very bad ones do too).
>
> Lee
>
>

Ditto: BSAC, SAA, NAUI ........

On Wed, 7 Jul 2004 21:45:59 +0100, "craig balsillie"
<craig.balsillie@ntlworld.com> wrote:

>Please forgive me if any of the following are stupid questions...
>
>What is the collective advice on buying things like cylinders and regulators
>off of eBay?

I would not and I've been diving for years and I'm therefore more
likely to be able to spot a dud. Most stuff is not a lot cheaper than
buying from the on line guys. Some things are safe to buy on line, the
it either works or does not type of thing, cylinders, computers etc.
Somethings are better bought from your LDS (Local Dive Shop), things
that often need adjustment like regulators - most seem to go out of
tune as they bed in, if you got it locally you take it back and they
sort it out; mail order give far more hassle

>I am in Scotland at the moment and am looking for a training course...
>I hope to emigrate to New Zealand in a couple of years time. With this in
>mind should I go for a PADI course or will a BSAC or SSAC training course be
>as recognised in NZ as a PADI certificate?

I've never had problems with my BSAC ticket anywhere (including NZ)
SSAC should be similar but you are more likely to find a muppet that
gets anal because he has never heard of them.



Pete
diving 'at' melbourne 'dot' me 'dot' uk

Lee Bell <leebell@ix.remove.netcom.com> writes:

> Any of the above, plus YMCA

In Lanarkshire, YMCA is a song by the Village People.

Pete

--
__________________________________________________ __________________
Pete Young pete@antipope.dot.org Remove .dot to reply
"Just another crouton, floating on the bouillabaisse of life"

In message <7v1Hc.11662$yy1.5992@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink .net>, Lee
Bell <leebell@ix.remove.netcom.com> writes
>"Richard Faulkner" wrote
>
>> The school in Madeira where I trained said that they recognised all
>> qualifications, but that there would always be some extra involved in
>> converting from an alternative training course to a PADI one.
>
>There's always money involved in everything PADI does. Of course, it's
>likely there would have been money involved no matter what the conversion.
>
>Lee
>
>

Funnily enough, that is what my instructor said, but he also did his
best to stop people spending money which they didn't need to. On several
occasions over the two weeks I was there I heard him recommending lower
cost options to several people, including me.

--
Richard Faulkner

"Richard Faulkner" wrote

> >There's always money involved in everything PADI does. Of course, it's
> >likely there would have been money involved no matter what the
conversion.
> >Lee
>
> Funnily enough, that is what my instructor said, but he also did his
> best to stop people spending money which they didn't need to. On several
> occasions over the two weeks I was there I heard him recommending lower
> cost options to several people, including me.

Sounds like a good instructor. Since we all know that the instructor is
more important than the agency, I guess I'd recommend training with whatever
agency that instructor represents.

Lee

In message <ytnHc.7617$sD4.3066@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink. net>, Lee
Bell <leebell@ix.remove.netcom.com> writes
>"Richard Faulkner" wrote
>
>> >There's always money involved in everything PADI does. Of course, it's
>> >likely there would have been money involved no matter what the
>conversion.
>> >Lee
>>
>> Funnily enough, that is what my instructor said, but he also did his
>> best to stop people spending money which they didn't need to. On several
>> occasions over the two weeks I was there I heard him recommending lower
>> cost options to several people, including me.
>
>Sounds like a good instructor. Since we all know that the instructor is
>more important than the agency, I guess I'd recommend training with whatever
>agency that instructor represents.
>
>Lee
>
>

PADI

--
Richard Faulkner