Just another reason (if you need one!) to become a PADI Professional, you can get to travel the world.

Just another reason (if you need one!) to become a PADI Professional, you can get to travel the world.

One of the great reasons for becoming a PADI professional be that a Divemaster, instructor or above is funding travel.  

Experiencing the world on a gap year diving and working your way around - what an experience and adventure!

As many diving jobs are seasonal you could spend maybe three months in Thailand, then take off to Bali for another two months or have a working holiday in Australia.  But hopping from one contract to another means you could get to work in some of the most beautiful places in the world - so much adventure and underwater things to see and explore also what a great thing to place on your CV?

Maybe you do not want short term work but a long-term position - well they are out there but experience is important.  

Just maybe you find another love on your travels and decide to settle down in another part of the world - what great stories you would have for your children and grandchildren.

What is stopping your journey?  Nothing...  Here at Dive Rutland we run a full suite of professional training courses AND we can also provide you with the value add training such as how to operate a compressor, gas blend, first aid and so much more.  You could become one of the most sought after dive professionals.

Now is really the time to start or continue your journey.  Be prepared for the world to open back up and get out there.

Aqua Lung have brought out the ACD Series of regulators, but what is ACD?  ACD Stands for Auto-Closure System

As a diving fraternity particularly UK divers will be very much aware of the Apeks brand, yes they are part of the Aqualung brand but Apeks manufacturing is still based here in the UK at Blackburn

What you are probably not aware of, is how seriously they take their environmental impact and all of the things they do to reduce this.

Zero waste to Landfill
Apeks Diving has reached a new industry-leading achievement of sending zero non-hazardous waste to landfill from their UK headquarters, including waste from the factory, warehouse and offices. 100% of general waste from the business is now turned into biofuel, which goes on to provide fuel for heating and hot water in other industries.

Solar Power
At their UK regulator manufacturing facility, they are continuing with their switch to green by the installation of 400 solar panels on the roof of their purpose built factory. 

With the potential to create 75,000kWh of electricity annually, enough to supply around 23 domestic homes for a year, the installation in 2014 also allows surplus electricity to be sold back into the grid.

Renewable Energy
Throughout their supply chain, renewable energy is used. In the UK, the print factory owns a solar farm and they power manufacturing operations with renewable energy. The factory the makes the garments owns two wind farms and a 150kw PV array. Renewable energy is affordable, reliable and something we are committed to investing in. The regulator manufacturing facility in the UK also has a solar array to assist with running the machinery.
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The t-shirt factory features machine-to-machine communications technology which means that equipment dynamically turns on and off only when it is needed, balancing the manufacturing demand with on site generation.

Circular Economy
Every year 100 billion new items of clothing are produced while a truck full of clothing is burned, or buried in a landfill every second. Slowing fast fashion down a bit won't fix it. But taking the waste material at the end, and making new products from it at the start, changes everything. 
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Apeks products and packaging are made from natural materials, not plastics. Every product is designed to be sent back when it is worn out.
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New products are made from the recovered material, and the cycle itself is renewable. Apeks products can be returned and remade again and again and again.
A pure material makes remanufacturing possible, and means products that are softer, and harmless to the environment.

Here at Dive Rutland we work with Apeks and collect and return all of the previously used mouthpieces for them to recycle

Plastic Free Packaging
As well as designing out plastic, Apeks are attempting to design out waste. The two things are interconnected and it is possible to use some of the waste material in packaging.

Have a read of their blog for more information as we have only provided the headlines here for you.

Not only do Apeks make great products with this environmental consciousness they are a company that as divers we support.  

After all by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. This is bad and as divers we want to dive in the ocean with fish not a plastic filled ocean.

​Here at Dive Rutland we made a pledge 

Become 100% Project AWARE, with a Reduce, Reuse, Recycle ethos in ALL areas of our operations.  We will eliminate consumer single use plastics and favour suppliers with a Green Mission to remove plastic from their manufacturing and supply chain and particularly those who manufacture using Bluesign® standards

We are pleased that Apeks is helping us meet our pledge

We often hear from divers that they do not feel ready to become a rescue diver, if one of our professionals is suggesting you take that next step then YES YOU ARE.

But to answer the question Are you ready to become a Rescue Diver?, you are once you are comfortable as a diver, able to dive down into the different types of dive sites with ease and if are starting to look around at other divers and questioning why things are being done or not done then you are more than ready

​During the Rescue Course, you will expand upon the knowledge you have already gained .

In the Open Water Diver course, you learned the basics of how to scuba dive alongside a buddy. Your Advanced Open Water Course taught you to develop those basics and explore different skills  and continue to improve your diving ability

The Rescue course is about changing your mind set and start to get you to begin to look outside yourself and your own skills and learn to tune in with others underwater.

1. See the Bigger picture
2. Improve your dive skills and confidence underwater which all leads to making you a better buddy and a better diver
3. Improve your navigation skills
4. Become prepared for any dive emergency
5. Last course before Divemaster
6. Its loads of fun

See the Bigger Picture
Here at Dive Rutland we believe that if as a diver you are starting to notice the little things that might not be quite right or another diver suffering with a little apprehension they this is the sign you are ready to become a Rescue Diver.

During the rescue diver training you learn to become more aware of your surroundings including how to recognise the various signs and symptoms of various types of stress - Tired divers, panicked divers and so much more.

As a Rescue Diver, you'll be able to spot potential problems and fix them before they ever happen, as your eyes open up to the "bigger" picture around you.

Improve your dive skills and confidence underwater
The more time you spend in the water the more your dive skills and confidence grow, this is a fact.  All of these things lead to you being a better diver and a much better and aware buddy.

Improve your navigation skills
Part of the Rescue course is learning how to search for lost items using different underwater search patterns.  

​Increasing your navigation skills underwater is always a good thing as it will increase your comfort in the water and could come in handy the next time you drop something valuable or we get asked to go put in mooring lines at Rutland Water or find that lost engine on the local duck pond or even a lost keel all things we have used our navigation skills for over the years

Become better prepared for any diving emergency
There are all kinds of side benefits to becoming a Rescue Diver course but the number one benefit and reason most people take this course is that you will leave with the skills you would need to save someone's life in a diving emergency.  

This is worth its weight in gold.  

​Should you find yourself in a situation where your dive buddy or someone else diving in your group has an underwater emergency you will feel confident enough to offer aid, and could possibly be the one to save their life.  Is there really any other reason you would need besides that?

​Last course before Divemaster

Some people know they want to become a dive professional and the rescue course is the last course needed as a pre-requisite (there are other requirements) prior to the first professional certification - Divemaster.

You can expect your course to be challenging, if checking out different providers ask what the course includes and who your instructor will be; find out if you can meet them to discuss what their teaching style is like. Also ask how long you can expect the course to take (this will vary depending on where you are), and how many other students will be on the course alongside you.

If you’re completing the course with other students you may have the opportunity to play victim as well as rescuer. Any Divemaster who has assisted a rescue course can tell you you’ll learn just as much from acting victim.

Sometimes you may find you’re the only student, so your instructor may be assisted by a Divemaster or other instructor. This usually makes for a really fun environment; when there’s a rescue course going on most of the dive professionals will want to get involved, and you’ll probably find lots of other teachers fighting for a chance to act out an emergency and show off their amateur dramatics!

It is Fun
Yes the course is fun but forget a rescue course being “fun” or as a stepping stone to something else. Learn the skills because they can be the difference between life and death.

Becoming a Rescue Diver is probably the most important certification we think all divers should receive after they become an Open Water Diver.  So what are you waiting for?

Just another reason to become a Dive professional is that you get to work out in nature

You get to feel the warmth of the sun on your skin and that always makes you feel better, yes, you also get the wind and rain but that’s exhilarating.
 
Being under the water with the fishes, the coral, the grasses, the sharks, whales, rays and dugongs is amazing and being able to share your passion with others is an amazing opportunity.
 
So go on, join us and become a dive professional, we are here to help you with your journey

The first step of the journey is to become a Divemaster, this will open up many doors such as that gap year be you having a year out from studying, work or just life, find out more by having a look at our PADI Divemaster course

And if you want to progress further up the professional ladder then we have something for you to.  contact us to discuss your next steps, we truly are that "one stop shop"

You can never know enough about Dive Equipment, so come and join us for a session on all things regulators - you never know what you might learn

When: Saturday 20th February
With: Dive Rutland and Aqualung's very own James Sanderson
Time: 14:00
Virtual Platform: Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89080844409...
Meeting ID: 890 8084 4409
Passcode: issued a little nearer the date..

During the session we will cover things like:-

1. Why do you need a regulator?
2. History of regulators
3. Differences in regulators
4. Reasons to own v hire
5. Question and Answer session

We might even have a few prizes available!