Teaching drysuit skills to OW students in Belize would be a real waste of time, but it would be mandatory for classes using them in Seattle. Seattle students will also need to learn about planning dives around tides, while probably 90% of the world's divers will never need to give it a thought. A diver doing the OW dives in Denver should get instruction in altitude, which, the vast majority of divers will never have to consider.
Thank you for that.
I may be missing something, but it seems that a competent instructor realizes that EVERYTHING can’t be taught in 2-3 weekends
When you say everything, do you mean the performance requirements for open water?
I don't think that we are trying to teach everything. Now my OW course includes dry suit & nitrox. I have 2 days of pool time (4 to 5 hours, depending on my students, could be longer, could be shorter) and 4 days of open water (First/second weekend: confined water Sat, open water Sun, third weekend: both days open water).
As John stated, the currents are something that needs to be planned around. That's why I wrote a reference document. It isn't meant to be memorized, or learned. Just to go back and read it prior to diving if needed. Otherwise, I overload my students with too much information, and then I might as well underteach as I would get the same results.