scubadada:
Does this describe the average diver you see in your diving?
This does
not describe the diver I most commonly see. (I hesitate to use 'average' as a descriptor, but I think I am answering the question being asked.)
Some thoughts:
Based on the poll results, I am probably an 'average' SB diver.
On recreational dives, I use a BP/W, long hose. I dive with a SPG and two dive computers. I practice and preach primary donate. So, take my subsequent comments in that context.
Yes, SB is a self-selecting subset of the diving population.
That doesn't mean that SB users are 'wrong' (or, that they are uniformly 'right' for that matter), rather they are a group of individuals who are sufficiently interested in diving, and are sufficiently curious, and are sufficiently committed to continued improvement in skills, to search out resources and spend time reading and posting. This is NOT to say that divers who do not participate in SB are somehow uniformly uninterested, lacking in curiosity, or and not committed to continuing improvement. But, just as the proportion of divers using a BP/W appears to be higher on SB, the proportion of divers who are interested, curious and committed also appears to be higher on SB than among the general diving population.
Yes, many, if not most divers have never heard of SB.
That is both unfortunate, and not altogether surprising. There are SO many online resources available, that the 'average' person may not land on SB. Many instructors, at least in my experience across multiple shops, and more than a few shop staff, appear to be actually reluctant to make students and divers aware of SB. I can only guess at their motives, but I suspect that among them is a fear that divers will be exposed on SB to ideas, concepts, configurations, opinions that are at variance with what their instructor(s) told them, or their shop sold them. (Of course, they actually frame their concern as not wanting their students to pick up bad ideas from SB.)
As an Instructor, I actively encourage all of my students to become SB users. Many do. Some don't. Their choice. I routinely reference SB threads in my teaching. Some students go to the trouble of looking them up. Some don't. (I also provide links to a number of YouTube videos that I think are excellent for instruction.)
Gear does NOT make the diver. Divers make the gear.
I dive with a number of people who I consider to be superb divers - I have chosen them, they have chosen me. (Yes, there is some self-selection there.
) Two of them are my primary DMs for every class I teach. Neither of them use a BP/W, or a long hose. They both have excellent technique, great buoyancy control and trim, are confident and capable, etc., etc. and I absolutely love diving with them. We talk about equipment, skills, instructional technique, our continued interest in development, things that work for us, etc. I have learned from them, they have learned from me. Our equipment configurations are our individual choices.
I use a jacket BCD, and a 'standard hose length' regulator in the pool, because that's what the shops through which I teach use for students. I can achieve good horizontal trim and buoyancy control with my jacket BCD and a weight belt. And, OMG, I haven't died yet!
I teach what works for me and what I believe in
I encourage divers to try BP/W rigs. I encourage them to use primary donate. I encourage them to configure their regulator with two equivalently functioning second stages (no integrated inflator / alternate second stage units; no cheap, needlessly 'detuned POS 'octos'). I tell them why I prefer my configurations. If they ask, I help them buy gear (online, yes even on eBay) based on what they want to accomplish. BUT, I make it clear that what I dive represents
my preferences, and not some form of mystical universal truth.