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Nope. Some manufacturers may tell you that you should only use their brand of second stage with their brand of first stage, but there's nothing wrong with mixing and matching a bit.

No one in my class is going to make it to the open water part of the class if I feel like it would be unsafe for them to be in the water with a BP/W. In other words, if they need a life jacket, they're not going to complete my course, period. Plus, I try really hard to spend as little time as...

Its a reason, I've heard it before, and as you seem to agree, not a very good one. As Nemrod points out, there seems to be a certain group who wants people who aren't comfortable in the water to learn to dive. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, so I don't buy into the life jacket...

The pushing your face into the water thing is trotted out by every instructor and salesman who is trying to sell someone a jacke style BC. Yes, it can happen, but you've really got to work at it. And wings are no different in this regard. Actually, if you get one that has the single, center...

You're with the Norwegian Army? I got to work with those guys (and gals) in a few different places. They were probably my favorite foreign military folks to work with. Looks like you guys were having a good time!

Most likely that instructor was telling yout hat because that's the line he was given by the LDS he works for. I've never, ever had a problem with a bak inflate or BP/W pushing my face in the water except for once when, just for fun, I overinflated the heck out of a 60 pound wing to use as a...

To the part I bolded I will say, to be fair, that this isn't a really accurate statement for a lot of reasons. People don't often start with a BP/W at all, let alone start on a BP/W and then switch to a BC. People switch to a BP/W for many reasons, one of those reasons is because a BP/W better...

No matter what you plan on doing in the future, I would rent different types of BCs for a while to make sure you know what you want before you buy. I would also do that to make sure you have a future in diving. You wouldn't be the first person to get certified, love diving, go diving a few...

So, you argue that we should keep it as simple as possible for new students, but giving them several places from which they can dump air isn't making things more complicated? By the way, like I said before, there are tons of different wings out there. There are even some with more than one...

Why are these problems? I'm sure you have a good, general idea of what your average student looks like and how much weight they usually need. So you get yourself some rigs that are all exactly the same that will fit most of your students and then one a little bigger and one a little smaller...

There are a lot of different rigs out there. And there are quite a few that don't require and adaptor to use them with singles. There is nothing that makes a BP/W more "tech" than "rec" (by the way, I hate those terms, but I guess you have to have something to make the cave and wreck divers...

That's a pretty simple fix. One, don't give your students giant 900 pound wings. Two, tell them before they even get in the water not to hammer down on the power inflator. And three, when that one guy who never listens does get in the water and hammer down on the power inflator, possibly...

BP/W configurations are not "tech" specific and I see no problems at all with starting one of my students in one. My point was the OP isn't certified. He doesn't even really know if he's going to end up sticking with diving for the long haul. I usually discourage people from buying expensive...

What kind of BP/W are you guys thinking of that is so complex that a student wouldn't be able to figure it out? Why would they have to assemble the entire rig every class? Is there something I'm missing here? :confused:

I'm pretty sure you don't see more instructors using a BP/W because they're cheap (the instructors that is). Why would I drop $200-$300 on a BP/W setup (which is what a decent rig is going to cost for an instructor to buy) when I can just get some jacket style BCs for closer to $100 and let the...

I think the more important point that should be made here is whether or not you should be buying a BP/W (or any BC for that matter) before you're even certified. That's a lot of coin to drop before you even know if you're going to like it.

The "Cherry Blossom" area is the tidal basin right by the Jefferson Memorial. Pretty much everything you mention is all right by each other so it won't be too hard to see. The Spy Museum is right by Ford's Theater, just make sure you get your tickets early, they tend to go kind of fast but it...

Its just not the same though. Call me old-fashioned, but I still like to lean up against a counter and talk to a person. Not to mention the fact that if that shop is local to you, that person you're chatting with probably knows a lot about the local dive spots, and you may even see them on a...

I by no means want to knock any of the online retailers you've mentioned. I've dealt with some of them and they have, as much as they can, done a great job of trying to replicate that face-to-face interaction you can get at an LDS. But the fact of the matter is, no matter how awesome those...

I wouldn't say they're toast. There is still a segment of the population, myself included, who likes to have some personal interaction. Now, I'm not going to pay a twice as much for something just to get it, and that personal interaction had better be in the form of a knowledgable, friendly...