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Depends how you count divers. If you only count people who have dived at least once in the last year, the statistics are much less favorable. It is a common off-season pastime among SB regulars to pick apart the DAN reports and rationalize their decision to dive by concluding that 90% of the...

The state boating license programs don't work because they are too weak to ensure a reasonable level of competence. A program that would work would have these effects: Getting the license will involve real work, not watching a 2-hour video and passing a quiz. There will be a curriculum, and...

1" NPSM just like it says.

Last serviced in 2016. Both have been in the water in the last few years. They were breathing well and had been shimmed for correct IP. The recall for the seat retainer has been performed. Service parts are available from Vintage Double Hose. #1 - SPG reads 200 PSI low. Newer style exhaust...

All need service and are complete (#3 & #4: except for parts included in the service kit). Regs show signs of use including some marks on the chrome. #3 - Conshelf XII. $10 #4 - Conshelf XIV. $25 #5 - Sherwood 1st stage, working last time I put it on a tank a couple of years ago, unknown...

All valves have been disassembled and serviced in the last five years and are complete and working except as noted. J mechanisms leak slightly in most cases. Most tank O-rings are due for replacement. All have 1" npsm threads. 1 - Dacor J valve with knurled handwheel. Single outlet PRD...

Thinking about this thread, all of the instructors I've had, and that my kids have had, have been great, and have helped us on the journey. All of our classes were small, 1-4 students except one of the kids' pool sessions was a somewhat larger group. I think that the various agencies do...

Part of the broader purpose of the magazine is to sell classes by encouraging the mindset that it is the safest/best/only way to expand boundaries. I think that it is a fair point that characterizing the primary OW training as having unrealistically narrow limits is one way to divert attention...

I am shocked that you left out high-stakes testing. We could, of course, reduce class sizes and pay instructors a wage high enough that young people no longer avoid the profession on remunerative grounds alone. Might work for scuba and public schools alike.

Those accounts are cherry picked and fictionalized to reinforce the PADI orthodoxy. You'll find out that solo diving is terribly dangerous, for example.

It is difficult (and a topic of various other perennial threads) to interpret the statistics and accident reports. Because there is no mandatory reporting, DAN undercounts fatalities. No one knows by how much. Because medical history is protected by privacy laws and thorough testing of the...

I think the direction this thread has taken, and some posters' assertions that the instructional system is broken or compromised, is at odds with the ground truth that recreational diving is a relatively safe activity.

I would do the same. You're not a typical scuba student. I'm not a typical scuba student. Why would we expect scuba courses to be designed for the 1% of divers who think the way people on SB think?

It depends on the individual. Good instruction has many benefits over even the best books and videos: 1) Good instructors can identify specific problems quickly, that the student would not be able to figure out quickly (or in some cases at all) by themselves. Simple things like a mask that...

I don't think anyone said that in this thread. What I wrote is that there are situations where doubles are sufficient to mitigate the risks inherent in the dive but a pony is not. I don't think this is controversial, is it? OC technical diving more or less presumes doubles.

People learn things in different ways. There are many people who benefit from a classroom environment or who need interaction with an instructor to learn. SB self-selects for people who can learn independently; it isn't representative of the real world. In a world without c-cards there would...

I have ended up with a few more than I really want. They are in good condition with good usable exhaust Ts and while due for service have been serviced in the last few years and lightly used in freshwater only since then. Some have Calypso first stages. I also have Conshelf XIV 1st stages...

The solo diving section in the Advanced Scuba Discussions forum at Scubaboard is the wrong place to be if you want a positive, supportive, noncritical attitude towards your diving approach of choice. On the other hand it is a great place to be if you have chosen to dive alone and want to talk...

I am skeptical that one minute of gas will help. The question really is this: What problem(s) are we trying to solve with the pony? If the answer is that we need a the most reliable, redundant gas supply possible to deal with a wide range of possible problems e.g. entanglement, navigational...

I believe the purpose of a pony is to permit a direct ascent to the surface. One minute is an eternity to spend fiddling around on the bottom -- why would anyone do that? What are they doing? What possible thing would you want to do between the time you put the reg in your mouth and start...