...DM says, Stop thinking so much and just enjoy the dive. Ill take care of you.
Insta-buddy claims I have several hundred dives. I dont need buddy checks. When I expressed interest in her training, she was AOW only. She didnt think it necessary that others know she drops her weights in her BC pockets, and the quick-pull weight pockets are empty. (Scares me in a rescue scenario.)
Just go out and dive. Dont worry about more education, get a few hundred dives under your belt before you move on. When recounted, this was countered by the following:
Why wait and assimilate bad habits your instructor will have to break.
Why do you need to practice skills? Dont you think you were trained well enough?
You dont need <enter equipment here SMB, air whistle, etc.>.
Why is all your equipment (SPG, etc.) clipped to your BC?
When expressing a desire for Nitrox, You dont need Nitrox; all of our dives are 70 fsw and less. (I am one of those that feels less tired after Nitrox.)
...
The advice, "Just go out and dive", at first seems to contrast with the advice, "Why wait and assimilate bad habits your instructor will have to break".
But if you think about it, both points are correct. A new diver who just hops from class to class might not get the chance to feel comfortable diving without an instructor. The advice to, "Just go out and dive", is good advice for this diver. He or she probably needs to gain a bit of confidence in her/his ability to dive without a professional hovering over his/her shoulder, before embarking on the next class.
However, when it comes to advanced or technical training, it's probably very good advice to just take the class and not develop bad habits trying to learn specific skills by oneself. I think that happens a lot in wreck, cave, and intro-to-tech classes (at least, it happened to me, and I had to relearn a few key skills that I had mis-taught myself)
The advice not to practice skills is just plain bad advice....skills practice can only be a good thing. Goes to show ya that not every "dive professional" or "experienced diver" automatically spouts decent advice. In any hobby or occupation, you'll find the good and the bad. Ever get misdiagnosed by a doctor? Just because one has the training, doesn't mean that every word out of his or her mouth is golden. Take everything said with a grain of salt, and if it doesn't sound right, research it or ask divers that you trust.
Some equipment just isn't needed for some dives...it won't kill ya to bring an SMB to my local quarry, but it isn't necessary by any means (except for skills practice). It's not like a boat is gonna run over ya, or the waves are going to get so high that the boat won't find you LOL! A whistle is always useful in an emergency, but in a lake, you can probably leave the signaling mirror at home
When I dive (unless training in the quarry), I try to bring the equipment I need...no more and no less. When cave diving, I leave the lift bag at home, for example, and when diving shallow NDL dives, I don't usually bring a spare mask.
In summation....just because they have a "dive professional" title, or hundreds of logged dives, doesn't mean that they have the ability or experience to offer good advice. When getting conflicting advice, check with divers you trust, and take the best path for you. Just because their advice doesn't personally fit your diving, doesn't mean that it isn't relevant for others, though.