Paladin
Contributor
Hey, Guys,
I'm a new member of this forum and I'd like to put forth a personal observation concerning current SCUBA instruction, if I may.
When I was a boy, way back when, one of my favorite TV shows was SEA HUNT, starring Loyd Bridges. In 1962, at the age of eight, I collected trading stamps (anybody remember those?) to get my first set of snorkeling gear and taught myself how to snorkel. Three years later (1965), a friend of my parents (Harold) learned of my fascination with diving and, during one of our visits to his home, he took me out to his garage and showed me a couple of Aqualung double hose rigs that he'd had for a few years. He had been a Navy Frogman in the 1950s and had brought the rigs home with him. I drooled over the rigs and fingered the two hose regulators (DA Aquamaster). He asked me if I wanted to buy one but I didn't have any money. Then he offered to give me the rig if I would cut and trim the grass on his property for the summer.
Every Saturday, I would spend the day working, then go into the garage to look at the Aqualung rig. Then, two weeks before our agreed upon time was up, the rig disappeared from the garage. I asked Harold where it was and he wouldn't tell me. He just told me not to worry about it.
Two weeks later, I finished cutting and trimming his property and went in to close the deal. There, in his kitchen, was the rig. The tank had been hydro tested and painted. The regulator had been serviced and looked like new. Over in a corner was the other rig. It, too had been refurbished. Although we had not discussed it previously, Harold was including SCUBA instruction in our deal.
Over the winter, we went over the "head work" of diving. I learned the science of SCUBA, how to read the Navy dive tables, safety procedures, etc. In the spring, we went out to the river and I began to learn the skills I would need to dive safely: Emergency ascents, buddy breathing, how to clear the mouthpiece of a two hose regulator, calculating air consumption and timing my dives (we had no SPGs), using the J-valve on my tank, etc.
Harold was not a diving instructor, nor was he certified himself. He taught me what he had learned in the Navy and we filled our tanks (or "Lungs" as he called them) from his compressor. I dove with him and, occasionally, a couple of his buddies for the next eleven years. Then, in 1976, Harold suffered a heart attack and died suddenly. Before I had an opportunity to speak to his widow about his equipment, she disposed of it. Without that compressor, I could not fill my tank.
In 1978, I learned of a new dive shop that was opening in my town and went right in to sign up for the certification course. I told the shop owner of my experience and, instead of the usual three week course, he just had me take the written test, then had me go out with his next class to have me demonstrate my skills. After a weekend of diving, he gave me my C-card. I continued to use my old tank and regulator for a few more years before trading them in on a new Sherwood steel 72 (with J-valve) and an Aqualung Aquarius regulator. I still have both of these, along with an AL80 I bought in '91.
In those days, emergency ascents, buddy breathing, air consumption and the like were standard skills that had to be mastered before being certified. We had no BCDs, dive computers and the like. The only equipment we used were the tank/regulator rigs and our basic snorkeling gear. Everything else was done in our heads.
I quit diving in 1993 after my first wife (and diving partner) and I were divorced. I stored my equipment in the garage and pretty much forgot about it. Then, a couple of months ago, my sons expressed an interest in SCUBA diving and I decided it would be a good sport for us to share.
I have been teaching them to snorkel and want them to master snorkeling (to become comfortable in the underwater environment) before moving on to SCUBA.
Imagine my surprise though, when we paid a visit to a local dive shop, to find out that the old skills aren't even being taught anymore! No emergency ascents, no buddy breathing, no dive tables, nothing! Everything is done by computers, octo rigs, BCDs and such! Modern divers look more like some kind of alien space critter than divers and they depend almost entirely on their equipment for their safety. I'm afraid I just cannot go this route with my sons. Oh, sure, they'll have to take the course as offered in order to get their C-cards, but I can assure you that this will be only the beginning of their education. I am going to teach them all the old skills so that can be more confident divers and will be able to handle themselves whatever comes up. They will learn to dive with nothing more than the most basic equipment; to rely on themselves and their skills instead of a lot of technological gear that could fail.
I am a staunch follower of the old KISS principal. The more technological something is, the greater chance something can go wrong. But, that's just me, I guess.
I'm a new member of this forum and I'd like to put forth a personal observation concerning current SCUBA instruction, if I may.
When I was a boy, way back when, one of my favorite TV shows was SEA HUNT, starring Loyd Bridges. In 1962, at the age of eight, I collected trading stamps (anybody remember those?) to get my first set of snorkeling gear and taught myself how to snorkel. Three years later (1965), a friend of my parents (Harold) learned of my fascination with diving and, during one of our visits to his home, he took me out to his garage and showed me a couple of Aqualung double hose rigs that he'd had for a few years. He had been a Navy Frogman in the 1950s and had brought the rigs home with him. I drooled over the rigs and fingered the two hose regulators (DA Aquamaster). He asked me if I wanted to buy one but I didn't have any money. Then he offered to give me the rig if I would cut and trim the grass on his property for the summer.
Every Saturday, I would spend the day working, then go into the garage to look at the Aqualung rig. Then, two weeks before our agreed upon time was up, the rig disappeared from the garage. I asked Harold where it was and he wouldn't tell me. He just told me not to worry about it.
Two weeks later, I finished cutting and trimming his property and went in to close the deal. There, in his kitchen, was the rig. The tank had been hydro tested and painted. The regulator had been serviced and looked like new. Over in a corner was the other rig. It, too had been refurbished. Although we had not discussed it previously, Harold was including SCUBA instruction in our deal.
Over the winter, we went over the "head work" of diving. I learned the science of SCUBA, how to read the Navy dive tables, safety procedures, etc. In the spring, we went out to the river and I began to learn the skills I would need to dive safely: Emergency ascents, buddy breathing, how to clear the mouthpiece of a two hose regulator, calculating air consumption and timing my dives (we had no SPGs), using the J-valve on my tank, etc.
Harold was not a diving instructor, nor was he certified himself. He taught me what he had learned in the Navy and we filled our tanks (or "Lungs" as he called them) from his compressor. I dove with him and, occasionally, a couple of his buddies for the next eleven years. Then, in 1976, Harold suffered a heart attack and died suddenly. Before I had an opportunity to speak to his widow about his equipment, she disposed of it. Without that compressor, I could not fill my tank.
In 1978, I learned of a new dive shop that was opening in my town and went right in to sign up for the certification course. I told the shop owner of my experience and, instead of the usual three week course, he just had me take the written test, then had me go out with his next class to have me demonstrate my skills. After a weekend of diving, he gave me my C-card. I continued to use my old tank and regulator for a few more years before trading them in on a new Sherwood steel 72 (with J-valve) and an Aqualung Aquarius regulator. I still have both of these, along with an AL80 I bought in '91.
In those days, emergency ascents, buddy breathing, air consumption and the like were standard skills that had to be mastered before being certified. We had no BCDs, dive computers and the like. The only equipment we used were the tank/regulator rigs and our basic snorkeling gear. Everything else was done in our heads.
I quit diving in 1993 after my first wife (and diving partner) and I were divorced. I stored my equipment in the garage and pretty much forgot about it. Then, a couple of months ago, my sons expressed an interest in SCUBA diving and I decided it would be a good sport for us to share.
I have been teaching them to snorkel and want them to master snorkeling (to become comfortable in the underwater environment) before moving on to SCUBA.
Imagine my surprise though, when we paid a visit to a local dive shop, to find out that the old skills aren't even being taught anymore! No emergency ascents, no buddy breathing, no dive tables, nothing! Everything is done by computers, octo rigs, BCDs and such! Modern divers look more like some kind of alien space critter than divers and they depend almost entirely on their equipment for their safety. I'm afraid I just cannot go this route with my sons. Oh, sure, they'll have to take the course as offered in order to get their C-cards, but I can assure you that this will be only the beginning of their education. I am going to teach them all the old skills so that can be more confident divers and will be able to handle themselves whatever comes up. They will learn to dive with nothing more than the most basic equipment; to rely on themselves and their skills instead of a lot of technological gear that could fail.
I am a staunch follower of the old KISS principal. The more technological something is, the greater chance something can go wrong. But, that's just me, I guess.
