Got My DM - But I Don't Want to Dive "This Way"...

[Teamcasa]

...I dive pretty much my BP/W singles rig all the time and it has never been an issue with the shop I help out when needed. Even with OW students, it gives them some exposure to different gear they will see while diving.
And a BP/W is a BCD last time I checked....

Lynne, while I agree with the above in principal, in practice the typical OW student barely understands the gear anyway and while doing their mask drills and fin pivots they probably could careless what gear one of the instructors is sporting.

If he is training more the just OW divers then he will have a better opportunity to demonstrate the skills they should soon learn.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Background:

I got back into diving 3 years ago after a 20+ year surface interval. A year later I decided to become a DM and paid my money and started on the road which then took almost two years (many stops and starts). I finished my DM several weeks ago and was asked to "help out" with my first class by my DM instructor/mentor.

During the two year period, my dear sweet wife gently cajoled me over to "the dark side" -- very slowly over -- first with Essentials, then Rec 2, then GUE DIR-F, then Cavern/Intro to Cave, next NAUI HeliOx and lastly Full Cave. In other words, I'm diving a full Hog Rig (BP/W, can light, long hose, bungied backup, no snorkel, jet fins/frog kick, etc.). I must say, I do like my gear setup (which includes the AI Cobra instead of an SPG and AI Vytec on my wrist -- not totally "in the dark!").

During my whole DM training, my instructor/mentor "suggested" I dive a "normal" rig in the pool (SeaQuest Balance) but let me keep my snorkel in my pocket per standards but also let me dive the BP/W (and sometimes doubles) during OW dives with the classes.

So now I have my DM card and agreed to "help out" with an OW class with my instructor/mentor. I showed up at the pool with the same gear I'd been using in my DM class (SeaQuest Balance, Airsource, snorkel in pocket). At the end of the class it was "suggested" that I put the snorkel on my mask so that the students wouldn't be confused. Hmmmm.

Today I asked him if he minded if I dove "my gear" in OW and told him I wasn't all that comfortable diving the Balance in OW. (I haven't dived it in OW for two years.) He "suggested" that I ditch the "technical gear" and just dive the "regular" gear so as to NOT confuse the students AND so as to defuse potential liability issues/questions (don't ask!). He also told me I shouldn't worry about my trim (etc.) because I'll be so concerned with where students are that my trim won't be of any concern!

What do I want from y'all by writing this? I'm not at all sure. I just needed to put it out there -- just a rant and vent if you will.

My DM career may be a very short one! (However, I've already been asked to work with another instructor/another shop -- she just happens to be a cave diver.)

Peter, I happen to know an instructor who would be happy to have you DM for his classes in the gear you enjoy using ...

He would also insist that you worry about trim, etc. so as to set a good example for the students.

... and if that other instructor ... who happens to be a cave diver ... is who I think it is, I'm sure she'd feel the same way ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Web Monkey]

Background:

I got back into diving 3 years ago after a 20+ year surface interval. A year later I decided to become a DM and paid my money and started on the road which then took almost two years (many stops and starts). I finished my DM several weeks ago and was asked to "help out" with my first class by my DM instructor/mentor.

If you're getting anything out of the deal besides a warm feeling inside, you're obligated to dive with whatever the shop owner wants. You're essentially being paid (in cash or discounts or free air, boat rides, or whatever) to dive using the gear the shop wants to sell, or at least the same type of gear (if they only sell jacket BCs, it doesn't do them any good if you show up in a BP).

If you're not getting anything out of it, wear what you want and if it bothers the owner enough, he won't ask you back.

That said, the students do look to the instructors and DMs to see what they should be doing (and wearing), and if you're all decked out in stuff they haven't trained with or seen before, it doesn't help them. Remember, DM is a "professional" certification, meaning you're not diving for you anymore, you're diving for someone else. In this case, you're diving because the shop owner needs help with a class.

Terry

 

[ReefHound]

For OW, I think you should dive in the same kind of gear the students are in. Remember, you are there to teach students, not pleasure dive. While I get the argument of exposing students to other gear I think it's information overload at this stage. And it could be a distraction if time is spent talking about different preferences in gear rather than focusing on the basic OW skills.

I think it could also send the wrong message. They are struggling to understand their basic gear. People *do* learn by example and they want to see how *you* deal with the same issues they are facing using the same tools they are using. What confidence will they have in your understanding of it if you aren't using it yourself? Will they resent having to learn in "second rate gear" that obviously isn't good enough for you? Some people really resent the "do as I say, not as I do" approach.

How can they possibly emulate your trim and be comfortable in a rec BC if you can't? Although for the limited amount of actual "diving" done in an OW class you should be able to fake it.

Seems to me like this should be in the Instructor section.

 

[shurite7]

One point has already been mentioned; some shop's require you to wear the gear they sell.

One note on snorkel; you are required to have it - if you are NAUI standards state you must wear it (policies p. 2.15) - if you are PADI standards state you must have it, but they do not state you must wear it (General Standards and Procedures p. 11).

I prefer hog set up but when I'm teaching in the pool I wear, including DM's, what the students are wearing. When it comes to open water I switch, DM's can as well, to my bp/w and long hose. I've taught at a shop wear all the staff wore bp/w and long hoses w/no snrokel and we all abided by the the above mentioned criteria.

We never had any issues with students being confused; mystified or anything of the sort. Some even tried it out on the last dive.

Having said all that I really wouldn't recommend wearing doubles. It's more of a hinderence to you than a benefit.

C

 

[deco_martini]

Today I asked him if he minded if I dove "my gear" in OW and told him I wasn't all that comfortable diving the Balance in OW.

No offense, but that just sounds like you're being difficult. A Balance is arguably one of the best jacket BCs made but you don't feel comfortable putting it on in a pool? I mean what, is it going to explode or something? Is it going to bond to your body and take over your nervous system like an alien from Robert Heinlein's Puppet Masters? Are you so macho uber-DIR now that wearing one of the best quality jacket BCs in a pool might burn you like holy water does vampires?



Wear your HOG setup when you are teaching a HOG class.

 

[TSandM]

You know, the funny thing about a lot of these discussions is the idea that the students will be confused, or will be led to want something other than what the shop sells, if the instructor is diving something other than what they dive.

To be absolutely honest with you, I have no idea whatsoever what the instructors and DMs in my OW class were using. I had no bandwidth to look at their gear. I barely had bandwidth to sort my own out. The instructors could have been in doubles with full face masks, and I'm not sure I would have noticed. People overestimate the influence that instructor's gear has on students.

 

[vladimir]

The instructors could have been in doubles with full face masks, and I'm not sure I would have noticed. People overestimate the influence that instructor's gear has on students.

Clayjar's students are more easily influenced:

several people had come in asking about pony bottles after having seen mine shown off or being used by me on the boat.

 

[deco_martini]

My OW instructor wore a jacket BC and I remember it distinctly. It was Chip Clay in Memphis Tennessee. See, there was this NASDS skill you had to perform called "removing your BC under water" and Chip removed a jacket style BC first and put it back on before having the students remove theirs and put them back on.

If that is a skill the class gets drilled on, its probably preferable to have the instructor wearing a BC of similar style to the ghetto loaners the students are wearing.

 

[neil]

People overestimate the influence that instructor's gear has on students.

I tend to agree with that observation, with the exception of those students who mimic every little thing you do. However, the bottom line is that if one isn't going to do what the instructor asks, they need to move on.