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

[tangfish]

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.)

I've had this same thing happen to me. There are some arguments for having the DM use the same or similar equipment as the students, including:

One of the fundamentals of PADI DM is that you are a role model. And that extends to the type of equipment. In order to teach a pool class, you should be using exactly the same type of BC, Reg, Mask and Snorkel that your students (those who rent) are using. To use something different runs the risk of confusing them.

After all the skills have been completed... perhaps in dives 4 and 5.... while guiding, then it's ok to use markedly different gear.

Remember, it's about being a role model and keeping it simple and fun.

..... an additional reason dive shops want you to use the same gear is because the students are more likely to want to *buy* the type of gear they see their instructor and DM using. I've even had a dive shop tell us DMs that they don't want us in the pool or water with students with brands and models other than those being pushed by the shop. Now *that's* lame.

 

[Peter Guy]

24940 -- Thank you. This whole thread has finally just bemused me -- as has my own little issue regarding this.

As it turns out, my DM "career" (as originally contemplated) will, in fact, be short due to this issue. I will just have to wait and see if any other instructor from the shop is willing to put up with me and "my way."

OTOH, I have already had offers to work with other instructors both in the pool and OW so "all my hard work" (cough, cough) will not be for naught. Now what I want to do is to convince TSandM to become an instructor so that we can teach together and earn tons of money in the Scuba teaching business. (ROFL)

 

[SparticleBrane]

1. we need to interest as many people as we can in our sport

Just to play Devil's Advocate...

I like dive sites that aren't crowded.

 

[seaducer]

Not to derail the thread but it seems this is a "Tech Vs. Rec" diver discussion. If your training Rec divers... then use the staple Rec gear (vest) that you rent. Diving is not something you can learn in one series of classes. Students will have PLENTY of years to learn about the wing.

Not to split hairs here, but a BP/W setup is not "tech". In fact one who is capable of planning and executing a "tec" dive can do so in a jacket BCD, and some do.

"tec" as we commonly think of it has nothing to do with gear, and everything to do with knowledge, planning and execution. Some gear is favored as it is easier or more reliable under extreme conditions, but none of it save teh computers would be unfamiliar to an OW student.

 

[bfw]

You missed the word reconfigured in my post. I'm not diving overweighted.I switched from a steel plate to AL and made up the difference with lead so I have a belt to ditch.

I didn't miss anything. You missed that I never said anything about YOU being overweighted. I said the average diver is overweighted, and one of the best ways to head off the thinking that causes that problem is letting them see that someone can dive with no lead, and the world will keep turning. Better yet, that less lead is something to aim for rather than more.

If you think that's an inconvenience, then you are putting yourself ahead of the students. Then, you have to decide if your serious about instructing/assisting, or go back to what you were doing.

After 19 years of it, I think I know what I want, so get off the high horse. I wear no weight AND no backplate, steel, aluminum or otherwise, in the pool, and that's with a 3mm full length wetsuit and an AL80. (I use one of the shop's jacket BCD's in the pool simply because I don't want my own gear in the chlorine,) When students ask me why I don't use a weight belt, I tell them because I don't need one, and that the less weight you wear, the easier buoyancy control is.

 

[bfw]

I dont recall anyone in this thread saying their students were idiots or morons!!!

Because you're not thinking and paying attention. To suggest that the mere sight of a slightly different gear configuration will confuse them is to imply they are morons. MILLIONS of people learn to operate a motor vehicle every year. We don't ban everything but blue domestic front wheel drive four dour sedans with steel wheels and hubcaps from the road when the driver's ed classes are in session, do we? So if those MILLIONS can absorb the SKILLS to pilot 3500 lb. of metal around at high speeds in the midst of everything from Yugo's to Porsches, subcompacts to SUV's, four doors, hatchbacks, cars with wings and colored lighting on their undercarriages, steel wheels, wire wheels, hubcaps, spinners, and lightweight alloy rims, imports with side marker lights, domestics without, convertibles, t-tops, minivans, and semis, and it doesn't seem to confuse them, what does that make someone who can't get past the fact that one of his instructors has slightly different gear, that he's more than willing to explain after the first class session? A moron.

Our shop has a variety of BCD and regulator styles among its class gear. Students are encouraged to try different gear throughout the class to see how it's different. They're either going to be buying gear down the road or renting gear from who knows where, and they appreciate the exposure. It's NEVER caused confusion or created any difficulty learning skills, in 21 years I've seen, including students aged 12 to 80, janitors to genuine NASA rocket scientists, men, women, from all sorts of backgrounds. This includes two students with bona fide developmental disabilities.

So yes, if you think exposure to variations in gear will confuse your students, you're insulting their intelligence.

 

[Teamcasa]

Not to split hairs here, but a BP/W setup is not "tech". In fact one who is capable of planning and executing a "tec" dive can do so in a jacket BCD, and some do.

"tec" as we commonly think of it has nothing to do with gear, and everything to do with knowledge, planning and execution. Some gear is favored as it is easier or more reliable under extreme conditions, but none of it save teh computers would be unfamiliar to an OW student.

Well said.

 

[mkutyna]

I dunno about other people but my BP/W has the same types of buckles, cam bands, dump valves and bladders as a jacket style BC.

 

[seaducer]

I didn't miss anything. You missed that I never said anything about YOU being overweighted. I said the average diver is overweighted, and one of the best ways to head off the thinking that causes that problem is letting them see that someone can dive with no lead, and the world will keep turning. Better yet, that less lead is something to aim for rather than more.

You know you have a point there. I remember the first time I saw someone diving without a weight belt, and it kind of blew my mind. It did change my thinking, and I was rather proud of myself the first time I managed a belt free dive.

 

[Tigerman]

So, do y'all ever teach a dive class that does NOT arrive at the pool on a short bus?
You all seem to assume your students are slack jawed morons. If they're truly that easily confused, you should switch to training collies and poodles - it'll be a step up in the level of learning.

Realistically, there are two student responses to instructor gear:

1) "What, the instructor had gear?" These don't notice the instructor's gear, and pretty much don't notice much of anything. They probably shouldn't be diving because their situational and environmental awareness is too low.

2) "I see your gear is a different - why?" The students who generally DO notice are generally curious, but will readily understand an explanation behind the differences. The only real issue is not taking up class time with answering their questions, and if you tell them you'll answer after class, maybe over coffee at Denny's, that problem is solved.

Either your students are NOT drooling idiots, or you're not helping the sport by training them. If you operate as if they were idiots, you need to ask yourself why you can't get better students, or why you can't respect their intelligence.

No, I can just remember how new everything was taking my OW cert myself.
Its not about people being morons, its about explaining one thing to the entire class, teaching them the same thing, having them learn the same gear configurations so that you dont have to learn 4 different ways to donate/receive a spare air source on your very first dive..