How did you make the rec-pro switch?

[Kwbyron]

I've signed up for my DivCon class and plan to go to full instructor. Honestly, I choose SSI because it's the only organization in town; however, I do like a lot of their methods so I think on a whole it will work well for me.

My only complaint is that the organization as a whole seems to really push sales of equipment and while I understand that the industry is funded in this way...I'm having trouble going from viewing these policies as a recreational diver to seeing them from an industry point of view. The shop I'm going through has a set rig that they have all their leaders wear in front of students, while partly for consistency, it also promotes the sale of this rig. It's all really good gear, and stuff I would recommend to my students, but I feel like students should be exposed to many different rigs and then allowed to find what works best for them (It's a transpac style rig with a bungied wing and I dive a bp/w with harness because I hate all the straps and pockets; i get tangled in them). I also feel like students are really pushed to get a complete rig right away...another idea that I really disagree with, It's a massive financial commitment and again, divers should find the best gear for them and not what the dive leaders dangle in front of them.

So, is this not as big of an issue as I am making it out to be, or does this shop seem to have a more aggressive sales policy? I really want to be able to teach classes, but I don't want to be constantly butting heads with the local LDS's...and there are only two here.

 

[tstormdiver]

The retail portion of SSI is a major part of it's foundation. I am currently doing the home study portion for my OWSI course & this fact is stated over & over again. SSI was founded on the concept of supporting the dealer (a.k.a. the retailer) as well as the educational side of diving. If not for the retailer selling diving gear (no one buying the equipment, thus no one diving), who would you have to be a dive leader for? Who would you instruct? I just finished the reading of the booklet "The History of SSI". In this booklet, it explains from day 1, how SSI was built around the concept of the retailer & the goods & services that the retailer brings to the public, being the "backbone" of the diving industry. If there are no retailers selling products (equipment, courses, services....) how many people would be diving? Not many... or at least not as many as there are today. SSI looks at it's dive leaders as part of the retail business. It looks at the dive leaders as sale people, ambassadors, educators for the facility & for SSI. The dive leaders are, in a way, partners with the dive facility; but, more like a symbiotic relationship, mutually beneficial to both parties- the dive facility needs the instructors & dive leaders to teach & the instructors need the dive facility to bring in students, provide classroom space, class resources..... I have been very lucky that my instructor has taken me under his wing & is showing me the different sides there are to operations of a diving facility. I am learning about retail sales, inventories, customer relations, services & very soon (when I take the instructor course) the inner workings of the courses taught there. The "push" for the student to become a fully equipped diver stems from the fact that if a diver has made the investment to buy the equipment, then they are more likely to continue diving. I know that if I spend that amount of my income on stuff like that, I'm going to get all the use out of it that I can. While yes, I'll admit, I'm still a little uncomfortable with the idea of salesmanship, it is becoming more familiar as I go.
As for the use of different gear configurations in classes, your argument has merit, but as a dive leader, as was explained above, if the dive leaders don't set the example of what quality dive gear is, the how is a basic OW student to know? If the student doesn't know, then where will he/ she get their equipment? Off the web? If they do that, then the retailer will not be able to stay in business for long. If the dive facility can't stay in business, then who will you be a dive leader for (since SSI requires dive facility affiliation)? Once again that symbiotic relationship. Our shop is lucky that there is some balance in what gear can be worn. Technical courses are also taught there, so technical configurations are used in certain circumstances, for some courses. For OW courses, the dive leaders must wear a basic recreational configuration of the brands sold by the store, but for some of the specialties, a technical configuration may be used by the instructor or a dive leader for the course. For instance, during a deep diving specialty, the head instructor/ owner requires that at least 1 dive leader have a set of doubles on. Down in the cold waters of the quarries, regulator freeze- ups & free flows are not uncommon. By having doubles down there you have both redundancy & ample air to get the student to the surface safely. I do not know what the situation of your dive facility is, but have you talked to the instructor as to whether there may be some exceptions? It can never hurt to ask, the worst thing is he may say "no", but that's not the end of the world.
Hope this makes some sense to you, as I am still learning this as I go along. There may be some who disagree with what I have said & I may not be absolutely 100% correct, but this is what I have been picking up from my studies.

 

[DrSteve]

I declined to continue as a DM for the shop I did my PADI DM with on the grounds that I would have to buy replacement equipment for teaching purposes. Especially given that DM's received no pay (apart from tips at the OW check outs - whic I disagree with). The massive discount they offered for active teaching staff, made their special deals, still significantly more expensive than the internet options and often more expensive than other shops in the area!

I had someone tell me that a backplate/wing was not allowed...but a transpac would be OK?!?!?!?! Apparently I needed equipment which the students could identify with. Nobody had told the instructors who were doing OW check outs with doubles, bungied bright red BPW systems etc.,

At another LDS we used in VA it was interesting to note the shop's chief instructor had an OW rig, a rescue rig, an off-shore rig and a rig he wore while on personal vacation. I agree having a dedicated teaching rig is a good idea as it will see some abuse. But what was amazing how each set of equipment differed and funny but his "personal rig" was not something you could just walk into the shop and buy (and his wife was the manager).