You aren't teaching your students to handle the same gear when boat diving and they surface to find the weather has suddenly changed for the worse. A 2-3' chop with a boat and water moving violently sure does make dealing with gear on the surface and safely getting back on board a boat a much more difficult situation and one that is quite hazardous.
Aren't I?
Nice of you to make assumptions...
..oh, and thanks for contributing your depth of experience
again. It's kinda pointing out the obvious, but that must seem profound advice at your level of experience.
Having taught courses under monsoon conditions in Thailand, I think a 2-3' chop would be quite an easy experience for my students....
Real life conditions are not completely emulated during OW training but experienced divers should be prepared for them.
Having taught diving courses across Asia and in the UK, then I would care to differ. I train divers to dive in the conditions they will face after the course ends.
Students generally perform the skills needed to get their certifications without complaining. They want to get it over and move on to the more enjoyable dives.
For a rescue diver, you sure have a lot of experience on how to run courses...
Being able to do a skill under normal conditions will get them a cert card but what about their performance under pressure in conditions that are more extreme?
Obviously, your training courses were deficient, if that is your experience...
Many dive shops won't allow instructors to teach in a BP&W they want the instructor in a mainstream jacket style BCD with integrated weight.
Really? After many years in the industry...and in a BP&W...that's news for me.
Exactly what is your 'sample size' when you state
'many'dive shops?
Sounds like verbal effluent to me...
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with the 1 piece harness. What I am saying is more thought and discussion is needed before before eliminating harness styles with a release.
Put a few hundred more dives in your log book... and then we can discuss notes. I've put over 16 years of thought into developing my configuration. You?
Very few releases just break during a dive. If tanks are being dropped on them while on the surface then that is a problem with those handling the equipment. That isn't a failure of the device but negligence in caring for it. Those breakages should be found during equipment checks before becoming a mid dive hazard.
This remark shows an overwhelming ignorance of reality in the dive industry. Stuff gets broken regularly. Breakages should (of course) get discovered pre-dive, but that still means your kit is FUBAR for the dive. But, I suppose you think it is fine for people to be sitting on a boat for hours crying over a split plastic buckle...when all their friends are enjoying their dives?