miketsp:
I find this remark a little strange. I've witnessed CMAS courses & operations in a few countries and the training normally is to a high standard and goes way beyond basic requirements. However as has been pointed out endlessly on this board it all comes down to the quality of the instructor. To try to smear all CMAS training because of what I would believe to be an isolated case is as bad as PADI bashing.
The only point I do agree with is that no taboo is placed on deco diving unlike in the PADI zone of influence, so many instructors really make sure that even a 1* diver can really use his tables & hold deco stops.
Well, the problem with CMAS is that it sets standards and does nothing more. It doesn't even verify whether or not an affiliate applies these standards, especially not in the case of founding members. This makes for an enormous variety in CMAS education.
Since there is normally only one ruling CMAS body for each country (a founding member and/or full member of the CMAS board) this body sets the standard for a whole country, regardless of the number of CMAS agencies active in a given country. An example: in Belgium, the ruling body is BEFOS/FEBRAS, which oversees three agencies: NELOS, LIFRAS and VVW. Each of these three agencies has its own standards that do not correspond with each other's. These standards also differ from the standards set by the ruling body. The standards of the ruling body differ significantly from those set forth by CMAS, but the ruling body doesn't issue certs, it just oversees. CMAS cannot intervene because BEFOS/LIFRAS is a founding member of CMAS, so general standards are constantly being broken despite the fact that each c-card issued bears the CMAS logo.
CMAS agencies all over Europe adopt their own policies. A number of them are conforming to EU norms and thus are drawing level with RSTC standards. Others - like the French federation - fight like hell to keep their own standards, which do include dangerous performance requirements for novices.
When we're talking about standardised training that extends to a whole country, I wouldn't call this an "isolated incident".
CMAS however has always insisted that a 1* diver is equivalent to an OWD. Nevertheless, a 1* diver is a supervised diver, who is not required to be able to plan repetitive dives, does not have to demonstrate skills in open water and who only has to perform some very basic watermanship skills in the pool. In most countries these pool skills include breath-hold swimming after breathing compressed air. Hence a serious number of lung overexpansion injuries each year.
This isn't agency bashing, it's system bashing if you will.
miketsp:
In some countries they even call a BCD (Buoyancy Control Device) a STAB jacket!!!
Is the term "STAB" in the EN standards?
Whatever gets the job done. A rose is a rose....
"Stab" is short for "stabilising", which is a perfectly sensible name.
As for the "lifejacket" thing, they actually mean "lifejacket". Whether or not buoyancy control is taught is the instructor's decision. A reg recovery is not taught (but it will be soon due to the EN norm), which is why I hear so many divers talk about "losing their reg". You can't lose it, it stays attached to the LP hose. Until now, an octopus is only recommended, it's not mandatory. Neither is an SPG. Why? They still use reserve valves.
We're not talking isolated incidents here, we're talking whole countries.
And it's not a question of smearing reputations, it's just a question of stating facts. Those standards are a bare minimum, even less than RSTC standards, with one notable exception: there is an experience requirement. It takes a certain number of dives before a diver can obtain the next level in certification.
This I find commendable, but that's all. There is serious upheaval all over Europe because alternate airsources (ie an octopus) will become mandatory. Do you know why there is so much protest? Because the average diver doesn't want to spend money on a piece of equipment that is "optional".
Petrification of diving education is a bad, bad thing.
fftopic:
