Last night, a rep from an equipment manufacturer flew to Saipan to peddle his wares. Invited shop owners, instructors and a few DM's to come to the pool to try out a few models from their lines of BCDs, masks, fins, regs, and computers. Gave us a SWEET Deal (non-pros would CRINGE at the thought of what they want you to pay vs. what they are willing to give us their stuff for) if we wanted to order anything.
Now, I know WHY they do this (I'll be getting a new computer and a new BCD (or two) that I wouldn't have ordinarily bought, and I'm switching brands of regs and BCDs, and I'm sure my students will notice what I'm wearing...), and I'm certianly not complaining about getting a deal (anyone at the pro level has spent MAJOR BUCKS on equipment and education), but I couldn't help but think to myself:
"Wouldn't it be nice if noobs were given this treatment?"
I don't know how its done in other parts of the world, but I'm sure that, around here, students are kinda stuck with what the shop rents, and newly certified divers don't get a carte-blanche opportunity to play in the pool for as long as they want with whatever equipment they want for free.
Pie-in-the-sky, yes. Economically impossible, yes. But wouldn't that be nice?
Now, I know WHY they do this (I'll be getting a new computer and a new BCD (or two) that I wouldn't have ordinarily bought, and I'm switching brands of regs and BCDs, and I'm sure my students will notice what I'm wearing...), and I'm certianly not complaining about getting a deal (anyone at the pro level has spent MAJOR BUCKS on equipment and education), but I couldn't help but think to myself:
"Wouldn't it be nice if noobs were given this treatment?"
I don't know how its done in other parts of the world, but I'm sure that, around here, students are kinda stuck with what the shop rents, and newly certified divers don't get a carte-blanche opportunity to play in the pool for as long as they want with whatever equipment they want for free.
Pie-in-the-sky, yes. Economically impossible, yes. But wouldn't that be nice?