New to cave diving equipment suggestions

[Cave Diver]

It seems like in too many places now it's being marketed that gear = skill.

If you have a cool BP with a 90lb wing you can easily dive doubles with dual stages. No training required.

 

[Beyond_Diving]

dude!! that guy is wearing a snorkel!! and padi is leading the world at sidemounting? HE IS WEARING A SNORKEL!! HAHAA!

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

dude!! that guy is wearing a snorkel!! and padi is leading the world at sidemounting? HE IS WEARING A SNORKEL!! HAHAA!

Well ... in fairness, that IS in the recreational section. If you go to the Technical Sidemount page, the dude isn't wearing a snorkel.

I personally wouldn't mind learning sidemount ... and probably will someday. As my recent trip to Port Hardy made evident ... the logistics of diving sidemount for certain dive profiles is a lot simpler than attempting to use backmounted doubles.

But perhaps that discussion belongs somewhere other than in the cave diving forum ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I personally wouldn't mind learning sidemount ... and probably will someday.

Would you take it from a guy who just learned to SM and got his instructor rating for it at nearly the same time?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Would you take it from a guy who just learned to SM and got his instructor rating for it at nearly the same time?

Not without first determing that he had something worthwhile to teach me.

I don't put a lot of stock in how long someone's been teaching ... some of the best local instructors I know are fairly new at it. Conversely, some of the worst are instructors who've been teaching the same thing the same way for so long they've forgotten how to think.

I suspect I know what you're getting at ... and at this level it's a student's own fault if they aren't savvy enough to do some research and ask the right questions.

But more likely no ... I already have an idea where I'd look for that type of dive instruction ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I don't think the amount of time he's been instructing is the real issue, just the amount of time he's actually experienced the configuration he's hoping to teach.

Two very different things

It was mostly rhetorical anyway, since the Greek had already been brought up