On recreational divers with pseudo-tech equipment

[Gombessa]

At the very least, a guy like that is pretty easy to recognize. It's the ones who are decked out in pretty reasonable looking gear, technical or recreational, who don't immediately stand out or draw attention/ire, who you need to be careful about.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

One of the first questions I asked myself about this post was with just 40 dives why would the diver think that he didn't need further training? Could it be that he wasn't impressed by the quality and performance of his recreational instructor? Often, I cannot tell the difference between students and instructors until they take up positions on training platforms. The skills of many instructors are so poor as to be embarrassing. If an instructor knocks students socks off with skills and abilities underwater rather than just being a verbal expert on the surface, chances are students will see a diving style that has taken some serious practice time to develop and work hard to achieve skills. I believe the popularity of GUE, for example, grew from divers seeing fundies classes or seeing how others were changed by fundies classes and they, too, sought to learn and master trim, buoyancy, propulsion, team and skill sets. Any instructor regardless of agency who shows off excellence and asks or demands excellence from students will find himself or herself with followers hungry for information, education and abilities. If the diver in the OP was impressed with his instructor he would be foolish to think he could just go it alone, but if he wasn't impressed perhaps he felt it would be foolish to pay money for classes that in his experience weren't really worth the money? We, of course, do not know, but I'm simply providing some food for thought. I have a student like this now that I'm trying to fix. He earned a NAUI open water card and IMHO he doesn't have the required skills to even possess that at the moment. The diving industry initially failed to provide my current student with a skilled instructor and the instructor failed to provide this student with proper education, training and testing. He's planning a dive trip soon and will become some warm water instructor's nightmare if I can't get him sorted out soon enough just to not be a disaster.

The next thing that my new project did was throw a bounty of money on ridiculous gear that he doesn't need and that dwarfed him. He purchased it on the internet rather than seeking guidance at a dive center. He researched equipment online and found a way over-teched BCD like that of the diver in the OP. He may have done this because he didn't feel comfortable with his open water training and trust the instructor and the dive center staff? Or, maybe it was just to save money? I'll have to ask him why he didn't buy equipment from his local dive center.

Also, we all start somewhere and grow with continuing experience and education. Some divers are lucky and find a great instructor from the start and others have a more circuitous route to travel in training to figure it all out ... or much of it. Speaking of which, I remember thinking I had diving all figured out once when younger and was probably cocky about it. Now, the more I know the more I realize I don't know and I feel like I'm never going to know. But, thankfully, I've got a few really great mentors to remind me and on some days they probably think I'm a train wreck too.

 

[In10se]

but there are those on SB who feel that acquiring your knowledge any Other way than by paying someone Else for it is a sure way to kill yourself!! I mean, you couldnt Possibly learn anything from books!?! what you gotta deathwish or something!?!

... this is sooo true.

I read stuff here, then go hit the lake and try it for the sheer fun of the experience. I love diving and really have a blast doing the silly sh17 I read from some of the posts. Playing with my smb as redundant buoyancy for example. Did the skill drill and rode my smb up complete with one pretend deco stop and one ss stop. It was a blast!!! Tomorrow I'll go ride the dang thing around at 100ffw with an empty wing to see how hard would it be if I was stuck in an overhead with a blown bladder and needed a hasty exit. My dive buddy might could take some pic's viz permitting.

But ... Imma die doing that with only 41 dives ...

 

[digital_steve]

not when he is single handedly destroying en entire reef ecosystem....

I just got back from the GBR and there were plenty of divers without anything that looked like 'tech' gear doing that as well... hardly a gear issue

anyone play golf? next time you're on the golf course you should saunter up to someone and make some suggestions about their swing and the brand of their clubs, see how long it takes to pick up your teeth with a broken arm.

it's really none of anyone's business what gear someone uses or how they use it, leave em alone. maybe they'll work it out for themselves eventually and progress slower... i did it that way at any rate

 

[Tortuga68]

Would you want/accept somone like that as your buddy on a dive steve?

Noone ever killed their partner by using the wrong golf club last time I checked

 

[Meng_Tze]

While the diver in the story definitely is a pain and often needs to be watched, there is a flip side to that story as well.

You also see instructors talking about tech divers gear with their students. They give the wrong information, asking themselves loudly why a diver would bring doubles to a site like this, that tech divers are selfish when it comes to emergencies (i.e don't go to them for help, they are too busy with their over complicated equipment, will not share gas).

My point is, there is a lot of confusion floating around, coming from both sides of that story. Dive and be happy. Live and let live. Should you come across anyone you do not feel comfortable with for whatever reason, either ignore them or engage in positive discussion. Keeping an eye on you fellow human being should go without question.

 

[Scott M]

I'm a little confused by the original story. So the tech gear made the guy a rototilling air hogging bad diver? Couldn't he have done all that in "standard" gear? I also think "hate" is a pretty strong emotion to have for someone that was just met because they have tech gear and don't know how to use it, there are plenty of divers out there with "standard" gear that have no clue how to use it either. I also don't "hate" instructors or DM's that might judge a person by the gear they dive but I do steer clear if possible.

Regards

 

[ianr33]

(and the other instructors I work with) really really hate. ..........That is why I hate people ........

A long post, but its something that I see on a weekly basis, and it makes me angry.

Dont be such a hater

So the guy was a jerk,but you're not sounding much better.

 

[Rick Inman]

I liked the story. Let's not ruin it by trying to figure out which parts really happened and which parts were colorful fiction.

I've got some stories, too. Stories about DMs who have thousands of dives drifting over the same warm, clear easy reefs every day, pointing out the same frog fish and sea horse, who come to our cold dark waters with their wetsuits and snorkels and after one dive, go hide under their beds and call for their momma's.

But I'm not the kind of guy who would post these stories on the internet. Instead, we just try to be a good host and treat them with respect and invite them to dive with us.

 

[PhilEllis]

Recreational divers + half-technical equipment setup - proper training = me shaking my head

So I'm a recreational dive instructor. In my work I mainly teach students basic courses like open water, advanced open water etc (and unfortunately far too many DSD's....).
But probably a much more amusing aspect of work for me is leading certified divers. I am always pleased to help people with little experience who are simply looking to learn something new, or people who struggle after having been out of the water for a while. At least they can admit to themselves and to me that they need assistance.

But then there are those who inform me just before I give the briefing that they are "very experienced divers". Those who don't want to listen to advice about dive site information, dive profiles, emergency procedures etc, because they know better and have heard it all before.

One such diver we had diving with us recently provides a particularly amusing example of the kind of tech-wannabe I (and the other instructors I work with) really really hate. I wasn't leading this particular diver but happened to be on the same boat, going to the same site and also (fortunatley to mine and my students' amusement) encountered him underwater.
Let me start with his equipment. I happened to sit near him on the boat and had lots of time to ask him about it. He was wearing a backplate and wing (made by OMS), with bungee-straps all over the place (half of them over the wing, the other half holding his array of gear in place). The wing was huge, with enough lift to raise the titanic. I asked him what it was for (does he dive with doubles and stage bottles), he said "no, only a single tank, but its a good jacket".
Strapped to the wing were weight pockets, filled with a ridiculous amount of lead (and i mean a lot, i had to help him lift all his crap onto the boat, i guess thats what all the lift was for...). He wasn't a big guy by any means and he was wearing a 3mm (plus a backplate...)
Attached to his leg was a knife the size of a samurai sword, and he had the biggest snorkel I have ever seen (on the wrong side of his head I might add).
So his regulator looked to me to be a pretty standard recreational setup, a short hose primary, octopuss style secondary, except he had two low pressure hoses going to the two inflators on his wing (as opposed to the one most of us have here for our BCD's). But now for the best part. He used the primary short hose regulator to breathe, and his yellow octopuss was held in place around his neck just below his mouth (where i believe you tech guys would normally keep your secondary air supply with the short hose). I asked him why his alternate air source was there. He explained that if his buddy ran out of air he would donate his primary and breathe from his alternate. I asked him if maybe he had the hose lengths mixed up and if he didn't think maybe it would be better to give the one with a longer hose to his buddy. His reply was a look of confusion. I told him never mind because we had arrived at the dive site, but signalled the instructor leading him to "watch him".
So halfway through the dive there is a little overhang along the reef where you can often spot a resident moray. As I approached the site, keeping an eye on my two students, ready to test their buoyancy skills when they were close to the sand looking for the moray, i saw a dust-like trail leading towards the spot. the trail became a big ball of sand and what i suspect was only minutes before living coral flying around the place. emerging from said ball was "Mr.-i-wanna-be-a-tech-diver", his fins trailing the ground, waiving his arms excitedly around at everyone. Hovering motionlessly nearby was the instructor leading the dive, looking severly pissed off. Luckily for everyone the offending diver ran out of air after 35 minutes at 14 meters, so he didn't completley destroy the dive site. The debriefing for my students consisted of "never become like that guy".
So after the dive I asked him how he thought it went. He boasted that it was nothing compared to the challenging diving him and his buddies did "back home" (I neglected to ask where that might be). I asked him what prompted his gear selection. He said he had read some stuff on the internet, and he quite liked the idea of tech diving and the equipment setup tech divers use. I ask if he has done any tech courses, or was looking to take any. He looked at me and said "well its mainly about the gear you use, you can learn the rest by yourself". I told him maybe he should look into some coures, and tried to send the message of the importance of proper training, but I know it didn't go in...
I ask my fellow instructor how many dives our friend has.
The answer - 40.

So that is why I hate people who read things online and think they know what they are doing. That is why I hate people using equipment they are not trained to use, or thinking that buying expensive stuff is going to make up for their inability to perform fundamental diving skills correctly. They give all divers a bad name, and unfortunatley a lot of them read info on tech diving and think they can buy some new gear and be a tech diver. I like the fact that everyone on this forum stresseed the importance of proper training to people considering going over to tech diving. Perhaps that guy could learn how to dive properly at 14 meters before he goes off deep and kills himself, or worse, someone else.

A long post, but its something that I see on a weekly basis, and it makes me angry.

Since you all hate to see this, maybe you could get your government to place a special notice on the ENTIRE ISLE they will occupy at DEMA this year, recommending that Americans and Europeans only come to Mexico if they have the proper dive skills, as measured by you and the other dive masters. Then you could concentrate all of your efforts on the remaining few who are completely squared away.

I don't know your situation, but I would expect that in this economy, you would be very grateful for any divers you can get. Remember, these people don't HAVE to go to Mexico with their average $2,000+ US dollars per person. They can dive somewhere else.

Phil Ellis