2airishuman
Contributor
This is mainly meant as food for thought for instructors and others involved in the process of training, equipping, and enculturating new divers.
Many of you are experienced enough that you may no longer have vivid memories of what it was like to be new. Some of you were perhaps never new having grown up on or in the water and never having had the experience of seeking out open water training. And what it means to be new varies over the years and from one area to the next. This post is my summary of what it's been like to be new.
I've lived most of my life in Minnesota, a state with more miles of shoreline than any other state, but with a short summer. Despite all the lakes there are fewer than a dozen that are widely regarded as having good diving. The average rec diver here dives one or two weeks a year while traveling to warmer waters. Beyond that, there are a few people who pursue relatively rugged dives -- freshwater spearfishing, ice rescue, and wrecks in the deep, cold waters of Lake Superior. There are around a dozen full-service dive shops in the state plus a few that don't have a regular retail storefront.
I decided to learn to dive and called around before I discovered SB. I tried to ask questions and evaluate shops and instructors.
Observation 1. The shops I spoke with work with multiple instructors. It is not possible to "interview" the person who will be teaching, at any shop I contacted.
One of the things that I did not realize until after actually starting my training is that a few area shops have in-house swimming pools while most do not, instead relying on public school, YMCA, and other public facilities. Scheduling is a constant problem for shops that do this, as is hourly cost, leading to my next observation:
Observation 2. When taking OWD instruction or other classes that involve use of a pool, it may be best to use a dive shop that has an in-house pool.
The shop I originally worked with no longer conducts classroom sessions. They steer all students to the PADI on-line training. Other shops offer both. Where available, classroom instruction is cheaper, and provides access to an instructor for questions. It also allows the classroom sessions and dives to alternate so that each skill is taught in the classroom just before it is practiced in the water. In my situation the on-line training would have been preferable, but potential students should realize that:
Observation 3. It may be necessary to call several shops to find classroom training instead of on-line training.
I ended up at a PADI shop more or less by accident. There are a number of required add-on charges that PADI shops impose that I have since learned are not universal, among them: The C-card fee, the purchase of an expensive PADI dive log book, and the purchase of an RDP. These three items alone total over $100. For classroom a hard-copy book and a DVD may also be required.
Observation 4. When comparing classes, the difference in add-on fees can be significant.
When I started snorkeling a year or two ago, I went to a local dive shop and tried on every mask in the store, with assistance and useful advice from the proprietor. I ended up with an XS Scuba "fusion," certainly nothing unusual or fancy, because it seemed to fit my face best. After I signed up for the confined water dives, the shop running the class asked me to come in with my gear so they could evaluate its fit an suitability. They didn't like the mask's fit, even though it's one they sell, and steered me to another mask, which I didn't think fit much better. In any case I had snorkeled enough to know my mask was going to work for me, and we eventually arrived together at the conclusion that it was best for me to keep what I have.
Observation 5. Even the best shops are in business to sell gear. Caveat emptor.
My confined water dives were with a shop that also offers TDI courses, something I'd looked for since I was trying to get a more analytical, "thinking diver" approach to the activity. But the OWD instructor assigned to me, though very good at teaching basic skills, had no background or interest in tech diving. I asked questions about gas planning and rock bottom calculations and he looked at me like I was from another planet and said his usual approach was to end a dive at 500-600 PSI. Therefore I observe, at the risk of overgeneralizing:
Observation 6. Few OWD instructors take a thinking, analytical approach to diving.
Even in a relatively short span of time, I've accumulated my gear from a variety of sources:
- Used fins, boots, and an AL-80 from craigslist.
- New mask and snorkel from the LDS.
- Used backplate and wing from ebay.
- Weights and belt from Mako.
- Regulators, computer, wetsuit, and other new gear from a variety of on-line sources including some of the SB favorites and some of the places we all love to hate.
I've kept a spreadsheet, and maybe I'll post it at some point, though I can't make all the prices public. The upshot of it is that I've ended up with gear that I'm really happy with for around $1600. Getting everything at the LDS would have cost more and I would have got lower quality gear.
Observation 7. Shop carefully and consider all options.
My backplate came with a Dive Rite harness that I didn't like. I put together a Hogarthian harness and fitted it myself. It took me all afternoon, and I think most people would have given up or sought out hands-on assistance. I used to backpack, and the Hogarthian harness feels much more natural and free to me than the poodle jackets that I'm convinced I've made the right choice. Still,
Observation 8. Most casual divers will never have the patience to assemble a Hogarthian harness.
My confined water instructor had an Air2 and, when I asked, said he only added the octo to his rig for the class. This varies locally from shop to shop as the other PADI shop I had spoken with in detail taught primary donate with an Air2. While I'm not going to claim to have enough experience to have an opinion of my own, I will observe that:
Observation 9. The industry ought to be able to do better, on the whole, in consistent instructional standards for OOA that match what divers do in the real world.
Many of you are experienced enough that you may no longer have vivid memories of what it was like to be new. Some of you were perhaps never new having grown up on or in the water and never having had the experience of seeking out open water training. And what it means to be new varies over the years and from one area to the next. This post is my summary of what it's been like to be new.
I've lived most of my life in Minnesota, a state with more miles of shoreline than any other state, but with a short summer. Despite all the lakes there are fewer than a dozen that are widely regarded as having good diving. The average rec diver here dives one or two weeks a year while traveling to warmer waters. Beyond that, there are a few people who pursue relatively rugged dives -- freshwater spearfishing, ice rescue, and wrecks in the deep, cold waters of Lake Superior. There are around a dozen full-service dive shops in the state plus a few that don't have a regular retail storefront.
I decided to learn to dive and called around before I discovered SB. I tried to ask questions and evaluate shops and instructors.
Observation 1. The shops I spoke with work with multiple instructors. It is not possible to "interview" the person who will be teaching, at any shop I contacted.
One of the things that I did not realize until after actually starting my training is that a few area shops have in-house swimming pools while most do not, instead relying on public school, YMCA, and other public facilities. Scheduling is a constant problem for shops that do this, as is hourly cost, leading to my next observation:
Observation 2. When taking OWD instruction or other classes that involve use of a pool, it may be best to use a dive shop that has an in-house pool.
The shop I originally worked with no longer conducts classroom sessions. They steer all students to the PADI on-line training. Other shops offer both. Where available, classroom instruction is cheaper, and provides access to an instructor for questions. It also allows the classroom sessions and dives to alternate so that each skill is taught in the classroom just before it is practiced in the water. In my situation the on-line training would have been preferable, but potential students should realize that:
Observation 3. It may be necessary to call several shops to find classroom training instead of on-line training.
I ended up at a PADI shop more or less by accident. There are a number of required add-on charges that PADI shops impose that I have since learned are not universal, among them: The C-card fee, the purchase of an expensive PADI dive log book, and the purchase of an RDP. These three items alone total over $100. For classroom a hard-copy book and a DVD may also be required.
Observation 4. When comparing classes, the difference in add-on fees can be significant.
When I started snorkeling a year or two ago, I went to a local dive shop and tried on every mask in the store, with assistance and useful advice from the proprietor. I ended up with an XS Scuba "fusion," certainly nothing unusual or fancy, because it seemed to fit my face best. After I signed up for the confined water dives, the shop running the class asked me to come in with my gear so they could evaluate its fit an suitability. They didn't like the mask's fit, even though it's one they sell, and steered me to another mask, which I didn't think fit much better. In any case I had snorkeled enough to know my mask was going to work for me, and we eventually arrived together at the conclusion that it was best for me to keep what I have.
Observation 5. Even the best shops are in business to sell gear. Caveat emptor.
My confined water dives were with a shop that also offers TDI courses, something I'd looked for since I was trying to get a more analytical, "thinking diver" approach to the activity. But the OWD instructor assigned to me, though very good at teaching basic skills, had no background or interest in tech diving. I asked questions about gas planning and rock bottom calculations and he looked at me like I was from another planet and said his usual approach was to end a dive at 500-600 PSI. Therefore I observe, at the risk of overgeneralizing:
Observation 6. Few OWD instructors take a thinking, analytical approach to diving.
Even in a relatively short span of time, I've accumulated my gear from a variety of sources:
- Used fins, boots, and an AL-80 from craigslist.
- New mask and snorkel from the LDS.
- Used backplate and wing from ebay.
- Weights and belt from Mako.
- Regulators, computer, wetsuit, and other new gear from a variety of on-line sources including some of the SB favorites and some of the places we all love to hate.
I've kept a spreadsheet, and maybe I'll post it at some point, though I can't make all the prices public. The upshot of it is that I've ended up with gear that I'm really happy with for around $1600. Getting everything at the LDS would have cost more and I would have got lower quality gear.
Observation 7. Shop carefully and consider all options.
My backplate came with a Dive Rite harness that I didn't like. I put together a Hogarthian harness and fitted it myself. It took me all afternoon, and I think most people would have given up or sought out hands-on assistance. I used to backpack, and the Hogarthian harness feels much more natural and free to me than the poodle jackets that I'm convinced I've made the right choice. Still,
Observation 8. Most casual divers will never have the patience to assemble a Hogarthian harness.
My confined water instructor had an Air2 and, when I asked, said he only added the octo to his rig for the class. This varies locally from shop to shop as the other PADI shop I had spoken with in detail taught primary donate with an Air2. While I'm not going to claim to have enough experience to have an opinion of my own, I will observe that:
Observation 9. The industry ought to be able to do better, on the whole, in consistent instructional standards for OOA that match what divers do in the real world.
