Jim,
As you can imagine, the class, and Kevin and my follow up practices and discussions, and this thread have REALLY gotten me thinking. (Oh, and thanks for the compliment) I am not going to JUMP to make a change, but I am seriously thinking about getting a second BCD. This Saturday I will try this BCD out with my drysuit in the pool and that will give me even more information about a decision. I also purchased both titanium EMT shears and the EEZYCUT trilobite. I might use the classic when I wear a 5 mm or less and use my new BCD for 7 mm or the dry suit ... though I am thinking once I get used to the drysuit, I might not use a 5 mm wetsuit or thicker very often. The point is that this class really woke me up. Do I feel stupid for never having really considered these issues prior? Yeah, kinda. But, so it goes. I am very glad to be alive and learning. Let me add that another BIG thing that came out of last week's practice was that I did not know how to manually inflate Kevin's BCD b/c the deflate button on his Zeagle has to be pushed right in the very center (and it is a large button) or it doesn't seal and the expirations just vent right out. We tested it in our house, after I failed to do it in the water, and was initially completely baffled and felt like a failure, only to learn that it is a little nuance that I had to discover, and that I did best pushing it with three fingers instead of one. That gave me confidence to experiment without writing myself off as too small/weak/incapable and I believe I will do a way better pre-dive check on both my own gear and Kevin's (or other buddies) than I ever had. That alone was worth the price of admission. I have a fantasy that someone will let me try and cut an old classic with the shears or trilobite. Any takers?
Amy