Reasonable jacket style BCD and reg set for teaching?

[edoralive]

Any suggestions on a reasonable BCD and reg set for pool/open water teaching?

I normally dive a BPW with a long hose and while I love it in the open water, it’s been a real bummer for dive master purposes.

I’d like to get both a BC and a reg set that are reasonable quality and that will be used exclusively in classes in both the pool and the lake.

Thanks!

 

[NorCalDM]

Question, what's the bummer about it. I use mine for classes all the time even when I'm the dead guy for rescue class. Teaches the students options. Now I do use a 40" primary under my arm not a 60 or 72" around my neck.

 

[Rob9876]

Great value, these are made by HOG/Edge and branded with the Divers Supply "Sea Elite" branding:

Buy Scuba Gear Value System Package at Low Price | Divers Supply

BEST Price and Quality on the Internet even includes a weight integrated bcd!

www.divers-supply.com

 

[Still Kicking]

Any suggestions on a reasonable BCD and reg set for pool/open water teaching?

I normally dive a BPW with a long hose and while I love it in the open water, it’s been a real bummer for dive master purposes.

I’d like to get both a BC and a reg set that are reasonable quality and that will be used exclusively in classes in both the pool and the lake.

Thanks!

It's probably an unpopular view here but if you are teaching through a shop, I think you should a brand they sell. DMs are role models and students will tend to emulate your choice of gear. Support the shop if you can

When I was teaching, I used a Titan reg. Ultra reliable and easy to pop off the cover and clear the second stage if needed. I never wanted to tell students, "Sorry we have to reschedule the dive because my reg is acting up today."

(I always had a backup with me but if you have to leave students waiting at the beach while you run back to the truck, it looks a tad unprofessional.)

 

[boulderjohn]

When I taught through a shop, I used the same rental gear the students used for the classes. It was good to be able to do my demos in the same gear they were using. Additionally, that was roughly the same kind of gear they would use when going on their first dive trips and using rental gear.

In the classroom sessions, I showed them the gear I used when I dived, explained the differences, and told why I preferred it.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

It's probably an unpopular view here but if you are teaching through a shop, I think you should a brand they sell. DMs are role models and students will tend to emulate your choice of gear. Support the shop if you can

When I was teaching, I used a Titan reg. Ultra reliable and easy to pop off the cover and clear the second stage if needed. I never wanted to tell students, "Sorry we have to reschedule the dive because my reg is acting up today."

(I always had a backup with me but if you have to leave students waiting at the beach while you run back to the truck, it looks a tad unprofessional.)

Bull crap. Unless the shop is going to give you the gear to use, anyone who has their own gear should use what they are comfortable in and familiar with.
I never made an assistant use something they didn't own. Instructors and DMs are not goddamn billboards for a shop.
Treating them like they are better involve some serious compensation and perks. Like free gear.
Classes and gear sales should be completely separate.
Why should someone who has gear they like, use regularly, and can explain the pros and cons of, have to get something to basically "fit in" with the shops bottom line.
What if the shop's line is overpriced and over engineered crap? I can think of several items by the "big" brands that look as if they were designed by someone who was never in the water.
Dressing pro's up like cheap mannequins to benefit the shop's bottom line, especially when they and the students really can't afford the items, is just plain greedy and unethical.
But then, shops have been told by some agencies that it's the way to do business.

 

[Still Kicking]

Bull crap. Unless the shop is going to give you the gear to use, anyone who has their own gear should use what they are comfortable in and familiar with.
I never made an assistant use something they didn't own. Instructors and DMs are not goddamn billboards for a shop.
Treating them like they are better involve some serious compensation and perks. Like free gear.
Classes and gear sales should be completely separate.
Why should someone who has gear they like, use regularly, and can explain the pros and cons of, have to get something to basically "fit in" with the shops bottom line.
What if the shop's line is overpriced and over engineered crap? I can think of several items by the "big" brands that look as if they were designed by someone who was never in the water.
Dressing pro's up like cheap mannequins to benefit the shop's bottom line, especially when they and the students really can't afford the items, is just plain greedy and unethical.
But then, shops have been told by some agencies that it's the way to do business.

Ok F the shop ... let instructors and DMs buy the gear they want and while they are at it let them buy a compressor, stock rental inventory, arrange pool rentals, buy their own insurance etc.

Of course the shop should help out active staff with discounts on gear. I never said they should pay full retail if it benefits the shop.

The antipathy for LDS reminds me of the old Python sketch:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D7Xad5Rl0N2E&ved=2ahUKEwiTzNDoj66AAxUDmmoFHX5SCRsQwqsBegQIHhAG&usg=AOvVaw1_de15yTjsR99Fyuyj1RUR

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Bull crap. Unless the shop is going to give you the gear to use, anyone who has their own gear should use what they are comfortable in and familiar with.
I never made an assistant use something they didn't own. Instructors and DMs are not goddamn billboards for a shop.
Treating them like they are better involve some serious compensation and perks. Like free gear.
Classes and gear sales should be completely separate.
Why should someone who has gear they like, use regularly, and can explain the pros and cons of, have to get something to basically "fit in" with the shops bottom line.
What if the shop's line is overpriced and over engineered crap? I can think of several items by the "big" brands that look as if they were designed by someone who was never in the water.
Dressing pro's up like cheap mannequins to benefit the shop's bottom line, especially when they and the students really can't afford the items, is just plain greedy and unethical.
But then, shops have been told by some agencies that it's the way to do business.

Jesus Jim!
Why don’t you tell us how you really feel, lol

 

[boulderjohn]

When I taught through a shop, I used the same rental gear the students used for the classes. It was good to be able to do my demos in the same gear they were using. Additionally, that was roughly the same kind of gear they would use when going on their first dive trips and using rental gear.

In the classroom sessions, I showed them the gear I used when I dived, explained the differences, and told why I preferred it.

I just want to add a little....

I did the above for two different shops. I left the first shop after they switched agencies and adopted the marketing suggestions of the owner of the agency.

They were told to focus their retail marketing on target pieces of merchandise that would bring the highest profit margin. They were to identify a BCD, fins, regulator set, computer--everything but the mask--that they would call their pro package and do everything they could to get students to buy those specific items.

The key people in this effort were the instructors. They were to purchase (at a discount) the entire pro package, and they had to wear that gear whenever they were in the presence of students. It was called their "instructor uniform." Not only that, they were to tell the students that they had chosen to purchase that gear because it was the very best, and as instructors they demanded the very best. Even though the BP/W (etc.) that I used in my own diving was sold by the shop and even on display, I would not have been allowed to tell students I used it if I had stayed. I would have had to tell them that I used the Aqualung Slingshot fins and the Cobra III computer because they were the best, even though I wouldn't dream of using them in real life.

 

[Tracy]

Ok F the shop ... let instructors and DMs buy the gear they want and while they are at it let them buy a compressor, stock rental inventory, arrange pool rentals, buy their own insurance etc.

Of course the shop should help out active staff with discounts on gear. I never said they should pay full retail if it benefits the shop.

Yep, did all that.