If you ever get to the east coast and want to train I'd be happy to take you on as a student. At a discount just for putting the screws to that guy!
Scuba Schools of America/Rusty Berry
- Thread starter Lina77
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Now go out and try again...don 't give up on Southern Californian diving.
Now go out and try again...don 't give up on Southern Californian diving.
OP
Lina77
Registered
I haven't completely given up...but definitely want to do the warm water diving first...
Lena ... I hope you do come out here to dive
Why I Dive in So Cal ...
Imagine your walking in a beautiful forest, trees all around you, the branches swaying to and fro in the slight breeze .. you come across a small glade, leaf dappled sunlight speckles the ground and creatures scurry here, and there, taking no heed of you,
....... now imagine that your weightless ...
... and flying between the trees as if in a dream ...
DB
Kelp Forest diving has always been my favorite. I have told non divers, many times, that they should imagine that they are in a great national park, with great trees and animals close by, and then the plus of being weightless.
Great picture. Where was it taken?
Great picture. Where was it taken?
fnfalman
Contributor
Kelp forest is what bringing me back to SoCal.
socalbajadiver
New
I taught SCUBA in the IE for many years. Rusty developed quite a reputation from very early on as an aggresive salesman. To learn to dive with Rusty, meant you weren't finished until you were an instructor. I'd have to say though, Rusty was one of my best salesmen. People constantly came to me to see what the competition offered after enduring one of Rusty's Orientations. I should really thank him some day, for all the business he generated for me.
I only personally dealt with him twice. Once he had, instock, a piece of equipment I had to have that weekend, and I had no hassles other than paying way too much for it. The other was in the 90's shortly after NITROX really hit the scene and I needed a fill. He was about the only place in the IE I could get a custom fill. I dropped two tanks to get 32% fills and when I went to pick them up, they were 36%. I told him I needed 32 and he told me 36 was better than 32! I told him 36 would potentially kill me why had he not filled to my request? He just kept telling me 36 was better. I finally grabbed one of his tables and showed him my inteneded dive profile and he finally relented and said "Oh yeah, you need 32%). But then I had to wait for him to remix it. Very annoying!
However, as it relates to this thread, which by now is well over a year old, You may wish to look into the following:
Back in the late 80's or more likely the early 90's there was a Female diver who he sold one of his programs lock-stock-and barrel too. This is going by memory, I was not involved, I did not know the diver, but it was common knowledge at the time, so take it as it is, and do more research into it if you like.
A young woman was interested in diving, but couldn't swim well. So Rusty sold her a DPV so she didn't have to swim. He was working with DUI at the time and told her she wouldn't fit into an off the rack suit, so she would need to order one of their custom suits (yes I know DUI doesn't do "Custom" suits, they do "Special Production, Signature Series, etc.) because California waters are too cold for a wetsuit. (Of course, SO CAL is where wet suits were born!) So she bought into everything for a pretty big chunk of change. (Sound Familiar?) She was ready to learn how to dive, but her suit was never in yet. After some time waiting she finally called DUI to find out, and it turned out he had taken her money and never placed an order. She gave them her measurements as they require them and it turned out she fit an off the rack standard sized suit. So appologies were made and she started her course. This is where my memory gets fuzzy so I won't make claims I can't swear by. The end result was she got seriously hurt primarily due to her inability to swim. Every agency out there has minimum basic swimming requirements set forth by the National Recreational SCUBA Training Council (now the World Recreational SCUBA Council WRSTC) to prevent this from happening. He blatently ignored the standards in pursuit of the almighty dollar. This is classic Rusty. I have met many of his followers who have been brain washed into "Safe Air is the only safe way to do a dive". Of course if it is "Safer than air, why does it require extra classes, equipment so you don't die by Oxygen Toxicity? I can go on and on, but in reality you are still bringing the nitrogen levels in your body to the same levels as with air, it just takes longer to get there, i.e. it extends your dive time. Ok went off on a tangent. Rusty has been around a long time. He runs a BUSINESS and lives for the almighty dollar! It is hard to make a living in the SCUBA industry as a retail facility and especially in this economy. I just don't agree with his sales tactics, and they haven't changed in the 20+ years I have been involved in SCUBA, with the exception of adding Rebreathers to his line. If you want a clue as to why SSI doesn't do anything about the complaints made, read his profile on his own website. His mentor IS SSI.
For those of you who question everything, yes this is a new profile. I can't remember my previous password and have changed email. The simplest and quickest way to remedy this is to start a new profile. No I don't post very often, as I go insane on this board with all the "Been diving a year or so, so now I can give expert opinion on everything written here" folks. Don't take my word for what I wrote. Divers Alert Network has the dive injury statistics and there was a lawsuit involving this woman. Do your homework. The law suit is most likely through San Bernardino County.
I only personally dealt with him twice. Once he had, instock, a piece of equipment I had to have that weekend, and I had no hassles other than paying way too much for it. The other was in the 90's shortly after NITROX really hit the scene and I needed a fill. He was about the only place in the IE I could get a custom fill. I dropped two tanks to get 32% fills and when I went to pick them up, they were 36%. I told him I needed 32 and he told me 36 was better than 32! I told him 36 would potentially kill me why had he not filled to my request? He just kept telling me 36 was better. I finally grabbed one of his tables and showed him my inteneded dive profile and he finally relented and said "Oh yeah, you need 32%). But then I had to wait for him to remix it. Very annoying!
However, as it relates to this thread, which by now is well over a year old, You may wish to look into the following:
Back in the late 80's or more likely the early 90's there was a Female diver who he sold one of his programs lock-stock-and barrel too. This is going by memory, I was not involved, I did not know the diver, but it was common knowledge at the time, so take it as it is, and do more research into it if you like.
A young woman was interested in diving, but couldn't swim well. So Rusty sold her a DPV so she didn't have to swim. He was working with DUI at the time and told her she wouldn't fit into an off the rack suit, so she would need to order one of their custom suits (yes I know DUI doesn't do "Custom" suits, they do "Special Production, Signature Series, etc.) because California waters are too cold for a wetsuit. (Of course, SO CAL is where wet suits were born!) So she bought into everything for a pretty big chunk of change. (Sound Familiar?) She was ready to learn how to dive, but her suit was never in yet. After some time waiting she finally called DUI to find out, and it turned out he had taken her money and never placed an order. She gave them her measurements as they require them and it turned out she fit an off the rack standard sized suit. So appologies were made and she started her course. This is where my memory gets fuzzy so I won't make claims I can't swear by. The end result was she got seriously hurt primarily due to her inability to swim. Every agency out there has minimum basic swimming requirements set forth by the National Recreational SCUBA Training Council (now the World Recreational SCUBA Council WRSTC) to prevent this from happening. He blatently ignored the standards in pursuit of the almighty dollar. This is classic Rusty. I have met many of his followers who have been brain washed into "Safe Air is the only safe way to do a dive". Of course if it is "Safer than air, why does it require extra classes, equipment so you don't die by Oxygen Toxicity? I can go on and on, but in reality you are still bringing the nitrogen levels in your body to the same levels as with air, it just takes longer to get there, i.e. it extends your dive time. Ok went off on a tangent. Rusty has been around a long time. He runs a BUSINESS and lives for the almighty dollar! It is hard to make a living in the SCUBA industry as a retail facility and especially in this economy. I just don't agree with his sales tactics, and they haven't changed in the 20+ years I have been involved in SCUBA, with the exception of adding Rebreathers to his line. If you want a clue as to why SSI doesn't do anything about the complaints made, read his profile on his own website. His mentor IS SSI.
For those of you who question everything, yes this is a new profile. I can't remember my previous password and have changed email. The simplest and quickest way to remedy this is to start a new profile. No I don't post very often, as I go insane on this board with all the "Been diving a year or so, so now I can give expert opinion on everything written here" folks. Don't take my word for what I wrote. Divers Alert Network has the dive injury statistics and there was a lawsuit involving this woman. Do your homework. The law suit is most likely through San Bernardino County.
Thanks for taking the time to post. I recently ran into one of Rusty's converts and I would warn they are more zealous/defensive than a GUE Fundies diver.
Where did you teach?
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