Sdi

[saying]

I'm thinking about defecting.

I loved my open water class and have nothing but good things to say about my open water instructor. The curriculum on the other hand...

I took open water through PADI and while I'm eager to up my experience and credentials I find myself far more attracted to the SDI curriculum run by another shop than the PADI "five dives and you're advanced" approach.

I'm kinda dogged here because of the four LDS in reasonable driving distance two are PADI, one... the dude there rubs me wrong, and the last (the one I am taking the most fondness to) is SDI.

This seems to be a smaller cert agency and I can't find much conversation about them, so I was fishing for opinions and experiences on SDI's actual course content vs. PADIs.

 

[Drew Sailbum]

SDI is the recreational arm of TDI.

One significant difference I am aware of is in the open water course. SDI does not necessarily require teaching dive tables. Their OW course can be completed using dive computers only for dive planning. (Of course, individual instructors may teach tables in their OW course).

Later on, SDI also has a solo diver certification which PADI does not.

If the new shop works for you, go for it. Usually, you will learn more in an environment that you feel most comfortable in.

 

[Diver0001]

saying once bubbled...
I'm thinking about defecting.

I loved my open water class and have nothing but good things to say about my open water instructor. The curriculum on the other hand...
<snip>

As a general rule you should look for an instructor you trust and then see what he's teaching...... If the SDI instructor is the best one in your area you're probably best off there.

On the other hand, I associate SDI with Bret Gilliam (who I cynically call "Dread Gilligan"). You might want to read some of the things he's written before you decide.

R..

 

[MHK]

Diver0001 once bubbled...


On the other hand, I associate SDI with Bret Gilliam (who I cynically call "Dread Gilligan"). You might want to read some of the things he's written before you decide.

R..

Check the archives of when he was technical dive editor for Rodales and wrote the colum about it being OK to have a few beers before you dive.. The other one that bugged me was when he said if you can't dive to 180' on air then you have no business trying it on Helium.. And then of course the now infamous Wah Wah article.. Scan those before you make your decision..

Later

 

[Diver0001]

MHK once bubbled...


Check the archives of when he was technical dive editor for Rodales and wrote the colum about it being OK to have a few beers before you dive.. The other one that bugged me was when he said if you can't dive to 180' on air then you have no business trying it on Helium.. And then of course the now infamous Wah Wah article.. Scan those before you make your decision..

Later

The beer article bugged me too. So did the one about air being so expensive that you should plan on using it all and surfacing with an essentially empty tank.

R..

 

[MikeFerrara]

I'll bet Rodales made him write all that stupid stuff. Their still doing it too. They ran a heck of an advertising campaign for his new solo diver course.

The next time I have to rescue an sdi solo diver I'm sending him a bill.

 

[wrongkey]

Mike Kane's points are good ones, but I would suggest finding out the attitudes of the specific SDI/TDI instructors you are considering and not dismiss them en masse because of some major silliness being spewed by the agency's founder. The TDI/SDI instructors that I am personally most familiar with would have exactly the same opinion about deep air and a little boozing before diving that he does. I've never heard of the Wah Wah article referenced, but I assume it's more of the same macho stupidity.

 

[MHK]

wrongkey once bubbled...

I've never heard of the Wah Wah article referenced, but I assume it's more of the same macho stupidity.

It was an article authored by Bret circa 1993 in the old Aqua corps Journal. I don't have the link handy, but here some excerpts from the article describing a 325'+ dive, done on air with the AL 80 bailout bottle attached via a telephone cord:

"As I was going up, passing 325 feet, I heard this noise wah-wah-wah-wah-really loud. It really scared me. I didn't know what it was. I could not see my hand on the cable. All I could see was my gauge. Everything else was black.

Joe Odom says when you hear that noise, you've been ****ed up on air, you've been deep on air. It's called the "wah-wah."'

My advice, and I have no intention of turning this into a SDI bashing thread is to consider that the leadership starts with the top, and if the leader is advocating drinking and diving publicly, if the leader is advocating 325'+ solo air dives using bailout bottles attahced by telephone cords, if teh leader is advocating putting weights behind your knees so when you pass out your body will float up to the support team, you may very well want to consider an association with that agency..

Just my thoughts..

Later

 

[Otter]

As usual, its all about the instructor. I remember when I had my AOW cert that I basically got nothing out of it...The instructor (actually a CD) took us on the DEEP Dive to the Yukon and when his wife/Asst. Instructor had some type of problem, he/she left us. Thankfully, I was very comfortable in water and just finished the dive and ascended on the anchor chain/line. There were actually 4 of us and we all knew each other so it wasn't a big deal.

Now when I teach an AOW, I go out of my way to add as much VALUE to the class as possible. In addition to following all of the PADI standards, I spend a lot of time briefing, debriefing, supplementing the information; I do all dives with the students (vs. indirect supervision allowed) unless they really prefer otherwise (sometimes an experienced diver is getting an AOW on the way to DMing or instructing) and I keep the class size to 2-3. I don't make as much $$, but I enjoy it more and I think they get more out of it.

Bottomline: As has been said before, select the instructor and not the agency.

Otter

 

[MarcHall]

And why is it all about the Instructor and
not the agency ?

Seems like the agencies have let us down and failed to support quality standards and enforce quality control standards.
Somethings wrong in Denmark or Orange County, CA and Colorado and Tampa Florida.

My recent SSI crossover was an afternoon lecture and a takehome exam. Oh I purchased the instructor manuals and I assume will pay an instructor fee at some point.

My recent GUE crossover consisted of completing Tech 1 (5 days) , completing Cave 1 (5 days) , a minimum of 3 interns of GUE Fundamentals (2.5 days each, actually assisted at 8 and assisted at 2 Tech 1s, an RB80 course and a Rec Triox), a 7 dive ITC and a 3 day IE. And a $100 instructor fee.




Marc Hall
www.enjoythedive.com
march@gue.com
PADI 8540 (Inactive)
NAUI 5017
SSI ???
GUE Recreational Instructor