Since when did DM's and instructors become experts of everything.

[grouchyturtle]

TSandM - Great point! Expert in something, even a pro, doesn't necessarily mean you'll be good at teaching it. Perfect example: How hall of fame professional athletes turn out to be horrible coaches.

PatW - I think you're missing the point. You're talking about basic scuba skills. I'm talking about specialties where a lot the skills aren't even really scuba related.

 

[diver 85]

OP, you have it figured out----go to an expert when you want expert advise.....

 

[grouchyturtle]

Now if that same photographer knows how to teach and has prepared a photography class, I can likely learn the same amount in a few weeks instead of a few years. I know such an instructor/photographer, someday I may get around to taking his class.

Very true. I'll take C too.

I honestly don't see the point in such a class from anyone.

Agree! Just buy the damn scooter, read the directions, & dive.

I don't care where they dive as long as they are an instructor with a prepared wreck class and have considerable experience in wreck penetration.

This one was a joke. Everyone is wreck diver up there. And most of the recreational wreck classes don't deal with penetration anyway.

Needing a dedicated buoyancy class is evidence that the initial instructor didn't do his job in the entry level class.

Yet there seem to be SO many people in the water with horrible buoyancy.

 

[TMHeimer]

Sure a tech diver with lots of experience is almost certainly a better tech diver. But would that tech diver be better at teaching a bunch of rookies how to clear their masks than an instructor with 100 recreational dives? It is quite possible that a diver of limited experience would be a superb instructor of elementary skills. Teaching people how to learn elementary skills is a whole different skill than being expert at something.

I'm meaning the tech. diver would be a much better mentor one on one to help you with tech. diving. Best would be a certified Instructor who also is an expert tech. diver. Obviously a tech. diver with no Instructor training would be far worse than almost any Instructor in teaching an OW class. And he wouldn't be allowed to by the agency.

 

[Peter Guy]

IF DONE PROPERLY even the "boat diving specialty" can present the student with a lot of good information that he could get elsewhere but not in such a concentrated format. Within the PADI system, I think all of the "specialties" can be useful -- but they do require an instructor who has thought about what should be taught and not just turned on whatever electronic outline is there.

BTW, I took a DPV course and found it VERY enlightening -- from how to rebuild one's DPV to various methods for airsharing while scootering to understanding scooter dive planning. Again, IF DONE PROPERLY, any "specialty" can add tons of value and knowledge for the student.

 

[Wookie]

I saw an ad from an online retailer who had prominently displayed "All of our regulators are assembled by instructors" I chuckled to myself. I don't want my life support apparatus assembled by some idiot dive instructor. I'd rather take it to my mechanic.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

DM's and dive instructors are not experts on everything ... in fact, the best ones will readily admit that the more they know the more they realize they have yet to learn.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

I know a lot of stuff. Great. But I also am still taking courses to further my knowledge. The truly arrogant, and unintelligent are those who stop learning and think they are finished.
I learn something new every dive, every class. But OP, you have a point. I have watched many get that DM rating and then, they know it All. And some instructors are even worse with the giant ego. But keep remembering not to paint us all with that brush.
And what ad do you keep referencing?

 

[The Chairman]

People who know it all, really tick off those of us who actually do!

Not all instructors or DMs are created equal. Heck, I have even met regulator "experts" who had no idea on what an impact driver was and how it would take out a lot of stubborn stuck items. As Wookie said, many of us have extensive gear head backgrounds. Any auto tech who could rebuild an E2SE carb to factory specs can handle any piece of Scuba gear and better than most people employed as gear techs.

 

[wjefferis]

This is why it is important to ask question of your dive intructor you are planning on taking a class from. When I went to take my cavern class (and eventually intro to cave) I sent out alot of emails to instructors to find out their level of expertise. There are some "cave intructors" who can certify you by agency standards, but rarely cave dive themselves. By doing my research I ended up with a cave instructor who spends alot of time doing cave dives and could bring alot of first hand experience and knowledge above just getting agency standards. Always interview your instructors and make sure they frequently do the kind of dives or skills that you want to learn.