SSI or PADI

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Do you understand that I am reporting what someone else said and not what I believe?
Well duh John! Lol. Whoever that person is, let me repeat myself, such a level of delusion blows my mind!
 
Well duh John! Lol. Whoever that person is, let me repeat myself, such a level of delusion blows my mind!
I was afraid you were talking about me.
 
I was afraid you were talking about me.
Nope. I'm no psychiatrist, but that's an interesting personality disorder that person has.

It is pretty obvious that PADI at least allows, encourages even, adding academic content that doesn't overwhelm students (interference theory that you have mentioned in previous posts). No skills can be required, as you stated in this thread.

The grey area is what happens if there is an incident DURING training where a student is injured performing an additional skill. But I'll wait to see the result of a court case, if one occurs. If an instructor is reasonable, and has introduced/taught neutral buoyancy, trim, finning, control, proper weighting (I mean truly proper weighting), I think overall the risks decrease and the likelihood of a reasonable additional skill would be quite low.
 
Interesting claim... I'm curious about the source. My experience is not consistent with this claim.
Just based on my personal experience at holiday dive centres and what I hear at my BSAC club and other local clubs. May well be different in the USA
 
My OW class was a gift so I didn't get to choose where I was certified or with which agency. My wife called every shop in the area and in the end went with the instructor that seemed the most hopeful and eager to teach me rather than someone spewing generic info or going right into trying to upsell her on extra classes or gear. That mean I got certified by SSI and I really enjoy it. I don't know about PADI, but the digital log is cool and makes it super easy to get info from dive buddies. I also really enjoy their digital learning materials and that I can do them on my phone on the go and then my computer when I get home.

As for the skills part, I felt 100% comfortable after my four required dives.
 
My initial open water cert was SSI but my training was NAUI...there is a story behind that.

Since then SSI has been bought by Mares and they have also stipulated that their instructors must be affiliated with a shop. The result of this is, in my observation, is that there is a heavy push to get open water students to by a full accompaniment of dive kit sooner than later and often the push is for them to buy Mares. The problem for this is that it is high pressure sales for equipment at a time when the prospective diver does not really know enough about what they want/need and to me that is a bit predatory. Other than that, there should be little difference between SSI and PADI with regards to the material covered in the classroom, pool, and open water environments.

Good luck with whichever organization you choose.

-Z
 
Since then SSI has been bought by Mares and they have also stipulated that their instructors must be affiliated with a shop. The result of this is, in my observation, is that there is a heavy push to get open water students to by a full accompaniment of dive kit sooner than later and often the push is for them to buy Mares. The problem for this is that it is high pressure sales for equipment at a time when the prospective diver does not really know enough about what they want/need and to me that is a bit predatory. Other than that, there should be little difference between SSI and PADI with regards to the material covered in the classroom, pool, and open water environments.
When the dive shop that employed me switched from PADI to SSI (before the sale to Mares), I sat through a week-long workshop presentation given by the SSI owner, Doug McNeese. The primary focus of that workshop was the importance of instruction as means of selling gear. When students signed up for the class, the person signing them up was supposed to try to get them to buy gear before the class began. As the class progressed, the instructor was supposed to use persuasive techniques to get the students to buy all their gear before the certification dives began. He also stressed the importance of having all instructors be seen at all times in the same gear--their "instructor uniform." The shop was to identify specific models of each piece of equipment for that uniform. Instructors were to purchase them (at a discount) and use them any time they were with students, telling them that as instructors they wanted to use only the very best equipment, so they had personally chosen all the gear they wore. The real reason for the gear choices was that by focusing on those models for sales, the shop increased its profit margins considerably.

SSI shops are not required to use those techniques, but the shop that employed me did adopt them. They identified the gear we would be required to use in instruction just before I left them. If I had stayed, I would have been required to use every one of those pieces of equipment and tell the students that I used that gear (except the mask) in my own diving because it is the best. That included the dive computer. In reality, the only item I would have used was the wetsuit. In fact , I would NEVER have used or recommended the fins, the computer, the regulator, or the integrated alternate air system. The shop sold every item I did use, but I would not have been allowed to tell my students that, because those items did not bring in the best profit margin.
 
When I was teaching at a shop via SSI, I didn't have to sell anything. I didn't have to use Mares. All my gear was mostly what the shop sold, and that's where it ended. When I taught at a different PADI shop, the owner was always pressuring students to buy before the first pool session in open water courses. It was a waste of class time, and I'd see my students eyes just roll back.

SSI does provide materials for encouraging students to buy.

It really comes down to the ethics of the shop owner/manager, not the agency. The more successful shops I've seen are low pressure, focus on building a relationships, creating an atmosphere where customers want to hang out and not where they feel like a mark as soon as they walk through the door.
 
There are accounts where SSI instructors were given direction to come up with vague reasons to drop students without refund who refused ti purchase gear from the sponsoring/supervising/associated shop.

I too have heard/read about the campaign/seminars that Doug McNeese gave directing shoos and instructors to use high pressure sales tactics to push for gear sales.

PADI on the other hand makes there money on the educational material they develop and publish...the material is required for the related course work and it goes in becomes ones reference library if they hang onto the material after the class it was purchase/use for. No predatory equipment sales.

-Z
 
There are accounts where SSI instructors were given direction to come up with vague reasons to drop students without refund who refused ti purchase gear from the sponsoring/supervising/associated shop.

I too have heard/read about the campaign/seminars that Doug McNeese gave directing shoos and instructors to use high pressure sales tactics to push for gear sales.

PADI on the other hand makes there money on the educational material they develop and publish...the material is required for the related course work and it goes in becomes ones reference library if they hang onto the material after the class it was purchase/use for. No predatory equipment sales.

-Z
When the shop at which I was teaching switched over to SSI, I met the regional rep along with the manager.

There was absolutely no pressure from him or any unethical suggestions.

I don’t know if or why my experience was unique. I teach independently now, so no longer under SSI. I have no skin in the game, but I’ve found their support to be excellent and also be ethical
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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