Question Teaching OW with backplate and wing from the very beginning ?

[Roger Hobden]

Should and could OW courses be taught by all dive agencies to all novice students using a backplate and wing from the very start ? Pros and cons, apart from the obvious major economical impact on the companies that produce BC gear.

EDIT: "Should" in the context of my question implies that use of B/W would be the default equipment for the teaching of the OW course for all existing dive agencies: PADI, CMAS, etc.

 

[Robert H. Diver]

Should and could OW courses be taught to all novice students using a backplate and wing from the very start ? Pros and cons, apart from the obvious major economical impact on the companies that produce BC gear.

I don’t think it should be mandatory, but if your instructor dives one and is comfortable teaching you in one it shouldn’t be a problem.

 

[Imla]

it is absolutely not a problem to do it.
Several diveschools in Norwaay teach open water in drysuits and BPW from the first pool session.

 

[tursiops]

Should and could OW courses be taught to all novice students using a backplate and wing from the very start ? Pros and cons, apart from the obvious major economical impact on the companies that produce BC gear.

No reason not to except for cost, logistics, and inertia.

 

[DanBMW]

I don't see any reason to change from the standard BC arraignment as it it fine for the majority of divers. What % of new divers go on to Advanced and then Rescue? Probably not many..

 

[Roger Hobden]

I don't see any reason to change from the standard BC arraignment as it it fine for the majority of divers. What % of new divers go on to Advanced and then Rescue? Probably not many..

Better trim and buoyancy = more confident divers = more students doing AOW and Rescue.

 

[boulderjohn]

I know some shops that do it, but I do not see this as a serious possibility in any way.

• Not too many years ago, a major shop owner wrote that industry statistics indicated that BP/Ws accounted for about 1% of annual sales. I suspect that number has risen, but that is still for most people an unusual configuration, to say the least. I live in Colorado, which annually has among the top 3 states in terms of certified divers per capita, and I only know of one shop that stocks BP/Ws. The shop I used to work for did not when I was employed as their tech instructor. The owner could not be convinced that people would buy them, so my students had to special order them.
• Most agencies try to be as agnostic as possible in terms of equipment requirements so that participating shops could use their judgment for what they want to sell. Any agency that tried to require such a wholesale change for instruction, would be immediately dropped in favor of an agency that lets the shop use what it wants.
• Who would order this requirement? Who has such power?

 

[boulderjohn]

Better trim and buoyancy = more confident divers = more students doing AOW and Rescue.

With proper instruction, students can finish the OW class with good trim and buoyancy and be totally confident with any gear.

 

[LeeIom]

Bpw - I would of loved to of started diving with that would of saved me £££’s but there’s a time and a place for both I feel, the standard bcd aslong a you get the correct size of the shelf ( jumper size ) the rest of the adjustment is easily done and you have nice big padded straps, chest strap etc and it’s a lot quicker setup and multiple different people can use in a day I still use both twin 12s for boat a a single 12 300bar with bcd for shore dives although I am looking at getting twin 7 300s for shore dives as it will be on less reg set to service and save messing about with a cam band !

 

[Cthippo]

This may become more normal as people get larger. I am 6'1" and 320 and they don't make a lot of gear in size extra fat-ass. I learned on BPW and it is all I have ever known.