White lies told by your LDS when you first started

[Aquamaniac]

norcaldiver once bubbled...



And here's the PS: When my buddy comes up and just takes my reg out of my mouth with out the OOA sign, I grab it back and and grab his mask at the same time. Now I can back up while he flails. I regroup and give him my Alt. Then at the surface I comence to beating him.

Note to self...........Choose buddies in Northern California very carefully........

 

[SeaJay]

norcaldiver once bubbled...

When my buddy comes up and just takes my reg out of my mouth with out the OOA sign, I grab it back and and grab his mask at the same time. Now I can back up while he flails.

Oh, good idea!

Lemme ask you this... What if the person who's OOA isn't your buddy? Most charter boats have multiple dive teams on it... And lord knows that the most popular dive sites have multiple teams diving, too.

Do you push that person off and try to go and find their buddy for them?

A good buddy (me) will be watching my air guage and his, and he should be watching mine. We should know BEFORE the other is in trouble and be ready to assist, i.e. have the alt ready and out in front of him forcing it into OOA buddy's face as he comes up to us.

Okay, you and your buddy are doing a zero-vis dive for Megladon teeth in the Charleston harbor. You've been at 35 feet now for about 15 minutes... Quick... How much gas does your buddy have?

 

[SeaJay]

MikeFerrara once bubbled...

I was responding to a post that suggested that donating the primary was not consistant with recreational standards. I do all my diving and teaching using a long hose.

Whoops, my bad, Mike. Sorry!

Very cool that you teach donation of the primary... I wish that my instructor had figured that one out...

 

[redacted]

norcaldiver once bubbled...



And here's the PS: When my buddy comes up and just takes my reg out of my mouth with out the OOA sign, I grab it back and and grab his mask at the same time. Now I can back up while he flails. I regroup and give him my Alt. Then at the surface I comence to beating him.

That response seemed a bit odd, dangerous to both the OOA diver and yourself. Then I saw your occupation and it all made sense. Do you work for AOL by any chance?

 

[SeaJay]

The title of this thread has put this one song in my head... Now I can't get it out!

http://www.islc.net/~bayne/lwl.mp3

 

[raviepoo]

I admit that I'm full of it. I just looked it up. Although in practice I've only ever seen air sharing taught with a short hose, page 69 of the current PADI OW manual says,

"Depending on the alternate air source configuration, the donor (diver supplying air) may give the reciever (diver getting air) the alternate, or may give the receiver the primary air source (the one in the mouth) and switch to the alternate. The important thing is to agree upon the procedure before the dive."

Mike, do you teach everyone in the class to do the same thing, the same way, using similar equipment? Do you allow your students to use a short hose if that is the configuration they show to class with? I'm just curious.

I'm in the middle of the internship part of divemaster training and going through, "If you're going to work with us you should show up for pool sessions wearing gear that we sell at the shop." As much as I love the offending gear I admit that they have a point. They want to sell gear. They don't want me confusing their students with gear that the shop doesn't carry. I'm now trying to decide which fins to wear as LDS spokes-model.

The hippie in me thinks standardization is a bad thing, but I can see the virtue of uniformity in a class situation. So Mike, do you allow people to take your class in gear that they bought elsewhere? Do you have rental gear available for pool sessions? How do you handle the gear question?

MikeFerrara once bubbled...


I'm sure you already know all about PADI's take on it but there is nothing in PADI OW or AOW standards that specify hose length or which reg is donated. The point is there is nothing in the standards that prevent an instructor from teaching air sharing one way or the other. I was responding to a post that suggested that donating the primary was not consistant with recreational standards. I do all my diving and teaching using a long hose.

 

[Genesis]

I'm in the middle of the internship part of divemaster training and going through, "If you're going to work with us you should show up for pool sessions wearing gear that we sell at the shop." As much as I love the offending gear I admit that they have a point. They want to sell gear.

If you're an instructor or divemaster, then you're not a salesman.

If you're a salesman, then you are asking students to choose HARDWARE along with INSTRUCTORS.

If you want to do that, don't be surprised if the hardware the students choose comes from LP, and they don't choose your shop either!

This is an extremely short-sighted practice - although a very common one.

 

[raviepoo]

It may be short sighted, but I have no power to change it. And I certainly don't want to offend the shop.

They are a great shop actually. That's why I chose them to do the divemaster cert. They aren't nazis about selling gear. They don't force people to buy gear from them in order to take the classes. And they have never given me an ounce of attitude about servicing my gear, most of which came from Leisurepro.

I wouldn't have any hesitation about suggesting a friend of mine buy gear from them. They provide customer service that LP does not. I have ended up hating a few things I've bought from LP. I used them once, and hated them. I was stuck with them though, because they were used. If I had bought them at the LDS I could have swapped them for out for something that suited me better.

I really don't have a problem with the LDS wanting anyone representing them to wear the gear that they sell. It's a competitive marketplace, especially in NYC where it's easy for a customer to leave your shop and take the subway to Leisurepro's show room.

Genesis once bubbled...

This is an extremely short-sighted practice - although a very common one.

 

[Genesis]

especially the view that "everyone who represents us should be wearing our chit."

If it doesn't come with the rest of the usual BS on pushing hardware, then its not that big a deal.... my experience though is that it usually does - which is unfortunate.

 

[MikeFerrara]

raviepoo once bubbled...

Mike, do you teach everyone in the class to do the same thing, the same way, using similar equipment? Do you allow your students to use a short hose if that is the configuration they show to class with? I'm just curious.

Most student in an OW class are using my equipment. We bungie the alternate and donate the primary. If a student has their own equipment of a different configuration they can use it. We demonstrate more than one methode and attempt to show students why we use and recommend what we do.

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