Agency Bashing

[Lawman]

Repent all you PADI struggling sinners!!
Save yourselves from bad bouyancy while you can!!
You're sinking! Sinking!!
Come to me and I'll save you from inferior PADI
training!! Quickly before it's too late!!

I think I've walked past this soapbox before.

 

[MASS-Diver]

I'm always up for some PADI bashing.

I'm one of those love the sport hate the industry kind of guys. Maybe if PADI didn't exist less twice a year vacation divers would get to trash coral reefs, but, I don't think it would really effect me that much.


Here's the main example that everyone cites as to why PADI is so hated. In the early 90s PADI went of record extolling the evils of NITROX: it was a dangerous vodoo gas that would lead to hundreds of rec divers dying, no, PADI would never teach NITROX.

Then of course,a s everyone knows, their marketing guys realized that resorts could make all sort of cash using NITROX to get tourisst in the water 5 times day. All of sudden NITROX was safe for your grandmother.

If you really love the sport, you really have to hate the industry.

Also, they pay their instructors crap.

 

[bwerb]

MASS-Diver once bubbled...
Here's the main example that everyone cites as to why PADI is so hated. In the early 90s PADI went of record extolling the evils of NITROX: it was a dangerous vodoo gas that would lead to hundreds of rec divers dying, no, PADI would never teach NITROX.

Then of course,a s everyone knows, their marketing guys realized that resorts could make all sort of cash using NITROX to get tourisst in the water 5 times day. All of sudden NITROX was safe for your grandmother.

Same with Deep Air diving...president says RUN DON'T WALK from anyone wanting to extol the virtues of deep air diving...then lo and behold...DSAT comes along and realizes that there is money to be made from those tech diving folks...now deep air is just fine...in fact it is REQUIRED to get your RecTec cert.

Next up...helium based gasses anyone?

 

[Allen42]

I didn't know PADI had anything to do with dictating instructor salaries. I thought most, if not all, shops didn't pay instructors much, regardless of agency.

Shoot, I thought there wasn't much money to be made in diving, period. You know the old "how to make a million in diving..." adage. The best thing most instructors get is the reward of seeing new student's faces when they start feeling comfortable and having fun! I thought that and a few shop perks is about the best most of these guys get, unless there's a secret society of highly-compensated intructors out there that I've never met.

So does PADI have some influence over salaries, or is it market-driven, like many things?

 

[concollective]

MASS-Diver once bubbled...
I'm always up for some PADI bashing.

I'm one of those love the sport hate the industry kind of guys. Maybe if PADI didn't exist less twice a year vacation divers would get to trash coral reefs, but, I don't think it would really effect me that much.


Here's the main example that everyone cites as to why PADI is so hated. In the early 90s PADI went of record extolling the evils of NITROX: it was a dangerous vodoo gas that would lead to hundreds of rec divers dying, no, PADI would never teach NITROX.

Then of course,a s everyone knows, their marketing guys realized that resorts could make all sort of cash using NITROX to get tourisst in the water 5 times day. All of sudden NITROX was safe for your grandmother.

If you really love the sport, you really have to hate the industry.

Also, they pay their instructors crap.

Hark! It's the sound of someone not getting the point!

The posts had all taken a healthy turn -- even the curmudgeonly Mike Ferrara had sort of given his sour rant a rest -- then MASS-Diver had to stoke the fire again. Sigh.

Just playing a bit rough with you, MASS-Diver. Actually, it was an interesting story about PADI.

 

[diverbrian]

MASS-Diver once bubbled...
I'm always up for some PADI bashing.



Here's the main example that everyone cites as to why PADI is so hated. In the early 90s PADI went of record extolling the evils of NITROX: it was a dangerous vodoo gas that would lead to hundreds of rec divers dying, no, PADI would never teach NITROX.

Then of course,a s everyone knows, their marketing guys realized that resorts could make all sort of cash using NITROX to get tourisst in the water 5 times day. All of sudden NITROX was safe for your grandmother.

Actually, that was a trade-off. Without nitrox, the dive boats could get the divers out of the water more quickly and do more trips out because the divers could not get the bottom time on straight air as they could on nitrox. Try doing four dives a day all day like we did in Canada without nitrox. The boat made more money doing two trips instead of renting the boat out to eight or nine guys with doubles all day like they did.

Oops, I didn't bash an agency or shut up and dive!

Uh-oh, I am violating this thread.

By the way, the pirate guy and motorcyclist have my vote, too!

 

[jonnythan]

I might be a little late here..

But the only agency I see regularly bashed on SB for no good reason is GUE.

 

[diverbrian]

jonnythan once bubbled...
I might be a little late here..

But the only agency I see regularly bashed on SB for no good reason is GUE.

The only bashing that I see of GUE is brought on by the doing of the people that are GUE and fail to recognize that not everyone wants to be told exactly HOW to dive.

GUE and DIR has my respect and a great deal of it. The skills development involved in their brand of diving is second to none. But, many of us are not interested in the apparent belief that the "enlightened are the only ones that know how to dive and the unenlightened aren't worthy to listen to except to convert them." This would only appear to be extremely prevalent among a few members, but the words of those members show up in most peoples minds more prominently than the few more humble words of the majority.

I am more impressed by the humility of many of my instructors from other agencies than I am by the "my way or the highway" philosphy that I see in the posts by many DIR/GUE instructors. This is not bashing GUE. This is just saying that much of the attitude that I see from many (but certainly not all) of their members is not for me.

Rephrased, if someone that dove with this agency wanted to dive with me, I would gladly dive with them. I am just with the group that doesn't care to be preached to. Excuse me if that is bashing GUE. That is not my intent. I am bashing the more self-righteous members of that agency, not GUE when I post.