"Is a BP/W too confusing for new divers?" and related topics...

[Captain Bil]

OP: Bravo for y'all. For some reason I could never fathom, posting nearly any sort of accomplishment here brings out the sanctimony in some folks. I for one think your diver looks very good in the water. Better than many I've seen with years of experience. For example, go to Vortex or Morrison any weekend and check out all of the yahoos standing on the bottom.

FWIW, I am an independent instructor with limited student gear. I have several BC's in a few sizes and a couple BP/W's. My students learn in what fits them best. And my wife, who is also learning this summer, has only ever used a BP/W. As any of my student BC's gets retired, it is replaced with a BP/W.

Keep up the good work.

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk 2

 

[rongoodman]

I wish I would have looked that good after dive 50, let alone dive 5.

 

[supergaijin]

So many likes on this thread!

 

[chrpai]

Don't be so sensitive people. It looks really good. It just doesn't look perfect. Dive 5... I get it. But if we get so sensitive that we can't say anything then it's a slippery slope back to oveweighted divers on their knees.

 

[gekodivebali]

Wait a minute, that guy is considering an AOW course and he does not carry a ding-ding rod? Outrageous!

 

[gypsyjim]

I wish I would have look that good after dive 50, let alone dive 5.

Amen to that!

As one who originally trained with no BC, I have simply never understood the argument about BCD vs BP/W. They are the same damned thing folks. Just variations on a theme, and basically do the exact same job.

Sure there are some subtle differences, and here taste, goals and training step in. Why on earth would it be any harder to train a beginning diver in a BP/W than in a BCD? Seriously.
It is not the BP/W that makes a good diver, or the BCD that makes a bad diver. A diver without good control is a bad diver in either type of buoyancy control device, and a good diver can be in control with either one, or even without any buoyancy device at all.

As for trim and buoyancy, I agree that they should be taught right from day one for all students, no matter what gear they train with, instead of kept as if they were a secret ritual that only the few who know the secret handshake, and buy the "special gear" are allowed to learn.

 

[Lorenzoid]

After seeing that YouTube video promoting the GUE Recreational Diver 1 course, I have been totally persuaded that new divers are capable of learning this stuff if given enough time and good instruction. I almost feel ripped off by my relatively shoddy OW instruction (now years ago, but nonetheless ...).

 

[NightForce]

Looking at those divers for what they are which is freshly minted divers, they look fantastic in my opinion. Its not fair to try and pick apart those students as if they are super pro mega cave diving DIR experts. I would love it if all of the students at my local diving spot looked that good. Then maybe I would not have a pile of divers that never look down as the descend landing on my head and kicking me in the face during my dives.

 

[doctormike]

+1 For Wayne and for RJPs post... as one of his students, I can vouch for his skills as an instructor!

He worked me over pretty well on the last dive of a recent wreck course (blackout line exit from overhead, crossed lines, OOA buddy, free flow backup with post shut down, etc...), but it was terrific, and I know that having his name on a cert card means a lot.

As far as gear goes, it seems like every thread here that starts with "I'm a new diver, which BC should I get?", ends up with a bunch of posts that say "yeah, I tried this and that and I ended up with a BP/W and I would never go back to a jacket".

So the question is not why does Wayne train OW divers in a BP/W, but rather, why doesn't everyone else?

 

[gypsyjim]

I see those pics of newly minted divers, and I am amazed. It shows what a caring, thoughtful Instructor can accomplish in a very short time if he or she chooses to.

Near the end of a dive on Bonaire a few weeks ago, my friends and I stopped and watched in amazement as a group of about 8 "divers" fumbled along, kicking up the bottom, and kicking and running into each other, with absolutely no control or sense that "trim" even exists. We literally froze in place, and let them pass by our group as if they were the Key Stone Cops on parade.

You can bet that these divers see themselves as experienced divers, and have C cards to prove it, as well as a fair number of dives under their belts. In a way, it is not really their fault, because whoever taught them simply failed to teach them anything at all about trim or true buoyancy control.