fnfalman
Contributor
There's no competition between NAUI and PADI divers.
NAUI divers are sexier by nature.
NAUI divers are sexier by nature.
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We wear drysuits to teach wetsuit-clad students. I don't think it's unreasonable. We tend to end up spending much more time in the water than any individual student does. It's also really important that we remain alert and physically capable during the entire dive day. (It's also true that neither of us OWNS a wetsuit suitable for Puget Sound.) I'd rather teach the students in dry suits, but not all of them want to pony up the extra money to do that.
I was thinking about the original question -- with the exception of their tech or cave diving certs, I have no idea WHAT agency certified most of my dive buddies.
I know exactly who you are talking about and he is very annoying. He has made a name for himself every place he has gone. Texas, Florida, California, Cozumel; he is plague that can not be cured. The best thing you can do is ignore him, and he will leave.
A lot is over doing it, maybe just little, but he is still annoying.
Last weekend he was out at Travis in his drysuit, and he was beet red. If you were Central Texas last weekend, you know it was hot, and my group of friends were out there for at least 3 hours. He never unzipped his drysuit. When I was leaving Windy Point, I was thinking to myself, "in a little bit the instructor, is going to have to provide medical assistance to his DM, because just passed out from a heat stroke."
You might be surprised, he is pretty clueless when it comes to people around him, but I will give him credit, he is book smart tho.
This particular person is on Scubaboard, and he goes by RAKPIX.
This. I'm a DM and soon-to-be instructor, and I use a drysuit most of the time for the reasons listed. Longer in-water comfort means that my head stays clear to be able to react to emergencies. I don't want my mind, reflexes or judgment dulled by cold just so I can "be like the students", (a practice BTW, that is over-emphasized, IMHO). I do however, layer my thermals appropriately, so I can approximate the chill factor for them.
I also dive a twinset (when in OW) to save constant tank-switches, more redundancy, and because, well, I REALLY like diving twins.
I took my OW through NAUI, but on the day of our final test my instructor, who also taught PADI offered the PADI card for an extra five dollars. All we had to do was learn the PADI tables. Years later, an instructor at the shop I worked at offered to take my then wife and me from OW2 through AI for only the cost of the books. We took him up on the offer, but it involved two years of helping with classes, helping him move from a two story house (twice) and house sitting his sock-eating dogs a few times.
He is book smart, yet socially completely inept.
Examples:
I was on a charter with lake travis scuba once with him. He was eating trail mix and had dropped peanuts and all over the boat floor and had them all over his body...when Robert asked him if any was getting in his mouth he blamed Robert's DM. I though that DM was about to choke him or bitch-slap him...too bad he held his temper.
Another charter ... he just walked to the gate of the boat and pisses all down the boat and all over himself due to the wind...
Another time he jumped off the boat with the camera in his hand with no light. For a night dive.
Being over 90min late for a volunteer dive at Aquarena
As the DM/tour guide at Aquarena, totally blowing the bottom with absolutely no control of his buoyancy. Nice way to set the example huh?
Informs out of state divers that can just show up at Aquarena center to dive for fun, without being in training or being a certified volunteer diver.
Banned from Tom's for buying a compass & taking out to put in a DSS mount and breaking it....this after being told not to do it b/c it would break then tries to take it back for refund/replace. Nice.
He can tell PSI of a tank by the way it bangs on the ground.
That is all I can think of off hand.
I have heard he's getting better too