The Truth Is Out There...

[helliott]

Very refreshing post, Popeye. I'm just starting back after 20+ years dry, and at almost 68 years of age. From reading many of the threads on this board, one would think that the state of training was as bad as it was in 1971, when I was originally certified.

We certainly didn't have to deal with the numbers you do now, but none of us had the training we should have had. It was largely OJ.

I'm glad I decided to do the basic course again, Maybe that, alonside the 15 years of previous experience will make me a suitable diving companiion fr dive-boat trips. There weren't as many of those around in 1985 when I quit diving, but I'm looking forward to the experience. after reading your message.

 

[Uncle Salty]

I just found this board and registered. I was the guy that borrowed the gloves. My wife and I have less than 20 saltwater dives each. I enjoyed the Nitrox discussion with Popeye and appreciate him helping me gain a better understanding of my new computer. Thanks Popeye, hope to see you again when we dive with reef-divers next year.

 

[MikeFerrara]

I was out diving all last week also. I didn't see a single diver have any kind of problem and I saw some fantastic buoyancy control. I did see some equipment configurations that don't suit my tasts but all seemed to function well for the diver. I also had the chance to watch and talk to some divers with far more experience than I have (something I aleays enjoy). Of course I spent the week in Florida caves. Not only is that my prefered type of diving but it's my refuge from the recreational diveing industry and the reason I keep diving. But...next week it's back to the quaries. It will be a silted out mess. As much as I love to teach I just can't look foreward to it. Some of my students will be so unimpressed with the poor vis they'll never dive there again. Now...if I could take them there on a Wednesday instead of on the weekend they would see a whole different site.

I guess because of the business I'm in I see all the worst. I talk and write about it because I think it needs talking about.

I had a prospective student in last night to talk about an Advanced Nitrox class. He told me about an instructor he's been diving with lately who keeps loosing his tank. At least once it was in the middle of a dive and things got a little busy, LOL. Great example some set. Is it a system wide problem? You could argue that, but I do see some problems with standards. One example is that you can become a PADI instructor with only one dive below 60 ft and then take a diver on their 5th dive ever on an AOW deep dive to 100 ft.

Yesterday I was reading through the training standards so I could answer a question accurately. After you've been teaching a while you commit the mechanics of the standards to memory but forget the exact wording. Anyway, it cought my eye that displaying good buoyancy control isn't a requirement in three of the four OW training dives. That means that technically it's within standards to have student crawl their way through the class. Some take advantage of that and no corrective action is taken.

IANTD standards read a bit differently and the wording is much stronger concerning the skill level required of students. I don't know if the application is better though because we don't see many IANTD OW classes.

The divers who want to will become good divers regardless of standards or their instructor's skill. In fact they could do it without ever taking a class. I don't see that as an excuse though.

Is it a safety issue? I think it is sometimes but lets face it you can drop to the bottom, wallow in the mud for a while and then crawl back up a line an probably not get hurt.

I have some video of diving in various places that has been given to me by former students after their trips. I would asume that the divers represented in the video are a pretty average cross section. I guarantee that if this diving took place at a silty site that it would have been a total wast of time to try to take video. Nobody died but it's pretty disgusting to watch anyway.

After dealing in the industry for a while my solution is to distance myself from the recreational dive industry as much as possible. The decission makers and powers that be have fallen far short of earning my respect. I question their skill, knowledge and most of all their intentions. The goal is to fill resorts and sell equipment by whatever means are required. We measure quality on a curve where good enough is anything that doesn't kill too many.

 

[PhotoTJ]

Unfortunately, the teeming masses that want to dive are the reason so many good dive destinations have opened up at reasonable prices. If it weren’t for the rec. dive industry, can you imagine what it would cost to take some of the trips that are common now?

Equipment? How much would be do it yourself?

If there were no one teaching rec. scuba, in this day and age, how many of us on the board would be diving?

Deaths ratio? I suspect that not significantly less would die diving, because there would be no one teaching, as a result, stupid people would still try it. With no training, said stupid people would die.

I like some things about the industry, and I dislike some things about it.

It's a twin edged sword, as always.

 

[Dyno Bill]

Popeye, it sounds like you had a good trip. I have done tons of dives and not seen anyone having any problems worthy of notation. There is always the guy that cant keep his mask dry or the diver than cant quite stay down with boyancy difficulties. I usually carry a couple of ankle weights on my rig to donate in a pinch but overall in my yrs in the water I'v done 4 rescues and was present for 1 coast guard evac. so overall its a pretty safe place to spend a Sunday. I got all my kids certified and their all still here.

 

[detroit diver]

On the other hand, can you imagine what the reef in (insert destination here) would look like if the masses hadn't pounded them to oblivion with poor technique? More is not better in this case.

PhotoTJ once bubbled...
Unfortunately, the teeming masses that want to dive are the reason so many good dive destinations have opened up at reasonable prices. If it weren’t for the rec. dive industry, can you imagine what it would cost to take some of the trips that are common now?

Equipment? How much would be do it yourself?

If there were no one teaching rec. scuba, in this day and age, how many of us on the board would be diving?

Deaths ratio? I suspect that not significantly less would die diving, because there would be no one teaching, as a result, stupid people would still try it. With no training, said stupid people would die.

I like some things about the industry, and I dislike some things about it.

It's a twin edged sword, as always.

 

[MASS-Diver]

How many people have died on the Grove so far?

 

[H2OHead]

Colton once bubbled...
How can you 100 divers on one dive site and not 1 of them having problems. That is amazing!

I think we all know how this happened. It was GUE demonstration week and they invited Popeye along as a DIW demo (since he’s PADI). Clearly that’s the only explanation for so many folks diving and surviving.