Wow !

[diver0008]

For me, the big take away from this is a modified quote from Dirty Harry: A diver's got to know his limitations.

For me it was turn off the damn camera and take care of yourself!

 

[diver0008]

He's used to being out of control, because he's never mastered it in the first place.

Prophetic.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I disagree with this. These poor skills have been around since the beginning of dive training. I was diving throughout the seventies and saw the very same thing. In fact, when I bought my first set of fins, the big selling point was that I could kick the crap out of the reef and not hurt the fins. We were expected to have poor buoyancy. Extending the training, might have helped with confidence, but the divers of old still had a steep learning curve in regards to getting control of their diving. It's my opinion that the emphasis on neutral buoyancy is stronger now than it's ever been. It's not enough. Too many instructors are still clinging to the past. They still kneel, they still do fin pivots and they wait to introduce buoyancy at the end of the class if they ever really teach it at all. They haven't evolved out of the dark ages of Scuba. They haven't revolutionized the process. As a group, we need to reinvent this wheel and make it balanced.

Do you see what I'm getting at? The industry needs to adapt a new standard in how we teach Scuba. Short isn't bad if it's due to efficiency. I've seen people fall asleep in the pool they're so bored waiting on their instructor to teach. A crappy mechanic takes ten times longer to do the same job as a great mechanic. Only it won't be quite as thorough or last as long. So speed isn't as much of an issue as is changing how all of us teach buoyancy aka control. A diver in control won't have those white knuckles to begin with. That's more to do with methodology than time.

I think pin point skills and comfort in the water are two different things which circles may overlap somewhat. I know that back in the day there were terrible divers as far as bad habits go, kicking the crap out of the reef, some had dismal buoyancy skills because of no BC's etc. I know all that. But because of the way they were trained whether you agree with the methods or not, they were more comfortable because they ran them through the mill. Also, if a diver couldn't handle all the drills, swimming, calastenics, etc. they were excused. Now days they've made it almost fail proof. Divers really have to suck bad not to pass. After all, nobody wants to be a family vacation and dream wrecker, but back then they didn't give a damn, if you couldn't do it you didn't pass, sorry.
I agree that skills training can be streamlined to be very effective in the time given, but I'm not sure comfort training and acclimation can be.
Some things just can't be fast tracked.
I've always advocated for people interested in scuba to spend some time snorkeling and freediving first. But many/most think this is rediculous and just want to get to the good stuff.
The problem I see with guys like this and so many others is they believe they have a license to go out and do anything they want because they don't have a clue about what they don't know or the skills they don't have.
For instance, what would have happened to this guy if somehow his mask came off during the time he was unsuccessfully trying to clear it? He would have probably freaked and bolted. An old school trained diver would have just put it back on and cleared it because he had it ripped off his face a dozen times already in training so it would have been no big deal. He also would have known how to clear a mask properly or he wouldn't have passed the class and therefore wouldn't have been there in the first place to have that happen. And then of course all the rest of the stuff.

 

[Shotmaster]

When selfies are dangerous.

 

[The Chairman]

I think pin point skills and comfort in the water are two different things

I don't see my students as having my proficiency. I can adjust up and down an inch or two pretty effortlessly through years of practice. They can stay within a foot, maybe three. The basic skills are there: trim, breathing control and the beginnings of awareness especially in regards to thrust and Archimedes principle. Pin point control only comes with practice and it's outside of the scope of my class. I'm no wonder instructor and these are simple principles to teach. But the instructor has to see the science, not attribute it to voodoo and they have to actually teach it. It's apparently not as intuitive as it should be and the student shouldn't have to go through 100 dives trying to figure it all out.

I agree that skills training can be streamlined to be very effective in the time given, but I'm not sure comfort training and acclimation can be.

I've had lots of instructors say the very same thing until they tried it. Start with trim and buoyancy rather than end with it. I do a few minutes in the kiddie pool with their mask, but on Scuba, trim and buoyancy are the first skills they must master. Comfort or acclimation as you put it, fall right in line with their ability to be in control. I haven't had a bolter (panic swim to the surface) in ten plus years. All the other skills, from mask clearing to R&R the scuba unit are built on that foundation of the student remaining neutral. Once you eliminate the anxiety of being out of control, learning is pretty darned quick because it's focused. It takes me less time, make that far less time when I put control first and not simply leave it to last or even worse: chance and those first hundred dives.

The problem I see with guys like this and so many others is they believe they have a license to go out

At least one agency calls the CCard a "license to learn" and they've given birth to almost all the other agencies. I'm not a fan of epic length classes. There's no way a student can retain that much information or master that many skills and those kinds of classes are usually boring as heck. I've heard of students falling asleep in class and that means they aren't being challenged. However, basic control is not that hard and it actually makes a class easier to teach. Picture a competent diver: poised, in control, aware of their surroundings, their buddy and ready for minor inconveniences. That's my goal. I'm trying to groom them to the point that they can start their cavern class shortly after they finish OW. BTW, I think cavern should be the class divers take right after AOW. @NWGratefulDiver puts it best: He's trying to create a new dive buddy.

 

[Diving Dubai]

All good points.

I come across lots of divers on the commercial boats, who hit the sites the same time as we do. We refer to them as the "circus". Unkind I know. I do have a huge amount of sympathy with the guides/instructors on these 2 tank trips. The punters turn up slap their cert card and log books down with their heady 30-50 dives and want to go diving.

The shop take the money and hands them off to the boat guides.

We all know these people are over weighted. no doubt they get asked what weight they need, often the guide will no doubt question it. But I'm sure everyone here has seem how people cling to their weights as a comfort blanket - even if you try to persuade them they don't need that much, they'll hang on like a lion with a fresh kill.

So last week we were first on a site, a sunken barge sitting in 30m of water, a favourite with the Circus's as it's close to the hotels. We were first on the buoy so the commercials tied up behind us. As we were getting ready to drop one guides came past and we exchanged friendly banter with her. Her group were huffing and puffing along the boat lines against the small surface current.

When we rolled in, her group were still on the line, clearly she was making adjustments to them, and we carried down. The dive was okay, you have to watch out if you're near the line at the circus group will kick you on their descent as they don't have the mental capacity for situational awareness, its all focused on fining and breathing. Again you can see them going around the wreck skulling and cycle kicking.

The Guide had her hands full with one of the group holding on to his inflator hose.

After a while they departed and we also started our lazy ascent. Because they would all be on the line we just ascended close to it. Near the SS I saw the Guide had her hands full with one of the group on her octo (normally they lie about their consumption during the dive)

At the SS I could see the rest gripping the line tightly, fining heavily and clearly not looking happy. My guess was, they because they'd descended in current, they thought there would be some on the line (mental capacity full)

I took it on myself to help out, and hovered next to the group getting their attention. when I asked if they were okay, their shaky reply signaled they weren't. All I did was demonstrate I wasn't holding the line nor going anywhere, calmed them down and encouraged, assisted them to add a bit of air to their jackets and relax. As the guide came up we'd all completed our stops and We surfaced together.

All that was needed for the group was some reassurance because the guide was pre-occupied they felt all alone.

These guys don't dive enough to have any skills, their brain is fully occupied with diving. Hey we've all been there right? So anything I can do to help and make them feel at ease may rub off. Perhaps next time they won't feel so out of their comfort zone, or even learn something. I'd do the same for anyone, because I'm damn sure people did the same for me when I was a newbie

 

[Dizzi Lizzi]

All that was needed for the group was some reassurance because the guide was pre-occupied they felt all alone.

These guys don't dive enough to have any skills, their brain is fully occupied with diving. Hey we've all been there right? So anything I can do to help and make them feel at ease may rub off. Perhaps next time they won't feel so out of their comfort zone, or even learn something. I'd do the same for anyone, because I'm damn sure people did the same for me when I was a newbie

Super nice of you.

 

[dberry]

I wonder who edited this video? Until near the end I assumed the footage was from the GoPro recovered with the body. Did this diver proudly post his video somewhere, and then someone else added the text? And did I miss the part where the experience / qualifications of the dive "team" were mentioned? Which would be worse? If they were just out of OW, and chose this wreck for dive #10, or if they've been diving for years and have dodged bullets by the grace of god for hundreds of dives like in the video? Stupid is as stupid does.

 

[Dan]

In all of my 11 years of dive trips, we usually start with a check dive on the 1st dive to see if our dive gears work the way they are supposed to, including buoyancy control, right weights to have, etc. I got the impression that these guys skipped this important step.

 

[LarryHinDC]

That guy should never have dived with a camera. He was so obviously task-loaded even clearing his mask (one-handed!) that he should have just put the camera down. What do you think they learned nothing from this experience?