Sidemounting kid with 4 tanks, NO mask and NO fins...

My 16 year old Sidemount student....yeps, he did fine.
It was a long course and a lot of time in the water..in the end backkicking without a mask, without fins :blinking: with 4 bottles was easy easy..for
a 16 year old ;-)....so no more excuses..
ADVANCED DIVING SKILS BY 16 YEAR OLD SIDEMOUNT DIVER - YouTube

It is the training and not the sidemount configuration !

So what are you looking for...applause? You are already defending yourself..

---------- Post added September 20th, 2013 at 11:37 PM ----------

Would I put my 16 year old son, or if I had one grandson, through that? What the hell for? What are you trying to prove?

I can tell you that as a 16 year old I would have killed to have that kind of experience with my dad. My dad would take me rock climbing and motorcycle riding, things most mothers wouldn't allow, and I loved it! Nobody had anything to prove, and we had a good time doing things we loved. Dad loved teaching and I loved learning. The only thing I was "put through" was a great time with my dad. I figure there are worse things to be than proud of something your son did too...

What agency/sidemount course includes a combined no-mask/no-fins propulsion exercise? And what the heck would they hope to achieve by doing so?

It's good your kid/student has some confidence and control in sidemount - but drills should have a valid purpose...and definable goals.

As for configuration versus training.... there is no 'versus'... both have to be effective.

An aside: I see a 'UTD' logo on the video. This is a four-tank training dive... so I assume it is, at least, the 'Essentials of Tech/Cave/Wreck Sidemount' class. The age prerequisite for that class is 18. This illustrates a monumental breach of agency standards - I thought UTD was claiming some reputation for safe dive training?

denisegg:

So what are you looking for...applause? You are already defending yourself..

---------- Post added September 20th, 2013 at 11:37 PM ----------

Would I put my 16 year old son, or if I had one grandson, through that? What the hell for? What are you trying to prove?

Click to expand...

I would and did.
My son and daughter were fishing with me since they was 3 and knew enough about how to behave from the boat or bank to be safe.

My son was diving to 30' at 8 years old, and was fully skilled to do so. He was writing DOS program at 8 and publishing educational games in Compute Gazette by the time he was 12. I got him his first 22 caliber rifle when he was 10 and he hunted with me. I got him his first shotgun at 12 and he can hit birds I can't. He is not a genius or he would have excelled in school, but is very organized and deliberate in the things he has interest in.

I allowed my daughter to work professionally in Milan Italy as model when she was 15. She kept her studies up through University of Kansas foreign studies program and summer school when she came home. She is also not a genius, but very organized and deliberate in addition to having a major type "A" personality.

Almost all of the time, we work with limitations that have been imposed on us by others, rather than exploring what limitations we have and working around them. I have had both my grandsons under water and have another one with excellent competitive marksman skills - he is 10. All 3 of my daughters children have been alpine skiing since they were 4, we all ski together now. I'm working on my sons boy now, just as soon as he can walk, run and talk.

Bluemed, dont let these other comments get you down.

I can see Andy's concerns with standards and Denise's concerns with Owen's well being. By the looks of things I am guessing you are just trying to make him more comfortable and that these are not UTD training dives? By the looks of things he is having fun!

I did my Tec50 on sidemount when I was 19 dork2 but it looks like your son is going to blow me away! Great trim, good buoyancy control and nice fin kicks...what is a father to do but be proud?! Like someone else mentioned, I would have LOVED if my parents were so involved in diving. Sadly my dad isn't but I get to show him videos of all my adventures. Give Owen a pat on the back from me, I'm sure we will be hearing more about his accomplishments in the future!

Lol! I suspect that some people are jealous of Owen's skills and your ability to teach them! Awesome for any age.
I'm surprised that there's negative feedback, considering the person doing the critiquing. All he has to do is look at his own videos to see bad technique and teaching.

To be fair, I'm not a fan of the UTD sidemount system, but I am a big fan of the skills demonstrated by your son. This is a video that can be used to show proper buoyancy and trim, proper propulsion, and how to do a proper S-drill. Well done!

Impressive. <facetious font>: But a weight belt instead of an integrated BC weight system ? - how old-school. Will you be getting a lot of age-related negative comments like the 9-year-old diving thread ?

It does come across that this post could be a bit of a troll but I don&#8217;t think that was the intent and none the less the video says a lot, well done to Bluemed on a good end product, his son looks a hell of a lot better than most of the sidemount divers I see and he deserves credit for that.

Let&#8217;s all remember most standards are there for either safety purposes or to give minimum standards to be applied in the training. Most good instructors go well over and above these minimum standards without breaching the safety standards.

Does use 4 tanks in shallow water breach safety standards?
Not in my mind, if the student is capable and supervised.

Does it go above the minimum standards?
Yes.

Is that a bad thing?
No, it&#8217;s actually a very good thing.

Skills such as no fin back finning and skills without a mask are actually very good to build multi-tasking abilities and techniques. Keeping awareness during multiple problems tend to be a skill hard to promote while sticking directly to standard course outlines.

With regards to which is most important, the training or the equipment I&#8217;d have to agree with the training. That said if you use the right equipment it makes the learning a hell of a lot easier and actually allows the instructor to give better information to their students, particularly on gear configuration.

Hi guys
Wow
Not bad but my daughter who is 14 can do the same with 6 tanks and with a knife between her teeth
Is this becoming a pissing contest
(and please give me a break with your gun references...)