Instructor BCD? What not to buy?!

Ok i have been diving for 3 years now as a Divemaster and always used a wing, i am now moving on to instructor and have been told a by a few that wearing a wing BCD is a bad idea (Hollis HD100) due to not been able to show skills properly - but i have never struggled..?

Whats the world for instructors?!

What do you use?

To wing or not to wing that is the question?!

Take one out of the rental fleet... No sense beating up personal gear in the pool.

I use a BP/W and a seven foot hose. Thats also what I put my OW students in. I think that its the best setup out there so why not start them off that way? I do show them a jacket style BCD as well but after explaining the benefits of a BP/W Ive never had a student ask to use a jacket.

I use my BP/W for checkouts. In the pool I use one of the shops pool BCD & regs...the only thing of mine that goes in the pool is fins, snorkel, & mask.

I used BP/W.

I swear by my SeaQuest Pro when assisting or teaching students in the open water. Lots of lift, lots of places to put stuff, and it is a jacket style, which i like for trim and hoveing over a back inflate type bcd. It is also big and heavy, so I do not take it on scuba trips for fun- for that I have a SeaQuest Balance, of which I am also very fond.
DivemasterDennis

Are you working for store or as an independent?
If a store what is their policy?
Many require you to wear "inline" gear. If your BC is inline, wear it.
My preference is to wear rental gear in the pool and my personal gear for open water.


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+1 Wear shop's rental gear in the pool.

if you have a BP/W wear it at least one day on an OW dive to show the students what is else out there. Thinking from a student's point of view, I want to learn as much as possible about diving that is why I took the class. Some will be interested and some won't, but at least for the ones that are interested you showed them both a jacketed BCD and a BP/W.

thatdiver:

Ok i have been diving for 3 years now as a Divemaster and always used a wing, i am now moving on to instructor and have been told a by a few that wearing a wing BCD is a bad idea (Hollis HD100) due to not been able to show skills properly - but i have never struggled..?

Whats the world for instructors?!

What do you use?

To wing or not to wing that is the question?!

Click to expand...

As a matter of practicality I teach the skills in the OW course using gear similar to what the students learn in. The reason is that it's important for them to become familiar with their OWN gear, not the gear that I'm wearing. I have a modeling role in that, which should be taken seriously for learning purposes.

It would just be weird for me to have to tell them, "ok, I'm going to show you how to do X... but when you do it then you'll have to do it differently than I do".

I think I've seen it all...
- trying to teach snorkel/regulator exchange when instructor didn't have a snorkel,
- trying to teach drysuit venting and other related skills when the instructor is not in a drysuit,
- trying to teach OOA protocol using a long-hose when the students have to do the skill in gear with a short hose,
- trying to teach weight belt R&R under water when the instructor had integrated weights or wasn't wearing a weightbelt at all
- the list goes on.

Gents, if you're teaching remember *one* simple thing and you'll answer all these little ethical questions for yourself.

It's
all
about
the
students

Get that right and everything falls into place.

R..

when you instruct for a shop they will want you in whatever they are selling, plain and simple.

like you I intended to go for my IDC sometime this winter/spring and will do it in my rec winged BCD. after that I will use whatever the shop gives me to use for classes. it's part of the business.

DM T.


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