Horrible Divers Everywhere?

[RayfromTX]

He had photos of people out of trim that he used as examples of what we should strive for.

 

[MichaelMc]

He had photos of people out of trim that he used as examples of what we should strive for.

I’m sure. Just if the abc-agency.com web site says 20 degrees with photos it makes pulling that off a bit harder.

Even harder if the student materials say it.

It will not stop the “I don’t care, just give me a card” case. But in your case it seems like having it in the student manual would have let you call BS on your instructor.

 

[Ayisha]

+1. And maybe it falls under the umbrella of situational awareness, but I'll add: good buddy skills, when applicable.

Agreed.

 

[ScubaWithTurk]

One thing that I find that helps that we can all do, instructor or not, is to be a good role model and mentor. Let new divers see that there's something to aspire to in their control in the water, their buoyancy, propulsion, trim, and situational awareness. They will take notice, and you might just see them try to imitate, creating an immediate difference. They might ask how to improve their skills, and that's a great opportunity to mentor them and possibly suggest an instructor that you trust.

I have mentored some divers and am mentoring someone this summer that initially took notice on an LDS trip and is now pursuing further training. It doesn't reach the masses like training, but at least it can make a difference to one or more divers at a time.

I agree with you about being good role models. I do a buddy check on every dive and I have noticed that on boats, people tend to follow that lead. I know someone who has thousands and dives and never does a buddy check unless they are teaching. However. anytime I am on the same boat and do a buddy check, this person then does a check with their buddy. So I know being a role model works.

I would also suggest we, as a generic whole, are more open to allowing new divers to come dive with us. Granted this does not solve the DC issue I believe we need to focus on but stick with me here.

When I was a new diver, fresh from my OWC, I had a hard time finding dive buddies. I was very upfront about my gas usage and very few wanted dive with me. I get it, who wants to take the time to get geared up and go dive only to do a 25 minute dive because some new person is an air hog. Yet, if we as role models were more open to diving with them, we would be in a better position to help them. This is where being a mentor really comes into play. Rather than having been told no, I would have loved to have had someone say "I can't dive with this Saturday because me and my usual dive team are diving, but if you want to dive on Sunday, I would be happy to go out with you even if the dive is short because any dive is better than no dive". This would have given me a chance to have help working on things much sooner.

I LOVE diving with new divers. Sure, the dives are shorter sometimes but being able to give them a few tips, and then to see them put them into practice is a great feeling. I had made a few friends at the DC I used to work for by doing just that. New divers come, certified and don't need a pro to buddy with, but I go anyway. It created loyal customers and also developed into friendships that I am lucky to have.

 

[Fastmarc]

When I was learning, the language was to be in trim (horizontal) when fining. 45 deg. was acceptable when not fining as long as you were neutral and not fining to stay in place. Apart from the few shore dives we did infrequently, most of our dives were from small fisherman's boat which were not anchored, so we had to from day one learn how to be neutral at our safety stops.
Through exposure here though, I saw the merits of being horizontal all the time especially since I'm the type of diver that don't like touch anything intentionally and especially accidentally. I am horizontal all the time, but it does hurt my neck when I angle my head to look straight forward for too long. That makes sense though as it would be like you standing up and looking straight up into the sky for extended periods. That's just not a natural position for the neck to be in. Since it is now difficult for me to be in any other position other than horizontal, I mostly keep my head at 45 deg, but even with that I still experience some pain after a couple of dives. Some people may have this issue (I've seen others post here saying so), so may choose 45 deg. trim when not moving.

 

[Marie13]

I didn’t lack for dive buddies. I’ve tried to pay it forward. However, there are two local divers (married couple) who I met through a regular buddy that are so bad that I refuse to dive with them anymore. The couple screams at each other, which is the primary reason I’ve washed my hands of them. Their diving is bad and they don’t even attempt to improve. They’re egg beaters and think they’re da bomb since they’ve only ever dove with DMs on vacation, except for occasional quarry dives with us more experienced folk. I’ve mentioned them before. Wife wants to do Lake Michigan just for the experience. Told her flat out I won’t dive with her and there will be no DM to lead her about by the nose.

 

[AdivingBel]

Meh...it's all relative. I try to keep my perspective. I'm a "tidy bowl" diver, so supposedly (according to SB ) I should see the worst of the worst. Sure there are occasional bad apples, but for every bad diver I see tens if not hundreds of perfectly adequate divers. By perfectly adequate I mean "no drama," good enough buoyancy not to imperil themselves (no sawtooth profiles), and respect for the environment (stay off the reef). We can all wish for perfection and hope to improve, but some aren't "wired" that way for whatever reason. As long as they maintain the above, dive and let dive. It's supposed to be fun. All IMHO, YMMV.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

I agree that many aren’t wired that way. A buddy of mine is 15 minutes late to everything. He is incapable of fixing that.

Not everyone is obsessed with diving. Some are just doing it casually and have no interest in improving.

Still others are incapable of self reflection and consequently have a distorted view of their own performance. This is prevalent in the work place too, not just diving.

A pet peeve of mine is dangling consoles and seconds. Just this past weekend, I saw a diver walking to the water with both the console and octopus both hanging straight from the first stage, swinging behind her as she walked. It’s highly unlikely her instructor didn’t go over that.

 

[NAUI Wowie]

Well, my training by NASDS in 1968 was good enough to get me thru 50+ years of diving, so far.

My over priced PADI AOW card was just to mollify charter boat ops in other areas. I slept during the class room, but did enjoy the dives they were all boat dives to cool dive sites, it was however much more than a charter would have been. The instructor did manage to teach me something even though I've been diving longer then him. He showed me how to use garden washers on the posts for the spring straps on my Mares fins. A very expensive tip.
The extremely over priced nitrox card is among the most useless money I've ever spent on diving.

ok so you are basing the cost on your memory of 1960s pricing. THAT explains everything.

I get it...in the early 90s i could buy a house in san jose CA for $110,000 ...now that same house is about 1.5 million dollars. Literally.

based on THAT an AOW card should probably cost you about 5 thousand dollars.

if you are as old as you say you are you should have perspective on costs and inflation. I know I do and im no spring chicken.

 

[NAUI Wowie]

With all the hating and mass killings going on, and all the poorly trained divers, this is a much better time than the 1960's?

there was more violence back then just no cell phones or internet to advertize the fact. that and presidents getting assassinated with everyone pretending they dont know what happened....yea..... much kinder gentler less violent time the 60s compared to now......