NSS-CDS Effectiveness

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

MANY

Really??

 

[CptTightPants21]

Do any of you think the CDS does a poor, dangerous job of training divers to dive in caves? @tbone1004 @rjack321 @rddvet @CptTightPants21 ?

The snarky answer is I don't think the CDS is responsible for the any of the good or the bad divers that go into caves with NSS-CDS cert cards. I don't know any CDS instructors that only teach for the NSS-CDS, therefore it is hard to lay blame (or credit).

The issues with the Apprentice Program that were touched on a little bit earlier aside, on paper, the CDS is on par with the other agencies and their in-water implementation of those standards is about on par as well. The problem is that the NSS-CDS doesn't really view itself as a 'on par' organization so it either needs to accept that reality or fix itself.

I have recently been taking a lot of newer cave divers on dives (combination CDS/IANTD)....there have been a lot of low viz exits. They are loosely 'fine' on main line Ginnie, but when you go into something a little smaller like Hill400-Parallel Lines or Double Lines or some stuff in Madison.

I understand lack of experience, these are newer cave divers, etc. As someone who mentors A LOT of divers, it's more silt than a whoopsie.

I have a hard time blaming the newer diver, after all, they just completed Apprentice and Full with an instructor, they seem to be 'taking the right steps', but something needs to be corrected/tightened up in that pipeline because you certainly don't see ALL of these issues with Cave 1 divers out of GUE, let alone Cave 2.

 

[tbone1004]

Really??

well, not really since the CDS has an irrelevant amount of cave instructors, but like I said earlier in the thread, about 15-20% of them I would classify as poor cave instructors depending on how I'm feeling that day and if someone asked me about taking a course with them I would recommend them go elsewhere. These are the same instructors that have a reputation of being "easy" and certain students are steered towards them to basically have a guaranteed card. This was discussed probably 4 years ago on Cave Dive Forum and it did not go over well then.

The CDS likes to beat its chest about the multiple instructor sign-off thing but with less than 30 instructors in Florida they have ZERO quality control checks on their instructors after they are signed off which leads to a massive amount of complacency, especially amongst those that have been teaching for several decades

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

depending on how I'm feeling that day

Heh--I understand that...I was pissed this morning and though the entire world sucked.

 

[Superlyte27]

well, not really since the CDS has an irrelevant amount of cave instructors, but like I said earlier in the thread, about 15-20% of them I would classify as poor cave instructors depending on how I'm feeling that day and if someone asked me about taking a course with them I would recommend them go elsewhere. These are the same instructors that have a reputation of being "easy" and certain students are steered towards them to basically have a guaranteed card. This was discussed probably 4 years ago on Cave Dive Forum and it did not go over well then.

The CDS likes to beat its chest about the multiple instructor sign-off thing but with less than 30 instructors in Florida they have ZERO quality control checks on their instructors after they are signed off which leads to a massive amount of complacency, especially amongst those that have been teaching for several decades

Text me your list. I wonder if we agree, lol

 

[Superlyte27]

Text me your list. I wonder if we agree, lol

Not here, mods can read your pm

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Not here, mods can read your pm

I don't think so....I am a mod and an admin...we cannot read your PM's.


I suspect our lists would be the same.

 

[Superlyte27]

I don't think so....I am a mod and an admin...we cannot read your PM's.

You absolutely can. They have been quoted to me almost word for word when I used to cause trouble here. I can show you the email exchange after I was banned for something I said about Pathfindr IN pm

 

[tbone1004]

Text me your list. I wonder if we agree, lol

you and I agreed several years ago when this was brought up last. Since the CDS almost never mints new instructors because no one could be bothered with them the list hasn't changed...

 

[The Chairman]

I don't think so....I am a mod and an admin...we cannot read your PM's.

This is true. There's a hack somewhere that can be installed to do just that, and I would fire anyone who tried to implement it. Me included. The only way we read PMs that aren't our own is if one of the parties reports it.