Help!!! Questions!!!

[sambolino44]

You can make a reg out of a lawnmower? COOL!

 

[Jimmer]

Let us know where you're going to be teaching, so I can make sure I tell everyone I know to avoid that shop. You honestly think this many people telling you to maybe slow down and take a breath, are all involved in some sort of conspiracy against you? Like other's have said, you're arrogance and pompous attitude really do not befit a scuba instructor. I've met a lot of instructors over the past 14 years, and all I can say, is check the "I'm better than you" attitude at the door, because that won't fly with the huge majority of students.

 

[driftin' by]

Let us know where you're going to be teaching, so I can make sure I tell everyone I know to avoid that shop. You honestly think this many people telling you to maybe slow down and take a breath, are all involved in some sort of conspiracy against you? Like other's have said, you're arrogance and pompous attitude really do not befit a scuba instructor. I've met a lot of instructors over the past 14 years, and all I can say, is check the "I'm better than you" attitude at the door, because that won't fly with the huge majority of students.

Very well put.

I am just as good of a diver as you are, I am more than capable than most candidates

Statements like this will get you killed! Plain and simply. BTW... you have no idea who I am and what I'm capable of.

Thanks to a few of you, everyone else, you should really focus on your own short comings, because you have some.

This guy kills me. Wanna talk about short comings??? You want to become an instructor in a few months and you admit you know nothing about gear in your OP!

Take it easy dude!

 

[muddiver]

Lever on a bc here

Very cool idea. It reduces the task loading on the diver and makes it eaiser to find your BC controls. I allways have problems finding my hose even when it is strapped down because of all the crap on my BC as it is.

BUT, as an engineer I would have questions as to the design and guts of the system. I would need to rip one apart and see if it was just a string pulling valves or a good sturdy stainless steel cable?

Also I see a design flaw just reading the discription. It opens the top and bottom dump valves on the BC at the same time. Hmm... that means rappid release of air with rappid influx of water. Not exactly what I want happening with my BC. Now you have to fill it and rinse it out with fresh water after EVERY dive. Oh well.

 

[tedj01]

You can make a reg out of a lawnmower? COOL!

Didn't know about the reg. Had heard about making a compressor out of engines. Junkyard wars once had an episode where it was done. What ever happened to junkyard wars?

 

[Lead_carrier]

I am in the process of divemaster, I am going to be an instructor by the end of the summer.

I have a problem though, I honestly know nothing about what is COOL and what isn't COOL when it comes to equipment...

I like Aqualung, simply because I heard that they have excellent programs for instructors.

BUT, right now I don't know the difference between a brand new 1,000 dollar reg and an old beat up one that someone made in their garage out of parts that they pulled out of an old lawn mower... ya know what I mean???

As far as I am concerned (Personally) a reg is a reg, as long as it is functioning the way it was designed to... That is my problem, I know nothing about features, etc...

I know that I need to know this stuff to be taken seriously as an instructor, so this is my start...

I NEED opinions and stuff on equipment, mostly Regs and BC's (I know about the new i3, but that is about the extent of my knowledge on what is cool).

THANK YOU..........

The absolute coolest gear going is the "HUB". Don't listen to these guys that are giving you a hard time, they're just jealous. Maybe they should strive to be cooler, they wouldn't be stuck using gear that doesn't have levers and brightly colored pull thingies on the bc's.

 

[MSilvia]

I actually think a lack of new levers, buttons, dials, and fancy doodads is much cooler than most of the garbage marketed as the "latest and greatest". Show me something with the following features, and I'll show you something I think is cool.

I like gear that increases my diving enjoyment, maximizes the benefits of good technique, minimizes task loading, is of benefit to both novice and experienced divers, is durable and easy to maintain, doesn't have useless "features", and doesn't break the bank.

Some things I include on this list:
Hogarthian BP/W, spring straps for fins, LP inflator disconnect "hats", wrist slates, Suunto SK-7 compasses, digital bottom timers, bellows pockets, Photon Torpedo LED backup lights, etc.

 

[sambolino44]

Aww, now you guys, I think the OP (who said he's going to stop reading this thread, by the way) said at one point that he used the word "cool" with tongue in cheek. But, actually, reading his later posts, he sounds like the kind of guy I, personally, would avoid when looking for an instructor. I've always been more impressed by the humble type than the proud type. Confidence is good, but declarations of competence usually indicate the opposite, in my experience.

Now, on to the topic of "what is cool gear"? First, I think it's pretty obvious that the word "cool" is so loaded with meanings that it's just about worthless in any meaningful sense. So, I'll just ramble on about what I like.

Basically, that last guy said it all. Simple, sturdy, functional, low-maintenance, low-cost. Wait a minute, that's not cool, that's just the basics of what I look for in gear. Cool to me means the stuff that is especially clever, or innovative, or high-tech, or just well made. Like using cheap, easily replaceable EMT shears instead of an expensive knife. Or those new spherical dome masks. I thought my Force Fins were cool for a while, but now I'm not so sure.

 

[tedj01]

Ok, another meaning to "what is cool gear".

Lycra skin as exposure protection while ice diving!

 

[1_T_Submariner]

Mustang GT's are really cool Shelby/Roush even cooler. Corvettes way cool too. Vipers also COOOOOOOLL. These will definitely impress the students when their instructor pulls up to the dive site in one of these. Major cool factor.

Seriously, in my opinion I wouldn't try recommending all of the new fangled toys to OW students. Quality gear that performs reliably and is easy to get serviced would be the keys for a new OW diver.