If you could change one thing about dive training...

[Divin'Papaw]

While i do hold gue certification's (anti air), i don't agree with air being a lousy diving gas. It's cheap, easy to come by and is more than enough for most of the dives.
Why should i fill my tanks with nitrox when i stay within the 15m range? or even 20m?
Some stores also blend with pure o2 directly in your tank (instead of banked nitrox), which brings more risk than diving shallow on air. Most backgas tanks aren't o2 clean, especially not at the moment of filling.

Why load more Nitrogen into your system than necessary? Air is a sub-optimal gas for just about every depth. I'm not GUE trained nor am I DIR; however, their views on standard gases make huge sense to me.

Logistically air might be necessary in some areas but that isn't my point.

Back to the topic of this thread .... I believe EVERY diver should be trained to use Nitrox from dive 1 regardless of whether or not they choose to use it.

 

[TMHeimer]

I haven't used Nitrox in years. My diving is shallow enough that I am ALWAYS limited by air supply, cold, or boredom. Never by getting anywhere close to a NDL. Nitrox costs a lot more in the shops I've been in-- (like $14 vs. $6 Air)--I know there are places it isn't as costly.
I don't know about including it in the OW course. Maybe. Same as lengthening the course for any additives (like my proposal for a few rescue skills), now you have a course that takes longer and costs more. Maybe that's OK. Again, this apparently would deter some folks in today's rush-rush world from taking up scuba. That's fine with me, but maybe not with LDS owners.
And I want the shop here to always be open.

 

[Preach]

I haven't used Nitrox in years. My diving is shallow enough that I am ALWAYS limited by air supply, cold, or boredom. Never by getting anywhere close to a NDL. Nitrox costs a lot more in the shops I've been in-- (like $14 vs. $6 Air)--I know there are places it isn't as costly.
I don't know about including it in the OW course. Maybe. Same as lengthening the course for any additives (like my proposal for a few rescue skills), now you have a course that takes longer and costs more. Maybe that's OK. Again, this apparently would deter some folks in today's rush-rush world from taking up scuba. That's fine with me, but maybe not with LDS owners.
And I want the shop here to always be open.

I see more use for the nitrox in AOW. I think the basics lack in most OW classes, trim/buoyancy/finkicks.

But when i look back on my OW class, the instructor's lacked in those basics as well.
The problem is that it's hard to recognise a bad instructor when you just start your first course.

 

[Alekseolsen]

So, I see a lot of "local" suggestions here, as in, they would aptly improve dives in one's specific region.

I'll add my own, (mostly cause its usually causing discussion) but in eatern Norway, with our extremely silty mud-bottoms, simply ban any flutter kicks would improve my club-dives several 100 percents. (Yes, it's the 2 same damn flutter kicking, 500 dive experienced idiots ruining the entire dive site way to frequently)

 

[TMHeimer]

So, I see a lot of "local" suggestions here, as in, they would aptly improve dives in one's specific region.

I'll add my own, (mostly cause its usually causing discussion) but in eatern Norway, with our extremely silty mud-bottoms, simply ban any flutter kicks would improve my club-dives several 100 percents. (Yes, it's the 2 same damn flutter kicking, 500 dive experienced idiots ruining the entire dive site way to frequently)

Are you talking about lakes or ocean?

Preach-- Yeah, Nitrox in AOW makes more sense. One of my AOW dives in FL was the "Nitrox Adventure Dive". So I had one of the required 2 dives back in 2006. Had to do the whole Nitrox course when I got back home. So even today without the required 2 dives, you still have to spend the time & money to do the whole course, written test (I assume still) to get the cert. Adding that to AOW makes that course longer & more costly, but doesn't deter someone from taking a longer OW course.

 

[Bigbella]

Over-weighting the OW students, would still be my two cents.

When I began, we actually swam down -- not, dropping to the bottom, like some witness against the Genovese family . . .

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

-- not, dropping to the bottom, like some witness against the Genovese family . . .

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[fisheater]

My one change would be simple. NEVER teach anything on your knees. Trim and buoyancy from the start as fundamentals, not add-on niceties.

 

[Alekseolsen]

Are you talking about lakes or ocean?

That would be ocean.

 

[Scuba Client]

IANTD training is about simulating realistic diving situations. The only way to do this is by task loading.