My pet peeve with dive instruction

[String]

I like the slower than your bubbles line of thought, especially as a new diver, it was hard to ascend at a steady rate.

Slower than smallest bubbles has a few flaws. Its dated. Firstly its slower than the SMALLEST bubbles - as the bubbles rise they expand getting bigger so rise faster so you have to keep finding a new smallest bubble, follow that for a few seconds, find a new one and so on. Thats fairly fiddly.

Also in currents bubbles dont always rise vertically and sometimes dont rise at all.

Thirdly, even if you do the above correctly you're still near 60ft/minute or over.

These days with computers and depth gauges and watches you really shouldn't need to resort to bubbles- other far safer methods are around.

Generally i tend to teach 6 metres per minute purely because metric the maths is nice and easy to follow with a simple gauge and watch - its 1m every 10 seconds so easy to spot and follow on a gauge.

 

[24940]

I don't know, why don't you call them and ask instead of complaining about it on an random internet message board.

I have reported it, as have many others.

I was not complaining, I was using the cited examples as a point of reference to refute your statement inferring the agencies main priority is divers.

This is not a random message board.

Personally, I try not to judge a diver on petty little things like the size of his knife, where he puts his octo, or if he has five extra pounds of weight. I usually try to judge them on, oh I don't know, their diving.

"their diving"? Can you be a little more ambiguous?

 

[Nick_W]

I have reported it, as have many others.

I was not complaining, I was using the cited examples as a point of reference to refute your statement inferring the agencies main priority is divers.

And as others have pointed out, 60 fpm is still perfectly fine as the maximum safe speed. I've seen nothing showing that 60 fpm is unsafe as a maximum speed of ascent.

Again, the agencies (and this is true in any industry, not just scuba) aren't going to change their way of doing things unless it is proven that they need to. If they were only worried about liability as you - or I think it was you - claim, don't you think they would change to the 30 fpm rule right away, since its safer and all?

"their diving"? Can you be a little more ambiguous?

What the hell are you even talking about? Yes, when I'm evaluating a student, I judge them on THEIR diving.

 

[Blackwood]

Much of what is printed in the books published by the big agencies is outdated. I know it. You know it. We know it. They know it. But if they change something, they are admitting that they were wrong, and if they were wrong, what's to say that they are right now? "The way the world learned to dive was flawed. Our apologies. But it's okay now."

Making major changes (for example to decompression methodologies such as ascent rates) opens them up to doubt and, further, liability.

For these large corporations, the hierarchy of import is as follows: Lawyers > Profit > Product.

 

[rickydazla]

I believe that all those SSI DVD's were filmed in the Cayman Islands and that all the divers were actually instructors. D'oh! A lot of them have their consoles on retractors which may give the impression they are dangling free...

 

[24940]

What the hell are you even talking about?

Definitions of ambiguity on the Web:
[SIZE=-1]an expression whose meaning cannot be determined from its context
unclearness by virtue of having more than one meaning
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Ambiguity is the property of words, terms, notations and concepts (within a particular context) as being undefined, undefinable, or without an obvious definition and thus having an unclear meaning.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambiguity[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Uncertainty of meaning, usually caused by words or phrases that convey more than one meaning. For instance, "Joshua is cool" can refer both to Joshua’s body temperature and to his enviable social behavior.
www.educationplanner.com/education_planner/essay_article.asp[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]open to two or more interpretations.
www.oed.com/learning/ks4/notes.html[/SIZE]

Yes, when I'm evaluating a student, I judge them on THEIR diving.

I see... So, when/if you find an issue, you tell them: "HEY, YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH YOUR DIVING!"?

I was hoping you might elaborate a bit, but you seem to be too busy being offended, for whatever reason.

 

[24940]

I believe that all those SSI DVD's were filmed in the Cayman Islands and that all the divers were actually instructors. D'oh! A lot of them have their consoles on retractors which may give the impression they are dangling free...

Instructors? Yikes...


I'll have to take another look, but I would swear many dangling consoles had no retractor.

 

[Nick_W]

I see... So, when/if you find an issue, you tell them: "HEY, YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH YOUR DIVING!"?

I was hoping you might elaborate a bit, but you seem to be too busy being offended, for whatever reason.

Tell me what you want me to elaborate on.

I made the statement that I don't judge a diver based upon their gear but rather upon their diving. Whether its a student or another diver when I'm out diving for fun. I don't look at someone and say "that guy has a big knife, he must suck" or "that guy doesn't have his octo on a necklace, he's dangerous".

Now, if you'd like to stop being a prick and posting definitions therefore implying that I'm somehow not as intelligent as you and start explaining exactly what your problem with my statement is, I'll be happy to answer your question. Until then I'm just going to assume your only hobby is trolling around internet message boards behaving like a 5-year-old.

 

[djanni]

Aren't those split-fins gorgeous!!! Nice to see SSI likes them.

 

[dman1959]

If you really want to see someone plow the reef watch Mike Nelson (Lloyd Bridges) in an old Se Hunt episode. Never even thot about it until I started diving and paying attention to buoyancy control.
I know the gear was a harness , weights , and no BCD but still geez !!!