No jacket BP/W Sidemount?

[DevonDiver]

I have to wonder if that doesn't say something about those instructors abilities to effectively teach it in the first place?

Well, you'd have to credit those instructors integrity if that were the case...

Then again, there may be (in their opinion) valid reasons not to teach on the Razor:

1) Suitability of device to local diving - lift capacity etc for cold water/local diving practices (heavy steel tanks?).

2) Suitability of redundant buoyancy - Razor1/2 has oral-inflate redundancy only, via the 'drinking straw'...they may not accept that as sufficient.

3) Available training time - Razor demands much longer set-up and fitting time, compared to quick-adjust harness designs. If they've scheduled a set time period to conduct the course (for a set cost), they may not be prepared to 'donate' those extra training hours. From my experience, Razor takes an extra 1/2 day at least..

 

[karstdvr]

I have to wonder if that doesn't say something about those instructors abilities to effectively teach it in the first place?

Could be. I think the basic problem is that sidemount is a market revolution,and everybody wants to get a piece of the pie,from manufacturing to instruction. Many instructors are teaching without much experience in this configuration,hence not a lot of exposure to resolving student problems. It is a pity that there are quite a few instructors are learning sidemount one weekend,and then teaching the next weekend,without gathering the experience inbetween. Students need to be informed consumers before selecting equipment and instruction. I've been diving sidemount well over 10 years,even when I had to make my own equipment,but it confuses me, some of the blather I read.

 

[DaleC]

I was rereading the OP and thinking about how much peer pressure and regionality comes into play with equipment choices. If you are not in an area of high shop density then you probably will go with what that shop and its instructors use and offer. If most of the people you dive with use a certain brand or configuration you will probably trend towards that as well.

To do otherwise requires an individual to be able to go against the flow and endure criticism. Some are up to that but most people are either unsure of themselves in that regard or don't want to be singled out.

In reality almost any system can be dived in many realms if one takes the time to learn it well but if one is trending towards tech then one has to also think about team conformity. As dive complexity increases, will the other people you are diving with be comfortable if you use a completely different system. Some people do dive mixed teams, some don't - what does the tech training in your area look like and who are your potential tech team mates.

That probably has more to do with equipment choices than anything else. Unless you are comfortable going it alone.

 

[PR_SMITH]

I have to wonder if that doesn't say something about those instructors abilities to effectively teach it in the first place?

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My "local" instructor is Steve Lewis.

[url]http://www.techdivertraining.org/sidemountOutline.html

Techdiver Training with Steve Lewis -- Diving Beyond the Limits[/URL]

He has a very good reputation.

 

[turt1e]

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My "local" instructor is Steve Lewis.

Dive Courses with techdiver training

Techdiver Training with Steve Lewis -- Diving Beyond the Limits

He has a very good reputation.

So did he give you a particular reason for not wanting to train you in a razor? And was this for sport diver or technical diver training?

 

[PR_SMITH]

No, no specifics were mentioned; I'll ask and report back.

I'm interested in a recreational SM course for now, then tech later on.
Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Doppler]

So did he give you a particular reason for not wanting to train you in a razor? And was this for sport diver or technical diver training?

No, no specifics were mentioned; I'll ask and report back.

I'm interested in a recreational SM course for now, then tech later on.
Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191 using Tapatalk 2

I believe I did mention why I would be uncomfortable training someone wearing a Razor. Quite simple really: I have never dived with a Razor and of the folks I know who bought them, several have exchanged them for other options... it is therefore doubtful that I will ever dive one.

It is NOT that I will not offer the workshop (either sport or tech) to someone with this model of SM rig -- several of the basics including gas management, hose routing, emergency procedures for example -- are not unit specific, but the student has to realize that MY experience with the finer points of their harness will be based on observation and the application and experienced gained on dissimilar rigs. As long as they have that knowledge and understand my short-comings, then there should not be an issue.

 

[PR_SMITH]

I believe I did mention why I would be uncomfortable training someone wearing a Razor. Quite simple really: I have never dived with a Razor and of the folks I know who bought them, several have exchanged them for other options... it is therefore doubtful that I will ever dive one.

It is NOT that I will not offer the workshop (either sport or tech) to someone with this model of SM rig -- several of the basics including gas management, hose routing, emergency procedures for example -- are not unit specific, but the student has to realize that MY experience with the finer points of their harness will be based on observation and the application and experienced gained on dissimilar rigs. As long as they have that knowledge and understand my short-comings, then there should not be an issue.

Perhaps the reasons for the Razor not being ideal for cold water were mentioned; I am a bear of little brain and may not have registered what was meant