PADI?

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We deployed the SMB at the surface for OW and I asked specifically to see it at depth. The instructor wasn’t very good at it himself, so that was that. A different instructor at a later time demonstrated it and taught it much better, but that was in the context of very specific instruction, and not for any certification, but for me to learn it, along with other things that I was interested in getting better at.
DSMB deployment can be a finicky thing. I’ve been teaching it for years, yet the last two times I’ve deployed one I’ve fouled it up. Once letting the line get caught on the reel handle and once getting my reg snagged. I got out of both, but there are times when it all goes wrong. I’ll get it right on the next dive.
 
I once had an AOW student ask to do the fish ID dive in our dive site in Colorado. I told him that if we did, he would be very good at identifying crawdads. but not much else.

In contrast, I did my AOW dives in Cozumel, and it was very valuable. We talked about the variety of fish we were likely to see there before the dive. We talked about habitat and behavior. During the dive, we identified a variety of fish and other life (like worms). I learned a lot.

There is an important psychological phenomenon involved here. When I was in college, I learned that there was once a theory that a certain native American group could not see the color orange. Research dispelled that theory. They found that there was nothing naturally orange in their environment, so their language had no name for it. Consequently, when they saw orange on a test item, they did not have a word for it. This strongly affected their ability to remember it. They could see it, but they could not remember seeing it.

When you are diving and surrounded by fish, being able to name the fish you see has a tremendous impact on your ability to enjoy and to remember a dive. Once you get past that, you can start paying attention to details of behavior. When you are done with a dive and someone asks what you saw, there is a big difference between saying "fish" and saying "I saw some damsel fish guarding their algae patches. I saw a grouper being cleaned by cleaner wrasse. There were a number of sergeant majors guarding their purple egg patches. I saw a trunk fish following a large midnight parrotfish. After the parrotfish took a chunk of the reef, the trunkfish went into the debris and picked out the leftover morsels."
 
Unfortunately this watering down of standards is pretty much universal with the potential exception of GUE and perhaps UTD. PADI may have started it but they all jumped on the bandwagon. I always find it disingenuous when instructors from other agencies bash PADI when they do the exact same things. That is what I find humorous about the PADI-bashing by instructors from SSI, SDI, NAUI, etc, etc. Pot calling the kettle black.
Good point. I think you may want to include SEI as a possible exception as well (from what I've read on SB).
A good example is the similarity of PADI and SSI. Again from my quite limited knowledge, I think they are very very similar with their respective programs. Only big difference is an SSI instructor has to work for an SSI shop whereas a PADI one can work independently.
 
You already mentioned that on page 3. Having trouble getting your message across, as illustrated here on page 12? Maybe you should follow some of PADI's marketing webinars. Oh and they're free by the way, you won't have to put another dollar in.

Oh excuse me. I didn't see the rule book of this forum where it says you can only mention 1 thing 1 time. My bad. :rofl3:
 
Just a quick comment on the watering down of standards...

In a thread a couple years ago, someone posted the PADI standards tom 30 years to show how things had been watered down. It backfired. The only standard that had been removed was one-regulator buddy breathing, which had been replaced by alternate air source breathing. I listed 15 standards that had been added since then.
 
Good point. I think you may want to include SEI as a possible exception as well (from what I've read on SB).
Sure, because just about the only SEI instructor on the forum since the agency was founded wrote about how superior it was about 3,000 times. BTW, that instructor does most of his instruction for a different agency now.
 
Only big difference is an SSI instructor has to work for an SSI shop whereas a PADI one can work independently.
You don't think that the flexibility of moving skills around in open water for example is a big difference? That saved my bacon when I taught at a shop where there were two 3-hour pool sessions and on the first night, halfway through, I couldn't equalize anymore. No problem. Switched to surface skills for the rest of the first session. Went back underwater the next night and completed all the UW skills. Plus it is nice to start OW with snorkeling/skin diving skills. Backfinning is a required skill in the buoyancy course too.
 
I will say this. As a new diver I do think the agencies are lacking in making sure core skills are taught.

Can I get an "AMEN!"?

The thing is, if this is so important, it should be a foundational skill and NOT an add-on class for more $$$.

Remembering back to my training and things I wished we spent bit more time on:

Proper weighting, which then leads into trim and buoyancy. My class we never went over DSMB deployment or saw it. Think this would be great too.

Despite @boulderjohn and others article from 2011, the industry hasn't moved to even that part, while @boulderjohn (and who knows how many other instructors) teaches fully NB. That article was published soooooo long ago. The entire industry grinds me with not requiring that confined water is performed neutrally buoyant (and preferably trim). Tip for the nervous student: don't stick them underwater. Take the steps with getting them comfortable. Not everyone is suited for a group class, and that's okay.

Why agencies don't describe that proper weighting is the exact amount of weight to keep a diver at a safety stop with an empty BCD/dry suit with a nearly empty cylinder just baffles me.
 
Sure, because just about the only SEI instructor on the forum since the agency was founded wrote about how superior it was about 3,000 times. BTW, that instructor does most of his instruction for a different agency now.
You got me there. Haven't seen him post very often lately.
 

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