We can all cite individual cases of shops and their individual policies. Here is one that speaks to several points in this thread.
Each year, DEMA statistics indicate that Colorado is one of the top 3 states in per capita certified divers. To my knowledge, there is only one shop in the state that has an inventory of BP/Wings on hand. If you wanted one from another shop, they could order it for you, with the sale handled probably by someone who has never seen one. That one shop is also the only shop in the state with a GUE presence, with an instructor/owner teaching GUE Fundamentals only. If you go on from that to their tech program (the only shop-based tech program in the state), your courses will be from NAUI. The shop teaches all other classes through PADI, and they teach the OW courses in standard BCDs.
The shop I originally worked for taught tech and had tech gear on hand briefly, but it stopped that just about the time I left. (I was not then a tech instructor, but that is where I got my initial training.) I left when they switched to SSI and followed SSI advice to require all instructors to wear the same gear head to toe and tell students they had chosen that gear because it was the best. If I had stayed, I would not have been allowed to tell my students that I owned and used a BP/W for my personal diving, let alone teach in one.
I then became a tech instructor and taught tech briefly for another shop (now also SSI), but the shop refused to carry any inventory of BP/Ws or any other gear they considered to be tech-oriented because they were afraid no one would buy it. That was part of the reason I became an independent and now teach pretty much nothing but tech.
Each year, DEMA statistics indicate that Colorado is one of the top 3 states in per capita certified divers. To my knowledge, there is only one shop in the state that has an inventory of BP/Wings on hand. If you wanted one from another shop, they could order it for you, with the sale handled probably by someone who has never seen one. That one shop is also the only shop in the state with a GUE presence, with an instructor/owner teaching GUE Fundamentals only. If you go on from that to their tech program (the only shop-based tech program in the state), your courses will be from NAUI. The shop teaches all other classes through PADI, and they teach the OW courses in standard BCDs.
The shop I originally worked for taught tech and had tech gear on hand briefly, but it stopped that just about the time I left. (I was not then a tech instructor, but that is where I got my initial training.) I left when they switched to SSI and followed SSI advice to require all instructors to wear the same gear head to toe and tell students they had chosen that gear because it was the best. If I had stayed, I would not have been allowed to tell my students that I owned and used a BP/W for my personal diving, let alone teach in one.
I then became a tech instructor and taught tech briefly for another shop (now also SSI), but the shop refused to carry any inventory of BP/Ws or any other gear they considered to be tech-oriented because they were afraid no one would buy it. That was part of the reason I became an independent and now teach pretty much nothing but tech.