Video from a Training Dive with John Chatterton

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@Zack-Bloom many kudos to you! The video and narration are great. The way you've dealt with the criticism is a testament to you as a person and no doubt, the diver that you are, as well as, the diver that you will become.

You are a wonderful addition to the Scubaboard membership, and I for one really hope you will stick around and be a regularly contributing member.

Thanks again for sharing your video.
^^^^exactly this^^^^. I'll admit when I first started the video and saw it was 1.20hrs I was tempted to skip it, but your narration, in particular, was very engaging and your recall was incredible. Fair play to you for this and your thoughtful and open responses.
 
For the record, our experience with him as our teacher was he was excellent, we learned much more than we expected. It was an incredibly productive use of time and money. Please don't put too much into the opinions of a few people in this thread.

All opinions are my own. There are people I know and respect on both sides of this argument. I am familiar with tJohn Chatterton, his accomplishments, and the controversies over his opinions and teaching methods.
 
Because we were a team of three we just emailed him and were able to schedule at our convenience. Maybe there's a way to get a group of people together on the board?

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Well I'm speaking as a diver that does know what he doesn't know
those commenting negatively do not understand English narration
and have their heads firmly planted next to great grandpas watch

A brilliant how it is real video I was diving with you buddy, perfect

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what are kneepads or no kneepads for after all ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

How's the hairy divemaster dude checking up, great touch


I'm in the Gentile camp but respect well short of idolisation for all, where respect is due
 
No, he teaches to have a buddy verify the gas and the computers _after_ the gas switch has been made. It's a technique which relies more on you having self awareness, but it also ensures that when they make the check your buddy can actually verify what regulator you are breathing from (not just what you're holding). I believe the decision to operate in that way is based on the idea that breathing the wrong mix is very dangerous for an extended period of time, but not nearly as dangerous for a few breaths. The advantage of switching on your own is it makes it easier to get the timing perfect.

Ok. I asked because my TDI instructor insisted that a check before is mandatory... I guess TDI has some leeway in their standards? I don't know, ha! As far as getting the timing perfect, I don't really see any advantage there. We do check before and don't have any issues with timing.
 
Obviously a lot of time was spent preparing it and it will be a shame if Zack decides this isn’t a good forum to share future projects in.

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned already... Related to CT-Rich's comment, I would also like to point out that shooting such a long and detailed video DURING A TRAINING DIVE is no easy feat. My hat is off to Zack for being able to follow through with such a detailed video from start to finish.
 
I think Zack learned a very special lesson today. Don’t share videos of special moments.

It was a very well done video for sure. However, to think one should shy away from constructive criticism, that's a poor attitude to have. Especially so when first starting, constructive criticism should be encouraged, not discouraged. If you have a big ego that can't handle criticism, then perhaps there is a lesson to not share videos.
 
To whoever asked, yes my dive count isn’t anywhere near correct. Idk how it even got there. I didnt do it.

I think it’s funny how people are justifying what they see as good because “that’s what chatterton teaches”. It seems like classic, he was my instructor so he’s got to be right.

As an FYI, I finally watched the whole video with my wife. We were both appalled at the lack of skills allowed by chatterton. Again, I don’t fault the students. They are students and don’t know how they should be taught. The issue is simply chatterton is allowing a poor level of basic skills in his class. You guys can argue that’s just how he teaches, but I haven’t seen one good reason for kneeling to shoot bags and drop stages, having poor finning techniques, and not diving as a cohesive team.
 
It was a very well done video for sure. However, to think one should shy away from constructive criticism, that's a poor attitude to have. Especially so when first starting, constructive criticism should be encouraged, not discouraged. If you have a big ego that can't handle criticism, then perhaps there is a lesson to not share videos.

I don't think the OP has shied away from constructive criticism; what many are taking issue with is the unproductive and unnecessary criticism. Almost from the beginning there were attacks on the reputation of the instructor and multiple comments throughout the thread to the effect of "if you do xxx you have no business being a diver/instructor etc". That kind of commentary discourages folks from posting on SB and reduces that amount of learning that can occur. I can't tell you the number of friends and industry professionals whom I've asked if they follow SB...most answer no because there are too many toxic personalities on the board and the negative behavior taints their perception of diving.

I for one enjoyed the OPs video and commentary. I picked up a new tidbit or two and admired @Zack-Bloom for his honest assessment of what he did right and what he learned from the class.
 
@Zack-Bloom, I watched your video yesterday evening and enjoyed it. I'm glad you had fun in your class and learned some stuff. You should also be commended for the way you've handled yourself in this thread.

I've only met John once or twice, but I've gotten to be pretty good friends with Alec over the past six months and have had the opportunity to watch him teach. He and I both attended the TDI IT Workshop together and during the 9 days I got to watch Alec teach and critique other instructor candidates -- Alec is a top-shelf instructor and someone I would gladly send a loved one to. Actually, he and I have been exchanging texts for the past week about trading out some instruction in the near future, there's a very real possibility I'll be spending a week with him in South Florida taking this exact course.

On the topic of gas switches. Someone mentioned the story about my friend Jon Gol who died from breathing pure helium at his 20' stop. A buddy check prior to the gas switch would NOT have prevented him from dying. This is because the bottle WAS a deco bottle and was labeled accordingly, but he had decanted pure helium into it. A buddy would have seen "Jon's about to switch to a deco bottle, OK!" and would have let him do the switch. The only thing that would have prevented his death would have been if he had analyzed the cylinder before putting a regulator on it.

On the topic of running reels in the wrecks. I've had a number of discussions with people who have taken this course and they all told me the same thing -- you do run reels in the wrecks at the beginning. Then, you slowly build familiarity with the wreck and ultimately are only going one or two rooms in. One of my former students, who took this class last year, told me that they even had to find their way out of a wreck with a blacked out mask and no line, and that it was relatively easy to do because you were so familiar with the wreck that you have a mental map in your mind. Personally, this seems crazy to me, but on the other hand, I'm pretty confident I can personally find my way out from "The Lips" without a line and no light, and that would be a further distance than we're talking about here.

Where there some trim/buoyancy issues in the video? Absolutely. Was it the worst thing ever seen in the world? Hell no, I've seen far worse students graduate with cave certs. Remember fellas, these are students in a class and they're learning.

I also picked up a couple of neat tricks from the video that I had not seen before and I'm going to go play with them and test them out (filling the SMB from my wing to maintain constant lift volume and steady buoyancy does seem slick).
 
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