You have the wrong gear for this class!

[LakeCountyDiver]

Well I can say that I sure was in your shoes a little while back. I ware a BP/W-HOG harness-and neckles regulator. I was told by the owner of the company I work for that "I can't use my BP/W" "I have to use the same gear as the students"... Well that didn't last a day. I dive with the gear I want to dive with and that is my choice. The instructor would love to see me in a Zeagel BC and Atomic regs but the fact is I have a DSS BP/W and ScubaPro MK10's/G250's. It is what I like to dive with and I am NOT going to pay Atomic prices when I can get the same regulator for an 1/8 of the price.

I show up every dive with my gear (I do drop the 7' hose for the students and use 30") and he does not seem to mind. When the kids ask he refers to it as "tech" or "cave" gear. He does not know really anything about it nor the training I have he just lets me do my own thing.

Other posters are right that you should be able to take any gear and make it look good on you and should be able to preform great in it. With that said you still do have a choice to ware what you want it just might come down to the fact that you may not be invited on the next class if you don't change your setup.


Update: since this post the bossman is purchasing atomic gear for me to use during the classes. SWEET.

 

[randytay]

This is a different shop and I am not officially on course with him. Also, my issue here is manly having my fear referred to as "Tech rig" so its different circumstances, different scenario, different instructor, different issue hence different question. The only thing that is common is that they all have a problem with my rig. I do appreciate your input nevertheless.

 

[randytay]

Randy...my one advise...(maybe two of three lol) would be not to become like him but at the opposite end of the line. You seem to criticize his narrowed vision of only wanting to use ''traditional'' rec diving equipement when you seem to exhibit similar traits toward HOG/DIR set-up. While you may not like his philosophy, when you go to Rome you should do like Romans. As others have said (whether you like it or not), his shop...his rules. If he wants his DM/apprentice DM to be using traditional equipment to assist him doing demo and training students then I think it is appropriate that the DM dress like everybody else as to simplify the exercises and drills of the very basic OW course that are already quite challenging for some individuals to start with.

I applaude Peter/Lyne (Sorry if I mispelled), Jim and others for wanting to familiarize and teach their students beyond the minimum standards of the various agencies they represent out there. I guess it is a matter of time and place. I am thankful that my instructor let me use a backplate but traditional reg assembly as I went through my DM course. To me, the BC is not really the important factor here...a weight belt, inflate valve and dump valves are standard pieces of equipment on most if not all buoyancy devices. The reg might be a different story as in order to keep things simple and stupid (KISS) so I could understand his preference for a standard set-up consisting of a primary normally used by the diver, a bright yellow octo placed in the tradition/standard triangle position , etc to facilitate OOA drills, etc. If I ever decide to become an instructor then in all likelihood I would do like some of the folks here on SB...

Now, between you and me, it is a very small price to pay if you are getting some perks out of that relationship as long as you can live with it. If it becomes a burden then you might as well look somewhere else to finish that certification of yours. One of the many things I have learned through life is that all experiences are good, but not necessarily pleasant, as long as you learn something out of them...either positive or negative. It then behooves you to only emulate the good ones and stay away from those that you considered bad or unpleasant... Happy and safe diving.

And I totally agree. Most people here only see my "complains" but fail to see that I said I would just suck it up and do it, and they all start shooting. This is after all a forum for SCUBA discussion, and it includes a diver's frustration with other other divers. I just happen to be outspoken about my thoughts.

 

[randytay]

Wow!
I am really surprised to hear that there is so much negativity out there with some people regarding BPW's. I just never experienced it locally.

Based on some of the posts I've read in other threads, I always assumed it was the BPW folks that drank the "haterade".

As for the OP; It was instructor's class, shop and show. Too bad he did not discuss the equipment before hand.

He knows I dive a Hog rig. We have discussed about it before. Therein lies my frustration.

 

[randytay]

Randy, would you feel better about your instructor's objections if he objected to your equipment because the shop doesn't sell it, or because it's different from the students', rather than objecting to it as "tech" gear? Does the reason why he doesn't like it really matter? Yes, it would be nice to be successful in educating him that this gear works just fine for recreational diving, but you're not going to do it by getting fussed or sullen, or getting in his face about it. If he's at all receptive, you can go for recreational dives with him and SHOW him. If he isn't receptive, pushing at him is not going to make him like the gear or the people who dive it any better than he does now.

There are all kinds of compromises one has to make in life. This is a small one. I get much more exercised over things like teaching on the knees, which is why I'm not an instructor, and don't work with very many.

And I agree. As mentioned, my frustration lies in the fact is that he KNOWs I dive a Hog rig, he KNOWS I am a DIR practitioner. In fact, Jeff was at his shop a couple of days ago giving a presentation on UTD etc. He carries Dive Rite even though he does not have them in stock. Like I said, I have no problem sucking up and just do it the way he wanted it, but given the fact that he told me what he did with all those prior knowledge is just very hard to accept on my end.

 

[divermike1011]

Much like having the most bad-ass knife in the world doesn't make you an operator, taking an intro DIR class and diving a HOG rig doesn't make you JJ, AG, or Bill Main. DIR was developed because it works really ****ing well for the type of diving the guys and gals who refined it over time do. It can be a fine rig for recreational (see also PeterGuy and TSandM) but it truly isn't necessary for recreational diving. When you recognize that you will do what you need to do to dive and teach diving then you'll understand where the rest of us are coming from. Until then you will continue to get into arguments both here on SB and in real life (this is the important bit) that will only cause you grief and keep you from meeting your own goals. Since you keep asking this question, getting the same answers and disagreeing with them I suspect you will continue to find your diving life full of conflict.

In the interest of civility I will end this post now, but I recommend that you stop asking this question here, others may not play as nice.

Michael

 

[RTee]

And I totally agree. Most people here only see my "complains" but fail to see that I said I would just suck it up and do it, and they all start shooting. This is after all a forum for SCUBA discussion, and it includes a diver's frustration with other other divers. I just happen to be outspoken about my thoughts.

Randy...not necessarily sure I agree with your choice of the word shooting. One thing for sure, everybody offered their honest opinion on the subject when asked for it. That is what this forum is all about. Some of their replies might not be what you were anticipating though...again it is to be expected from time to time. All the best in your endeavours. Life is full of choices...as others have already stated Pick your fights and don't sweat the small stuff.

 

[LakeCountyDiver]

I guess I just don't see the real fustration here... You dive a HOG rig and you like that rig. So then dive it. If the boss does not want you to use your rig in class there is 2 choices:
1) Don't ware it and use the stuff he has.... 2) Use your gear and/or dont dive/work for him....

As for him calling it a "Tech" rig forget about it. That just shows his lack of knowledge and experience in that end of the diving world. If it bothers you about it tell him about it. Talk to him about your rig and how you feel about it's place in the diving world.

Yes most us DM's are slaves but it is not forced labor there are other options.

Good Luck

 

[NYCSurfer]

Ha! Thought I was the only one fooled by it.

Been using that in a signature line, on multiple forums, for a while, basically because it annoys the devil out of some people. ;-)

 

[knowone]

CONCLUSION

The next decade of diving will undoubtedly be full of excitement and prodigious change.
Undoubtedly, equipment advances will continue and many exciting advancements are bound to grace the diving world. Yet, regardless of
the level of change beyond the year 2000, two things will undoubtedly
remain constant: there will always be new equipment for people to obsess over, and there will always be people arguing over how that equipment
should be configured. Your response to these arguments should be based
on your actual needs, and on the requirements of your diving environment.

Jarrod Jablonski.
late 1990s.


Transcribed by a twenty year backplate practitioner
and ten other sets of gear as the situation warrants

and the irony is, that it is twenty years on the current
reincarnation but forty years before today's incarnation


signed:
anon looking after the environment practitioner.