Funny diving video

[matt t.]

[Chris H]

That's stroketacular!

[LKunze]

Understandable if most of those divers are new open water students but if some of them are actually instructors then DAMN!  :o

[matt t.]

The best part is the good diver going in and out of the frame like a shark  ;D.

[LKunze]

Good points Keith.  I'm sure it's quite a job looking after a big group of students in open water...not something I'd want to do.  The video shows a good contrast though between new or inexperienced divers vs. experienced divers in the water (DIR or not).  I may be wrong in assuming this but the video was probably not shot for this reason and was probably shot as jab or joke towards divers of less experience and/or dive skills which is unfair.  I know when I started out I probably looked a lot like the divers on the platform as well.

[matt t.]

No, we're not open water instructors, for the reason you see on the video. I don't have the patience. As I stated in another thread. I dive for enjoymant, not anger ;D. The video was originally shot by Brandon Schwartz a GUE instructor from Michigan. You guys can decide why. I just posted it for something new on here. It isn't meant to point (or shake) a finger at anybody.

[FreediveWI]

My wife and I were in Belize a few years ago and did a nice morning dive. In the afternoon we got on the boat for another dive and the dive guide, Tulio, pulled us aside and said that there was another group on the boat that went out with him later on in the morning. He said that when we got to the dive site we should jump in first and get "the hell out of the way". The whole boat ride out we heard this other group talk about what great instructors they were and that they dove wreck in North Carolina all the time, blah, blah , blah.

Once we get to the site we rolled in and dropped to the reef and waited- and waited. Suddenly we see this group headed stright for the coral without a clue how to control their bouyancy. They hit bottom, and hit it hard! There was broken coral all over the place.  :  We stayed far away from the for the rest of our trip.

Spend enough time working a charter boat and you see ALL kinds of divers. You get to learn pretty quick which shops are doing their jobs and who is best to avoid. Just because someone is an instructor, or a tech diver, or a cave diver, or a course director, or a rebreather diver, or has all the latest DIR gear means nothing until you see them in the water. Sometimes you don't even need to see them in the water becuase you can tell how they're going to be just watching them gear up on the back of the boat.

One of the best transitions to openwater that I ever saw was when I taught for a diveshop back in college that had the students do all of their final pool training in FULL wetsuits, hoods, and mitts. Students got to spend a good 4-5 hours wearing all of this stuff in the pool so that when they got to openwater they knew how much weight they needed and how to do mask replacements with hoods and 3-finger mitts on. Pool time alone doesn't make the difference if they are not wearing the same gear they will when they get to openwater- as the shock of the cold, and more limited vis, is enough for them to get used to whithout adding in all the extra task loading of new gear. Having them try everything out first makes your openwater dives 1+2 MUCH easier. 8)

Jon

[FreediveWI]

When the student has been in the pool for a couple of hours without a suit on they get cold- sometimes VERY cold. An hour in an 82 degree pool will chill you out if your not moving that much- why do you think instructors all wear suits in the pool when they teach?. Why do you think we sell people wetsuits to dive in the islands? Why is DUI now offering a Tropical Dry suits? Because water sucks heat over 20 times faster than air and 84 in the sun is not the same as 84 in a swimming pool not moving.

I've worn 7mm jumpsuits for diving in the Bahamas before- extra warmth lowers your air consumption and extends your bottom time. People look at you funny on the first day of a live-aboard trip kind of funny, but by the end of the week they are asking you where you bought your suit.

This shop NEVER had a student overheat.

As far as the financial part of it goes, the shop turned the suits every two years and at this time they are the single biggest dive store chain in the state- so I guess they figured out the "real world" thing just fine.

I've worked for a bunch of different stores in the past 22 years and have seen it done a lot of different ways. This was the best system out of all the ones "I've" tried.

But, as they say, YMMV.

Jon

[FreediveWI]

I've taught there as well and it didn't change a thing when it comes to outcomes- just more pool time to get it right.

I'm not trying to change your mind in any way, just telling you what I saw.

As I said, YMMV.

Jon

[matt t.]

The "original" point of this thread was to see something new and funny on this site. Not have a life changing experience through reviewing somebodies underwater skills. Winter is getting old, and things are getting stale. Spring is  here and I can almost see open water. Somebody else pick a topic we can all chime in on and enjoy.