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Richard, The anology you have used below is unsound. The far better anology for WKPP diving skill/proceedures versus PADI Instructor skills/proceedures, would be: If you wanted to learn advanced mathmatics, would you choose a famous Physicist, or the local 6th grade Math teacher.... Personally I'd rather learn from Carl Sagan than Mr. Rogers. On a list for the general public, where many people do not know how to dive, the PADI way may be just fine... But if you post messages to TECH DIVER, you'll find there several thousand people with nothing but scorn for the inadequacies certified as safe diving by PADI...Your credentials as a PADI Dive Instructor, if worn as a "Badge of Accomplishment", can only be met with derrision and laughter by this group. This is not to say that there are not several members on this list, who are exceptional tech or cave divers, who are also PADI Instructors---if they are exceptional, this has NOTHING to do with their Instructor status or training....This has to do with their exceptional experience level and the peer group or mentors they have dived with. The laughter occurrs when you start telling us we should listen to you BECAUSE YOU ARE A PADI INSTRUCTOR, not because of your thousands of technically demanding dives. Now Rich, there are dives which are not technically demanding, where you can do many things in a substandard way, and still complete your dives in a comfort zone....but there are many other places where you can dive, even in relatively shallow water, where there is danger in not having a good gear configuration, of not being hydrodynamically slick, of not planning the dive in such a manner that you can handle predictable problems. I have seen hundreds of instructors, some PADI some NAUI, and others, with poor buoyancy skills, with no reflexes for unplanned currents, no fitness (some dangerously unfit), no real advanced skills. The fact is, you don't have to be much of a diver to teach it. You "could be" a great diver, but unfortunately, this is hardly a prerequisite. This is why many of us prefer not to point to an agency for a new diver to be trained, but we would rather send them to an excellent instructor that we know---someone we would want our wife, brother or sister to learn from. And when we send this person we care about, we will not say, "This guy is a PADI INSTRUCTOR" ....we will say "This instructor is AN AWESOME DIVER, AND YOU SHOULD DO EVERYTHING EXACTLY AS HE DOES". In diving, it is NOT appropriate to teach "personal preference" in anything but color selection of wetsuits and fins---and even there some direction could be given. Dan >On 3/1/96 at 3:45:17 PM Dan Volker wrote: > >>I'd much >> rather read about why George or Sankey or Gavin wants to use a new piece of >> equipment, or about a new proceedure they have just started, than some >> little whining diatribe about who faked who's message. > >I would too. I would also like to not de deluged with belittlement of anyone >who does not accept their opinion as gospel. > >My complaint with (some of) the WKPP is their attitude that EVERYONE who does >any diving MUST do it their way. I readily admit that they are experts in >deep, tri-mix, scooter dives. However, they are unwilling to realize that not >everyone is doing that kind of dive. > >I know something about automobiles. I think there is an appropriate analogy. > >Everyone will admit that a Formula 1 car is faster than my wife's Olds. >If you wish to compete in a speed race, the race car is clearly the correct >choice. However, that same car is totally inappropriate for my wife to use to >go get groceries. Race cars must be constantly maintained. Most of them have >trouble going 500 miles without a major overhaul. > >I think the same is true in dive gear. The appropriate dive gear/procedures >may depend on the circumstances. George may need to avoid a butt-mounted light >because he needs that tiepoint to tow a scooter. However, if I don't have a >scooter, that is not really a consideration. > >The same can be said about the light canister. It is agreed that a cylindrical >container has greater rigidity than a flat sided one if the wall materials are >the same composition and thickness. That does not imply that I cannot build a >cube that will go to any scuba diving depth without failing. I simply must use >appropriate materials and thicknesses. This is not to say that the existing >products were properly designed. However, to DEMAND that everyone use a >cylindrical container is faulty reasoning. > >When the members of the WKPP cease their personal attacks, I will be happy to >stop attacking their methods. > >Richard Wackerbarth >rkw@da*.ne* > >Sent with a test-drive version of CTM PowerMail 1.0.6 <http://www.ctm.ch> > > Dan Volker SOUTH FLORIDA DIVE JOURNAL "The Internet magazine for Underwater Photography and mpeg Video" http://www.florida.net/scuba/dive 407-683-3592
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