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> Good for you. Most others do not. I would prefer that they do not die while > attempting to learn. Thats the basic idea behind scuba instruction as a whole > isnt it Mike? You could just read a book and dive away, but lots more people > die that way. So they created this whole system of classes and such, to insure > safety. > > did you get that mike?? I guess I look at it differently Al. We are talking about instruction for tech divers, not entry level. These are divers that should have diving experience and be able to look after themselves. You get a limited amount of instructional time for your dollar. How can you use it best and maximize your gain as a consumer? IMO you use the instructional time as a time to be critiqued on skills you have already begun to work on. Use the time to REFINE those skills, not waste gross amounts of time learning the skills from the bottom, but use it to increase from being rough at it to being much closer to really good. Of the top of my head I can't think of any skills Al that you learn for tech diving that can't be practiced using the new gear in very easy surroundings (like the quarry) or by using your existing gear (that you already are comfortable with) in new surroundings. You can learn doubles, staging, running line, line drills, OOA drills, deploying lift bag, scootering all in your quarry in 20' of water. You won't be a master of them likely, but you will be able to bite off a MAJOR portion of the learning curve, so that your time with the instructor will be on the high part of the curve, not dragging the ditches. the point is there is no excuse for combining gobs of new gear with gobs of new conditions. Now we can certainly say that any instructor who suggests this to a student has very bad judgement. But that student has to buy in and make their own bad judgement as well. Just because an instructor makes a bad decision, that does not absolve the student for making one as well. And who has a more vested interest in saving the student? Well I'd say the student does... and from any behavioral psychology I think you'll find that the person with the best motivation is the one most able to do something. Al, let's drop you in a room full os scissors with Lorena Bobbit. Who do you want protecting your family life... you or some Joe we find on the street and pay $100 ?? :-) > shouldnt the whole point of classes be to teach skills safely instead of being > to sell permits to do stuff you already know how to?? At advanced levels IMO, with the wealth of information available to students outside the classroom setting, I think instruction should be for refining of skills. Of course it may happen that the instructor will decide that the student needs to go back to square one. But if they student has a methodical protect-himself approach then they will relearn these skills (the new way) again in the same comfortable safe environment. > Isnt it foolish to expect that every student will be totally knowledgable and > able to avoid the clueless and dangerous instructor? totally knowledgable no, no student will be that. by the same token (as you seem to be allowing) there is no esxcuse for being totally ignorant. > Why should we even have technical instruction at all if its just an evaluation > of skills obtained elsewhere? Refinement and evaluation. An evaluation to be sure you do have the skills in the opinion of someone else (not just yourself) BEFORE you ever enter the target environment. I'd want to know I was rigging/carrying my stages correctly BEFORE I ever took one on a deep wreck dive or cave dive. By your argument we should not have exams for doctors or pilots. Mike -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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