Posted by Ken Kurtis on May 29, 2002 at 11:27:14:
In Reply to: I always thought of the BC as more of a ''luxury item''... posted by Bob3 on May 29, 2002 at 09:54:02:
Bob3 wrote: "One of the better shops up here starts students off w/out a BC, lets them get used to all the other doo-dads first."
This is not meant as a flame, Bob, but if they are truly doing this, even just in a pool, this is a gross violation of every agency's training standards for new divers. God forbid they have an accident because they'll get fried big-time for this as evidence that they willfully neglect accepted and standard safe teaching methodsand regardless if they have any blame for an actual accident, this would be used as evidence of shoddy teaching methodology.
Somehow the word "better" and "standards violation" don't go together in my book.
While it may seem like a "good" idea to let them get used to the other "doo-dads" (although I'm trying to figure out what those complicated things would be - regulator, fins, mask????), I think it also sets a bad example for the students by suggesting to them that a BC is NOT a necessary item.
And, asumming your post title wasn't a troll or tongue-in-cheek, if you really feel a BC is a "luxury" item (and assuming you were trained at this place) you just made my point.
Given that we just had a fatality where one of the contributing factors (IMHO) was the inability of the diver to stay on the surface (even with his BC fully inflated - probably grossly over-weighted), and given that every year, divers die because they can't stay a float, I think promoting the idea that the BC is NOT an integral part of your dive equipment, especially to brand-new divers, is just plain wrong and dangerous.
Ken Kurtis
NAUI Instr. #5936
Co-owner, Reef Seekers Dive Co.
Beverly Hills, CA