Posted by Karl S. on September 25, 2002 at 13:45:07:
In Reply to: Re: ESAs, EBAs, Air Sharing, & Alt Air posted by Kendall Raine on September 25, 2002 at 12:10:55:
I will reply regarding team diving first.
Team diving is the GUE buzzword for doing it their way. A team of tech divers goes in to "do" a dive mission together.
GUE is still a fairly new player on the block. I feel that ultimately they will fit in nicely, among the crowd of young, athletic tech divers. I dont believe they will ever have universal appeal nor universal relevance.
I believe that civilian scuba diving is better off with GUE's publications available to everyone for purchase. And young athletic tech divers who train with GUE will become better divers, in my opinion. GUE's DecoPlanner software is the best dive software that I have ever seen, better than Aybss, in my opinion.
I dont believe GUE is for everybody on this earth however. And GI & JJ both specifically state that GUE is not for everyone on this earth.
Regarding EBAs, it seems to me that the best place to teach and drill EBAs is in a pool. The same is true of buddy breathing. For those SSI stores that drill EBAs in the open water, I salute them. I know SSI instructors who say "I WANT students to feel what it feels like to run out of air underwater [the instructor turns off their air] and drop their weight belts and do a complete EBA from 25 fsw."
As a NAUI instructor, I would have to first get permission from the NAUI I/T who owns the scuba store before doing this. He might want concurrence from Tampa Florida first too. EBAs is not a part of NAUI standards and policies, although training divers beyond standards and policies is in fact a NAUI standard and policy.
Regarding whether all new divers should carry a pony bottle, well, what can I say? If this doesnt seem like a good idea too you, Kendall, then maybe you have just been very thoroughly indoctrinated by GUE already with your team diving concept. And if thats true, fine.
If however I were taking a beautiful girl dressed in her nice bikini to a nice warm water scuba site to dive with me, I would not want a team of GUE divers around us, just her, and me, if you catch my drift. As in drift diving.
And I would not want to rely on her octo as my only alt air source.
I myself never, ever dive in the open water without my pony bottle, slung like a tech stage tank frontally. Its always there when and if I need it. No ifs ands or buts.
And more often than not, lately, I have been bringing along a 60 cu ft stage tank with EAN50 in it for the egression phase of my dives off dive boats as well. That is my own technical twist to recreational boat diving.
I train my own open water students very thoroughly. More thoroughly than anyone else whom I have seen teach scuba. By the time I am done with my students, they have great buoyancy skills, in the pool as well as in the open water. I am not limited to 4 open water dives. NAUI lets me take as many open water dives and as many pool sessions as I see fit.
Hope that answers all of your loaded questions.