Any diver you like? 👎🏼

What about NAUI

Usually love the channel but I hate the packing videos from dive store owners that basically show you how you can spend $5k packing for your trip. More useful would have been how to pack the gear you already have without buying a bunch of crap except maybe a bag and hangers.

Hi , thanks for this video.. for a recreational diver, how do you find Suunto OCEAN compared to Gamin MK3i ? thanks

Could this be a good idea if you are using full face mask as a backup and still have octupus as well?

I use one on these full face ones for like 3 years i think. I didnt had any problems with it. I mostly use this because i stay like 30 60 min in the salty water and if I dont have a full mask my mouth gets eaten away by the salty sea water

7min54s. "...... frogkick like all competent divers do". Not everyone is hppy using the frogkick. I see a amazing large number of divers who are totally inept , and their frogkick has been eaten I'm probably biased as i got into "serious" freedive at the same time i started scuba. One final observation. The frogkick is really difficult to use if you've got one or both hips.

SPOT ON!!!

You wanna carry my tanks, go for it. But, DONT TOUCH MY DAMN GEAR!! Thank you.

Garmin MK3 or Suunto ocean ... This is the question 😂

I've dived with shops in Bali where they insisted on doing a lot for me including changing the tanks during dives, carrying tank to boat, tank off boat, disassemble gear. These were $35/tank outfits. The only person who insisted I set up and disassemble my gear every time was the instructor who certified me.

Closed-Circuit along with automated PPO2 control and CO2 scrubbing - that's innovation. It enables you to do something you COULD NOT DO BEFORE. Avelo doesn't allow you to do anything new it just makes scoobie diving a little easier... big deal.

Hey anyone have an opinion on the battery powered hookah systems? Should I log those dives? Under water is under water right?

To take my open water course I had to buy a mask, snorkel, fins, and boots. I’ve very appreciative to the employees at my local dive shop because they spent a solid 2 hours explaining the difference between the gear and how to tell what fits right, so now I’m pretty happy with those choices.

Hi from France and congrats for that really interesting review. I’m diver and use an apple watch and Mares Quad. Have a question : how many people really NEED all the high end specs of the descent ? How many people can’t be satisfied by a 40 meters Apple Watch and get satisfied by the loyalty of the quad if dive is under 40 m? I think that getting a descent is a must for tech divers (15%) and a « geek affair » for most of all myself included 😊

It is true that PADI does not have the details published, but once you purchase the course (open water) you have all the standards available, as well as the detailed exercises that the instructor will require you to pass. I just completed the open water with them, my instructor followed everything to the letter, even consulting a sheet with all the exercises listed, I suppose each center is different, in my case, the experience has been very good. I don't think it's that important to publish these details for an open water in advance, since you most likely don't know how to dive, so you won't know whether the exercises are simple or complex. For more advanced certifications, it may make sense.

10 years ago, when James did our open water certification course, he indeed explained the course standards, and we did the 300 meter swim with mask and fins. Great and thorough instruction.

As a newly certified diver, this video makes me to not want to go on a charter boat for a very long time. Sounds like a lot of judgement.

New subscriber here! Thanks for what you do. I plan to take lessons but I'm in my 60s and have no plans to go deeper than 50 feet in warm clear saltwater. That having been said, I am thinking I can keep my equipment pretty basic as long as it's durable and dependable. Am I wrong?

Muy buen contenido 👍🏽

Bravo!

Thank you, that answers my questions

I've never had any issues getting the actual course standards document from the agencies. I used those to populate a spreadsheet comparing the different courses, as well as developing a step by step training matrix for the training track I'm interested in.

I bought the MK3I for my dives in the Keys and love it! Its ability to manage and plan run and bike rides as well as diving is impressive. Awesome watch. Needed to download Garmin Connect as well to connect to my phone. It is expensive, but I personally believe that it is well worth the money.

I did my CCR air diluent and decompression course for the AP, I sat down with the instructor and went through what the course standards were, he then advised me what he was going to do in addition… my instructor prided himself on the quality of his courses (and rightly so) rather than just change a battery and an o ring we stripped the unit right down and rebuilt it, including the solenoid (he is an AP TECH) then the skills were drilled and drilled and drilled, flash cards issued at the most inconvenient time.. by the end of the course I was knackered but I was happy I had my monies worth and I was confident in the use of the rebreather.. It is now the bar for All future course, if I have not been hammered with drills and questioned about everything on every dive and any theory…I won’t be happy. Instructors must have some pride in what they do and prove their worth, otherwise they are not worth the time.

I dive with 2 of the most experienced divers in the UK and both mount a knife to their leg. And a easy accessible one on their bcd. So I know its all preferences but slating someone mounting one to their leg and making out they're in experienced. You want one accessible for you buddy as well so a reasonably sized knife on the leg is good if your top half gets tangled your buddy can grab it

About the agencies that are more difficult, more challenging, etc., well... GUE?

Standards are important, but not everything. Far too many instructors simply regurgitate a mindless tick list of standards without actually creating competent divers. Standards only work if combined with an objective definition of student performance (i.e. 'mastery'). Students bumbling through a given skill once or twice does not ensure learning and retention. Very, very few instructors invest the time to actually drill skills to a persistently reliable level. Similarly, standards are ineffective if not written with enough specificity to prevent downwards interpretation. I have seen instructors interpret vaguely written standards to the point of utter meaninglessness. Lastly, in continued education, it seems normalized for instructors to entirely disregard prerequisites competencies (not certifications) for courses. The most common general standards violation is the neglect of pre-course skills assessments. Students progress from course to course with fundamental skill deficits remaining unaddressed.

Glad you think like me. They are expensive rubbish.Take them apart, you will realise why.Qd fitting is asking for trouble and as you point out the hose length is far too short.

The part where you talk about the agencies is exactly the reason I've choose to go down the tec diver route rather than divemaster and instructer I have no interest of becoming part of there pyramid scheme just want to become a better diver 👌

Always the best videos. Thank you for the valuable info and really glad that you are OK.

Great share. Agree 100% that being insured (I use DANAP) is essential.

If any crew wants to watch I'll let them but that's about it... other than me on the boat asking them to unhook the bungee from the valves (yes that happens to divers with a bit experience as well 🤫) If they want to check if the valve is open I'll ask them them to tell me when they do this so I can check it afterwards. This way they are happy they can comply with their procedures and I'm happy because I was the last one touching the valve.

Goodness your description of the courses with all their grammar issues, spelling and math errors was fantastic. I actually have always checked the course standards for all my courses before I signed up for the course… well, since I stopped training with PADI. I use that to also check myself if I feel like I am up to snuff to even take the course. My favorite tec instructor also uses the standards, but as a minimum. He and I are both slightly deranged and enjoy finding what my true breaking point is during skills, and he always plans extra dives to work on skills, or have fun dives after course completion.

Got these for my kids and tried on myself. Decided not to use bc felt like I was breathing in the air I was breathing out. No way to tell if I was getting fresh air and you wouldn't know until you start getting dizzy and pass out. This is probably why people have died.

This model is discontinued. Any recommendations on another product equally effective?

I have never understood the whole point of the 200M swim test. Wouldn't you be able to tell if a student could swim after 20M?? I mean isn't that the point of the BCD and the oral inflation training? I guess in a perfect storm you could technically run out of air and puncture your BCD and have to ditch everything and swim for it but what's the odds of that? As always, love the videos James!!

I mean... as a n00b its easier to deal with the integrated setup than it is to have two hoses flopping around. Yeah you get used to it the more you dive, but starting out it's easier to differentiate. If I'm donating air to a diver without, I'm handing out the primary and switching to my integrated. I don't usually use the "pull to dump" feature... I go for the one on the opposite shoulder to bleed off bcd air. When putting it on (I don't like people touching me unless they're doing a quick check on the tank), it's one less hose I have to worry about getting snagged on while dawning the gear. You made some good points and gave me more to think about. I have a standard secondary like you recommend simply because the BCD I bought didn't have the integrated built in (like the nighthawk I trained on).

I did my AOW with Padi in the Bahamas and the instructor always told me ahead of time what was expected for each specialty dive by reading the cards PADI prepared for each specialty. Everything was well done. When I did my PADI OW in Cancun before that, the instructor was also very clear about the expectations and standards and very safety oriented. We've remained good friends and have spoken a few times over the years of his dissatisfaction with some employers who couldn't care less for security or course requirements. I've got a feeling like the issue is often with the bosses and not with the instructors themselves.

Been there, done it. Amazing dive. Got the specialty card. Would do it again!

Only thing I feel my wife and I didnt get enough training with was weighing and boyuancy. We were definitely over weighted in the pool sessions and check dives at the spring and boyuancy was a major issue. Fast forward two months and we went to the Philippines and did our first ocean dives and both ended up using 2-4lbs less weight each in saltwater and boyuancy was not a problem at all after the first dive. I know it probably makes things easier on an instructor having students overweighted but it killed my confidence knowing we were going to the Coral triangle and worried I was going to crash into the reef. Luckily we had an amazing guide that took the time to make sure we were weighted properly and gave us some pointers on finning and trim the dives were incredible.

For us is obligatory surface boa and deployeble

Mares? What is strong and poor side? Same for scubatec?

I just can not fully agree. Hear me out: my very first snorkeling started with cheap full face mask from huge european chain store. Good visibility, pretty well shaped so fitting was nice. Breathing in this mask is something you need to get used to. For the next year, I bought higher version of the same mask, with improved breathing system and wider visor. I need to admit, that was a huge upgrade. I agree, breathing is heavier and you really get exhausted faster than with traditional snorkel set. But if you pay attention and observe your body, you will not reach the dangerous zone. To sum this up, I have spent lots of time in masks like this in Adriatic Sea - Have never felt like I was in serious danger. I followed the instructions, watched a few videos of people who use them much more often than me and i just kept using and enjoying it. You are 100% right about choosing top brand masks. That was my beginner mistake.

How do our students "know" what they are supposed to be learning during their course? It's easy. We literally provide them the agency standards directly from the S&P so they can see it, and THEN we show them all the additional requirements our company adds to those baseline standards. They literally get to see up-front. At the end, we go over everything on a checklist and they get to verify they were indeed held to OUR standard. "Exceeding "the standard" is OUR "standard" here at PDC.

Why do you carry on the left side? Would not be better on the right, away from low pressure inflator hose? [2:53]

Thanks for this review. Please do one for the new Suunto Ocean and maybe a comparison?

I agree with everything except the last point. Why WHY can we not set the prices such that everyone gets compensated properly? In the end you're paying the same amount anyway, except there's the added pressure and guilt. Why can't we just have a pleasant transaction, I give you whatever you ask up front and I don't need to worry about keeping bills dry in the middle of the ocean? There is another type of diver: the bragging card collector, he will make sure to tell you about his altitude dry suit ice diver deep speciality card while you're out on a 40ft reef in the Caribbean.

Are there a lot of incidences of problems using these in out-of-air situations?

This was my mindset as a brand new OW student: dive shop X charges $300 for the entire OW course, dive shop Y charges $400. I knew nothing about scuba and my only information was the price and the card that I would get at the end; so the "product" in my mind was that card, and if it's the same in either case, then I should go with the cheaper shop. Obviously it was ignorance (and some stupidity) on my part. I still would've preferred if the $400 dive shop explained to me about the safety aspect, the skills involved, importance of a good instructor etc., I probably would've gone with them instead.