cardiver wrote:Are you serious? You're a PADI instructor and you wont allow a student to dive with sewn in d rings? Is there something in that configuration that will harm the student or yourself?
![nutty :nutty:](./../images/smilies/cuckoo.gif)
Yup - I'm serious..
I have adopted a certain personal level of standard when teaching Tec classes and I can only give you my opinion on why I wont allow a student to use semi recrational gear in a Tec class. Its my class and I can prescribe required equipment and configurations as prerequisites before taking a class from me..
Sewn in D-rings can not be adjusted for proper positioning and in my experience, leading to people fighting with clipping lights, regs, deco bottles, etc. and building muscle memory that might not serve them in future. So, if and when people continue later on in their dive career into cave or other agencies or move between gear configurations, at least I have done my job to ensure they dont have to re-train themselves again. Same applies with light canister positioning, stacking deco bottles in a all-left configuration, standardized and team matched gasses, etc.
PADI also allows you to do TEC40 with a single tank and a pony bottle or a single tank with H-valve.. "best mix" gasses, etc. And I happen to not allow any of that either.. for the same reasons above..
None of this will probably kill you and I bet you there would be the odd chance that sewn-in D-Rings might be exactly perfect for some people and they might always dive Tec dives with a pony bottle or H-Valve and do that happily for years and years.. Nothing wrong with that and I'll happily go and dive with you.. But to make my life easier and safer during a class, I expect people to apply the same level of standards.
But, thats simply how I roll.. I have a number of things in my personal level of standards when teaching and I wont deviate from it..
If you want to learn how to Tec dive and want to do it with Semi recreational BCD's, pony bottles, H-valves, split fins, masks with purge valves, dangling flash lights, etc.. Sad to say, I might not be the right PADI Tec instructor for you..