4 and 5 Person Dive Teams......a bad idea

[Sludge]

The "PADI mentality" is alive and well...

[amphipod06]

Most of them do, NACD, NSS-CDS, IANTD, TDI and UTD offer this course. With NAUI and GUE it is included in the Cave 2 curriculum, probably with PSAI as well.

Oliver

Back when we completed Full Cave course it included stage diving and decompression....(not that it's rocket science)... and you were NOT guaranteed to pass the course just because you had cash on hand... PADI be damned...(apologies to my friends who remain acolytes)

Dive safe,

Celia

[Rhino]

My understanding is that PSAI full cave, by itself, does not include use of a stage or stages to extend penetration. However, it does include certification to use a single stage for decompression, with a mix for which the diver is otherwise certified.

[tflaris]

I personally love 5 man teams. More lights to choose from, more gas options.

You can even wave someone off during an OOA so you can breath from another buddy's reg.

LOL!!!

[RN]

Dude the whole thing was a joke, dont sweat it.

I know what you said was but this statement was made:

But as we were experiencing their first stage dives, and I am an instructor allowed to take three students in the cave, I guess technically while you are correct that it was a 4 man buddy team, it is allowable to teach 3 students.

Just wondering what agency. The agencies I teach through only allow 2 students during a stage class.

What agency thinks it's okay to charge money for a "stage class?" We learned how to dive stages in Cave Class.

I incorporate stages in the final dives of some classes if the students want. I've only ever taught one stage class and that was a referral I got. It isn't a popular class. However, I do see a value in it if taught correctly, meaning various gas management techniques are discussed and various methods of carrying a stage cylinder are discussed and used. This is something that can easily be done with a good mentor.

[TeddyB]

If you are too dumb to figure stage diving assuming you have had adequate cave diving training.... Maybe crochet is more your speed.. Sometimes these things go too far...

[rjack]

Just wondering what agency. The agencies I teach through only allow 2 students during a stage class..

GUE cave2 includes stages and a course can have a max of 3 students. Not sure why a full cave course could have 3 students but this add on can only have 2?

[LCF]

Personally, I think a stage class could be very useful. I might well have presented for my Cave 2 without any technical training (as it turned out, I did a one-bottle deco class because I KNEW I needed some prep). I got no instruction at all in handling two bottles, which resulted in some very amusing situations, if you were the person not involved in the class, and not either the poor woman trying to figure out how to clip on the second bottle, or the buddies tapping their feet because they couldn't start their deco until I got it done.

The gas rules and bottle handling for a single stage are pretty simple. But when you get to a second bottle, it gets more interesting, and I think an instructor's help and a couple of days of practice would make that a lot easier.

[nakatomi]

Personally, I think a stage class could be very useful.

I agree, it would be very useful.
But then the question is, is such a class required or not? Or more specifically, is someone breaking the limits of training when doing staged dives at the full cave level?
As far as I am told, that is the fact, provided that the diver in question has been certified through one of the agencies that offer this course.

Oliver

[Shocky]

From personal experience, more than 3 is a bad idea.