All Roads Eventually Lead to a Backplate and Wing -

All Roads Eventually Lead to a Backplate and Wing

Article by Jessy Thompson, SDI Instructor

Pictures by Ricardo Castillo

What Does One Dive Family Mean to Me?

As I reflect on SDIs new rebranding to “One Dive Family,” I can’t help but think that sooner or later, all roads will eventually lead to a backplate and wing.

Here me out… As I enter my 10^th year as a dive instructor and my 20^th year as a professional educator, I’ve learned that education—like diving—is cyclical; however, quality instruction never goes out of style.

Now, I’m not exactly sure how “One Dive Family” will shape SDI’s branding, marketing, or instructional materials. But what excites me is the opportunity to have a real conversation with my open water students about the idea of “beginning with the end in mind” and how this ties into the concept of “keeping it all in the family.”

Before I go any further, let me acknowledge that there will be differing opinions about what I’m about to say, and I think that’s a good thing. Let’s have these discussions! There’s always something new to learn, whether it’s about training philosophies, techniques, or approaches.

My Evolution as an Instructor

When I first began my instructor journey, I was at the mercy of my local dive shops and the “expertise” they offered. After all, we don’t know what we don’t know. This is fine, but it has its limitations. When I moved away from the restrictions of dive shops who are often more dependent on income from gear sales than instruction, what I saw when I looked back was a whole lot of “equipment solutions to training problems.”

It is an interesting phenomenon that people will happily pay for equipment, but struggle to pay for training. I wish the model were flipped, but alas. In any event, as I transitioned into a private instructor, I found my ability to provide better instruction much easier outside of the confines of wearing, using, and selling shop gear designed for one particular type of student, which in most cases was the casual resort diver and a very limited market.

In fact, according to a recent Dive Industry Market Data Report, “About 2.7 million Americans went scuba diving at least once in 2022, which is less than 1% of the U.S. population.” This is not a lot of people.

Two Roads Diverged… I Could Not Travel Both

This brings me to my point. If the sport is going to grow, we need people to pursue it beyond the casual resort trip. And one way for this to happen is to accept that, eventually, all roads lead to a backplate/wing, longhouse, and necklace. So why not welcome people to this family in the first place?

Now, I do not think, nor am I suggesting that SDI’s rebranding is about this approach, but the training agency’s roots in technical diving cannot be ignored!

SDI is born out from the parent agency Technical Diving International. The largest and one of the most respected technical training agencies in the world. In the decades since its founding, TDI has managed to maintain widely held respect in the technical diving community and is an absolute leader in technical diver education at all levels. And because we should never be afraid to address difficult conversations or realities, we all know technical diving certifications are not equal across the board.

Time to Expand the Family

So what I love most about the “One Dive Family” branding is that I can have a conversation with each of my students about “beginning with the end in mind” and design their instruction to build the foundational skills that they will need for the rest of their diving career, not just their upcoming vacation.

Let’s consider two examples:

Student A wants to get certified as an Open Water diver, with no plans to go further than Advanced Open Water or Nitrox. However, I still teach them in a backplate and wing setup and ensure that they learn proper buoyancy, trim, propulsion, and procedures in a way that sets them up for any future class they may take. Should they later decide to take a technical diving course or move into more advanced areas, they’re already prepared. Moreover, they’re entering the family as a core member, not a distant cousin only seen around the holidays.

Compare to:

Student B who starts out with the same intentions but is limited to a more traditional BCD setup and procedures that are not rooted in “technical diving.” If Student B one day decides to take any course beyond Advanced Adventure diver, they’ll have to, in the words of Yoda, “Unlearn all that they have learned.”

So why not “begin with the end in mind” and welcome everyone to the family with open arms? With this approach, students do not have to view advanced classes and technical diving as some heavily guarded secret reserved for the chosen few, but rather as a goal in skills and knowledge that is available to more people than the industry has perhaps historically embraced.

Time to Expand the Family

It is time for the mystique of technical diving that discourages people from pursuing higher level courses and training to fade away. For years, there has been an unspoken (let’s be honest… and readily spoken) barrier that makes technical diving feel out of reach for most divers. It’s often portrayed as something reserved only for the “elite” or the “chosen few.” But in reality, technical diving is just a natural progression from solid, foundational sport diving experience.

And the reality is that new open water divers benefit just as much from technical diving concepts —like situational and team awareness, standardization of gear, and team protocols —even if they never pursue technical diving. These skills make diving safer for everyone, regardless of level. And, if the industry is to grow, we really need to think about some large family get-togethers beyond Thanksgiving and Christmas.

When I first started diving, I was content with the occasional trip to Cozumel or the Bahamas. But today, I’m diving the Great Lakes several months a year, taking regular cave trips to Florida and Mexico, and hosting weekly after-work dives for our growing number of CCR divers. My diving has expanded far beyond the resort-style trips I once thought of as the pinnacle, and a clear consequence of this is that my local dive shops are still benefiting from my more advanced needs—filling tanks, servicing gear, and supporting local charters.

The Road Home

So what does “One Dive Family” mean to me? It means that training, education, resources, and access have reached a level where the industry really needs to reconsider the separation of diving activities as “for some, but not others” and move to a model that says, “Yes, eventually you can learn how to do that and I can treat you like you’re capable from day one.” Afterall, it is all one family… just be forewarned, if this is the approach more instructors move toward, eventually all roads will lead to a backplate and wing!

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