Just 'cottoned' on to this thread! (sorry). It's made me grin as I am new to this forum and amazed that this old chestnut is still doing the rounds. I have stood my ground on this for as many years as I can remember (not that it's done me much good). In normal civilian life, engineering, administration, building, teaching etc. qualifications are fine and they indicate that the person has knowledge commensurate with the level attained. This system works reasonably well on the whole. However, in survival, bushcraft, mountaincraft, combat survival, navigation etc. qualifications prove very little other than the possession of a few basic skills. This is because, predominantly, these topics require extremely strong mental strength; this cannot be taught and equally cannot be learned. Yes, with a qualification the person can demonstrate the required skills in a controlled environment; they may be totally useless under pressure! Just because someone has a qualification doesn't make them good or even proficient. It has always amazed me that the military mountain leader course was never recognised equally with the civilian course and frowned upon by many. A bushcraft/survival qualification gets you in the door, it doesn't and will never be an indication of someone who can actually do it when it really matters and lives are at stake. I have been frowned upon by including an 18 hour navigational exercise with only water to drink and no food at all at the end of the basic one week navigation course. I often find that the 'stars' of the course when everything is warm and comfortable are rarely the ones that navigate well on the test. It's a real eye-opener to see how going without food for a short while can affect certain people.
Unfortunately, we now live in a country where employers are only interested in a piece of paper to show to the insurance company when it all goes wrong... It keeps things nice and neat. Whereas if they actually employed people who can actually do it under would be far less accidents. I wonder just how many 'qualified' survival instructors would actually be able to light a fire with a knife and sparker in freezing rain and wind if they knew that if they failed they would be dead in 1 hour?
After saying all that, my views have lost me much work over the years because of my refusal to comply. Is it this unfailing tenacity that makes a good instructor?