[eluser]yarinb[/eluser]
while using a standard class should work, I loose all the benefits of working with models this way since I don't have access to $this->db object from within my model.
I found a way to use db->set() in order to set the insert fields to the database. it's somewhat cumbersome but I still maintain CI's way of work.
thanks a lot for your help!
Yarin