DIR is rather a closed philosophy. DIR divers embrace one way of diving. You use a BP/W or your not DIR. If you dive Split fins then you are not DIR. There are DIR divers who refuse to dive with those who are not DIR. No matter how nice someone is, when they refuse to dive with someone because they are not DIR that can lead to problems.
See, I think that's a rather closed philosophy ... because I've run into all kinds of divers who have varying exposure to DIR training ... and they're all individuals.
My first exposure to DIR was some fellow my ex-wife and I ran into while gearing up for a dive at a local site. He was a classic know-it-all ... pointing out why the gear we were using (as new divers) was, in his words, an accident waiting to happen. Turns out he wasn't much more experienced than we were, had just not-quite-passed the entry-level GUE class, and trying hard to prove something. I wasn't impressed.
Next exposure to DIR was a fellow named Terkel Sorenson. He was a much more experienced DIR diver ... had a company making can lights and other DIR-compatible gear. Despite my TUSA BCD, short-hose reg and split fins, we ended up doing a lot of dives together over a period of a couple years. Then he got married, moved to California, and got a job selling real-estate. I don't even think he dives anymore ... but I do know that when he did, he never took himself so seriously that he wasn't fun to be around and dive with. He's the guy who taught me ... even in split fins ... that I could dive without kicking up a lot of silt.
Next person I met who I thought was DIR because of her backplate and long hose was Mel Clarke ... some of you probably have heard of her. Nice woman, very good diver, never to my knowledge embraced DIR ... just happened to look like one. These days she dives and instructs on rebreathers.
Then there was Uncle Pug ... incredible diver, great sense of humor, and one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. He taught me how to
think about diving. Ron was and is very much a DIR diver ... if there was ever someone I'd hold up as a person to emulate both in skills and approach to diving, it would be him. And yet I've never known him to judge anyone, or refuse to dive with anyone, based on their equipment choices or agency affiliations.
Along came TSandM ... the Borg Queen. Oddly, I think it was me who set her down the DIR path ... and I'm not even DIR. I just showed her what a good diver is supposed to look like, and when she said she wanted some of that, I suggested that DIR would be a good way for her to get it. Given her personality, I thought it would be a good fit for her ... turned out to be an understatement.
I've watched our local DIR community evolve over the past decade or so ... watched the ebb and flow of personalities ... worked at a shop that offered GUE classes for a while ... and had a succession of friends and not-so-friends who identified themselves by that particular style of training. And through it all, I've both participated and held myself aloof from what one would call the DIR community ... mostly for the simple reason that my interests lie elsewhere and in other styles of diving. And through all of those years, there have been a few "I won't dive with you" moments ... but way, way more times when I was warmly welcomed at events that were sponsored primarily by DIR-trained people. I've had several invitations from GUE instructors to come out and sit in on classes ... and have even helped out by videoing a few.
I've seen ... and endured ... stereotypes both by and toward DIR-trained divers. And frankly, I've had more people snub me because I looked to them like a DIR diver than I've been snubbed by the few "I won't dive with you" types who take their training and themselves too seriously. And through it all, I've learned something extremely important ...
... judge people based on their actions and attitude ... not by their equipment or training choices. We dive for fun ... I want to surround myself with people who are fun to be around. What I've discovered is that there's as many people inside the DIR community who fit that criteria as there are outside of it. And for the most part, they aren't going to judge you by your gear, but by your attitude ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)