I particularly like the article posted on the South Florida Dive Journal, as it gives me the clearest view of what you guys are talking about.
Because I am a photographer, I often dive SOLO. Obviously, this makes my use of the term "DIR" in reference to any of my own unacceptable diving habits the equivalent of blasphemy.
Although I've been diving for many years, I do not consider myself "advanced" (except in age). I am, however, experienced enough to appreciate much of what what has been adopted as "Hogartharian" diving (I hoped I spelt it Rite). At lof of this "technique" or "religion" (depending on the POV), is simply old school diving. Minimalist rigs, back floatation, brass spgs, jetfins and modified kicks for conditions, wrist mounted gauges...these were all common when I learned to dive in the mid 70's.
Although I had never heard of "DIR" until I came to this site, I find the philosophy interesting, if not altogether applicable to me and my current style of diving. I certainly can appreciate the thoughtful and serious approach they take to diving. Much of what I find lacking in the current state of dive training does appear to be addressed by the level of training and COMPETENCY espoused by the folks who practice "DIR". Competent trained divers are safe divers. A lot of what i see coming out of the LDS schools is just plain bunk.
Some of what DIR espouses is already my habit, some I have tried in the past and discounted, and others are completely new to me.
This "long hose" concept is fascinating. I have dived a long hose (6') in the past, but as my "safe second" and not as my primary. I was taught way (okay, WAY) back to run my backup over my opposite shoulder and to stow the hose so that it would release when tugged. I used it like this a couple of times and found it convenient when deployed and aggravating most of the rest of the time.
If a handoff could be completed, this was my donor rig. It placed the OOA diver in a "face to face" position, where you could watch his eyes and maintain some measure of control.
If the handoff was unsuccessful or incomplete, then this became my primary, albeit upside down with the hose coming over my left shoulder. (no exhaust tee for mask clearance. It would breathe "wet", but well enough....).
In that case, I got tired of constantly having to restow the thing as it would periodically come loose on my dives. I finally abandonded the long hose as an entanglement hazard. There had to be a better way, but I simply went back to using the "opposite" shoulder approach, but with a shorter hose. That is the way I dive today.
However, the idea of wrapping the hose around your neck and using it as your primary AND as the donor rig makes sense to me, even though it looks goofy as all get-out. I can see the common sensical approach and the inherent advantages.
Only a couple of concerns from my end:
First, I once had a panicked diver, NOT MY BUDDY, come from behind and snatch my secondary rig by the hose. Unfortunately, my "breakaway" lanyard didn't break away and he just about snatched my head off. As it was I had to deal with a panicky diver AND a flooded mask.
Second, I have had two incidences where my mouthpiece separated from my regulator. The first time, it was on a night dive in rough water in Lake Ponchartrain (don't ask!). I got a couple of warning "wet breaths" before the flood almost choked me. It seemed that my local LDS had convinced me to switch to a new "soft touch" silicon mouthpiece. Unfortunately, the strap tie literally cut through the mouthpiece material and it managed to hang on only enough to let me get to about 15' or so. Blecch. Lake Ponchartrain was nasty.
The next time, I don't know what happened, but I suddenly found myself at 70' with a mouthpiece in my mouth sans regulator.
Hence my worry---The DIR type bungee setup includes using the strap tie both as a mouthpiece fastener and a bungee restraint. This sort of double duty is generally considered an "engineering no-no" as it introduces both increased stress at the attachment point and increased risk of multiple failures during one "event".
I could see the apparent, if rare, problem of having a panicked diver in an OOA emergency grab your bungeed rig and ripping the mouthpiece free as he tried to swim up with it.
At that moment, you will have a mouth full of water, a look of surprise and (likely) a flooded mask. The panicked diver will likely be even more surprised when he discovers he has to breath out of a hard plastic orifice.
Does this mean I disagree with the principal OR the setup? Nope. I'm learning something new and simply working through the negatives. I'm curious to see how you guys address these concerns. I still think the idea is intruiging enough that I'm already pricing some "long hose" for a test dive with that setup. Now, I just need someone to convince me to put my bungee (or tubing) UNDER the strap tie for my mouthpiece. THAT is the only hangup I have with this right now.....
Thanks for your patience....
