A few newbie questions.. :)

[aychamo]

So.. I have a few newbie questions!

What is DIR?

What is tech diving?

I've been certified for over 12 years, but only recently started making a couple of dives, and am enjoying it. I am moving to the Caribbean in a few weeks so I'll have ample opportunity to dive, and I'm trying to catch up on everything.

 

[BrianS]

http://www.scubaboard.com/forumdisplay.php?f=43

 

[novicediver]

You are in a similar boat as I am. I certified 20 years ago and my diving was sporadic at best so I am still very much a novice. I didn't bother with taking a refresher, although I will probably get flamed for that. A shop in my area does drop in pool sessions at a rec center and I did some practice sessions and then went with someone else who was more experienced to the lakes around here. I didn't know much about DIR or tech diving either but if you look at the forums, you can find alot of information about where and how to go about that type of training. Obviously the info is no substitute for the actual training but at least you get a good idea.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

So.. I have a few newbie questions!

What is DIR?

What is tech diving?

I've been certified for over 12 years, but only recently started making a couple of dives, and am enjoying it. I am moving to the Caribbean in a few weeks so I'll have ample opportunity to dive, and I'm trying to catch up on everything.

Look at the top of the page, at the control bar beneath where it says "Welcome, Aychamo" (top left)...

The third button from the right is 'Search'. click on Advanced Search.

Putting either DIR or 'tech' into the search should produce a number of threads that ask the same question, together with some interesting answers.

The short answer is that technical diving is nothing but a natural progression beyond no-decompression diving limits and into overhead environments. DIR is one philosophical approach to that sort of diving. There are others as well.

Happy reading...

Doc

 

[Diver0001]

So.. I have a few newbie questions!

What is DIR?

What is tech diving?

I've been certified for over 12 years, but only recently started making a couple of dives, and am enjoying it. I am moving to the Caribbean in a few weeks so I'll have ample opportunity to dive, and I'm trying to catch up on everything.

To put it as concisely as possible, DIR is what extreme cave diving evolved into in about hmmmmm 1992 or so. DIR is a sort of catch-all name for a number of best practices (material, technique, principles and methods) which have gained a mainstream following. It's not a fad but more of an evolution of a particular way of doing things although there are some elements of fad like behavior among DIR wannabes, especially on the internet.

Tech diving is easier to define. As a sport diver you have limits of depth and time per depth (NDL's). When you exceed these limits you enter into a realm of diving which requires more gear, different techniques & methods, more training and more planning than a run-of-the-mill recreational dive. The catch-all phrase for this is technical diving.

R..

 

[Kriterian]

So.. I have a few newbie questions!

What is DIR?

What is tech diving?

I've been certified for over 12 years, but only recently started making a couple of dives, and am enjoying it. I am moving to the Caribbean in a few weeks so I'll have ample opportunity to dive, and I'm trying to catch up on everything.

DIR stands for "Doing it Right" and there is a nice write-up in the DIR section of the Technical forums here. You can find out more by going to GUE's (Global Underwater Explorers) website or picking up a copy of the book "Doing it Right: The Fundamentals of Diving" by Jarrod Jablonski. Pick it up from GUE since Amazon only ever has it for 100$ on up for some reason.

Tech diving is just a blanket term for various advanced and "technical" types of diving. Scubaboard has a section dedicated to it here. This is just a general idea but the types of diving could be: Cave, Deep (beyond 130 ft or more), DIR (more on that above), Police and Safety Divers or PSD's, Wreck (a recreation diver can see one but you need advanced skills to penetrate), using exotic gas mixes such as Nitrox, Heliox, Trimix etc., Solo Diving. I'm sure I'm forgetting some others but basically anything that is more advanced than recreational or possibly even beyond Advanced Open Water.

Congrats on the move to the Carribean, sounds like fun and I'm jealous. Just make sure you take it slow, maybe doing a refresher course or even a full Open Water course again if you haven't dove at all in those 12 years.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Welcome back to diving aychamo

I didn't bother with taking a refresher, although I will probably get flamed for that. A shop in my area does drop in pool sessions at a rec center and I did some practice sessions and then went with someone else who was more experienced to the lakes around here.

I hate to bust your "I'm gonna get flamed" bubble but doing "practice sessions" in a pool with a dive shop is basically a refresher and if you did "some" sessions instead of just "one" you probably had more skill review time than some refreshers give you anyway
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Spoon]

DIR doing it right is a system or attitude to diving. mainly overall dive attitude, gear configuration: check out www.gue.com.

tech diving can mean many things to diff people but it is when you cross the threshold from general recreational ow diving into a more....... Technical diving. mainly equipment configuration and exotic gasses and environments.