a retreat from DIR

[H2Andy]

i've said this a few times in the middle of posts, but let me say it by itself:

thank you to all the DIR and non-DIR divers who have taken time to help me
with my questions. really appreciate it!

 

[onfloat]

i've said this a few times in the middle of posts, but let me say it by itself:

thank you to all the DIR and non-DIR divers who have taken time to help me
with my questions. really appreciate it!

I hope I was one of those that helped. I have to say your questions made me think and evaluate why I dive the way I do, so thanks for that. No one should be afraid to examine to the gnats butt why things are done the way they are done. As long as it's done long before the team hits the water and not mid dive.

 

[DIR-Atlanta]

what may be unsafe or unsound about wearing the canister on the left?
(note: i still wear canister on right. i have not made this change)

This one's actually pretty easy. The "canister on right hip" requirement ties back to a single fundamental, immutable, non-negotiable tenet of DIR - the long hose always goes on the right post. In fact, most things about DIR can be traced back to this, or the fact that DIR divers breath the long hose, or a combination of the two (and of course both of these requirements are driven by the desire to be as effective as possible when helping your buddy in an OOG emergency).

The reason why the long hose must go on the right post is because the right post is much less likely to roll off during a dive (a "roll off" occurs when a cave diver accidentally brushes the ceiling - because of the way the right post turns relative to the diver's direction of travel, it would be forced open in that situation, rather than accidentally closing). The reason why this is so important is that in a gas sharing situation, the OOG diver will be breathing the long hose. If it rolls off, he will be OOG (again), and more particularly, will have no way to re-open the gas supply (since the valve is on his buddy's back). So it's critically important that an OOG diver be breathing from a hose that is connected to a valve that is unlikely to roll off, i.e. the right post.

If the long hose is on the right post, then it must of necessity be deployed over the right shoulder. Otherwise, it will not be possible to stretch it out to its full length (passing the hose from the right post over the left shoulder would mean that the 12-18" that crosses the donating diver's shoulders is not deployed, which shortens the usable length of hose). The hose must also be stowed in a way that (a) keeps it out of the way when not being use for gas sharing, (b) facilitates rapid deployment in an emergency, and (c) allows for easy retrieval and restowage by the diver. As you are aware, the DIR solution to this is to tuck the hose behind the wing on the right side, hook it under the canister light (or tuck into the harness waist strap), loop across the chest, behind the neck, and into the mouth.

There is no practical way to do this if the canister is worn on the left. The hose is on the right post, must be deployed over the right shoulder, and is most easily retrieved and donated with the right hand. Therefore the only place that it makes sense to put the light canister is on the right hip.

Stage bottles are worn on the left to avoid interfering with the light cord or deployment of the long hose. If you are scootering, then it also prevents them from getting bounced around by the prop wash from the scooter (which would increase drag and reduce the overall efficiency of the scooter).

Scooter is driven with the right hand, lighthead is carried in the left, and voila - there you have it.

 

[Jasonmh]

You say that you want and appreciate hearing the DIR perspective, when it sounds like what you really want is to play word games.

not quite correct

i continue to look for other, additional reasons.

GOOD LUCK WITH THAT. YOU SEEM TO HAVE EXHAUSTED THE REASONS HERE, AND MAYBE SHOULD LOOK ELSEWHERE NOW. AGAIN, AS I SAID BEFORE, IF ALL THE REASONS YOU ALREADY HAVE AREN'T ENOUGH, WHAT DIFFERENCE WILL ONE MORE MAKE?

basically, i want to see if i've missed some considerations in my analyzis

YOU HAVEN'T. AND IF YOU WERE TRULEY INTERESTED IN FINDING ALL THE CONSIDERATIONS, YOU WOULD TAKE THE CAVE CLASS.

i never said that.

here's what i said:

well, after thinking about this for a while, and trying various things out,
i have decided that after about two years of diving with the standard DIR
configuration (plus computer), i will change two more things about the DIR
equipment configuration:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showpost.php?p=1796255&postcount=1

as you know quite well, diving with the standard DIR configuration plus computer
is NOT the same as diving DIR. for the umpteenth time, i have never claimed
to be a DIR diver or to dive DIR.

IF YOU HAVE HAD TO EXPLAIN TO ALL OF US, FOR THE UMTEENTH TIME, THAT YOU ARE NOT DIR, WHO DOES THAT SHOW IS NOT GETTING IT? SOMEONE IS NOT GETTING IT, AND I'M SURE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BELIEVE IT IS ALL OF US.
"after about two years of diving with the standard DIR
configuration (plus computer)" USING STAGES ON THE RIGHT IS NOT A STANDARD DIR CONFIG... SINGLE TANK IN AN OVERHEAD IS NOT STANDARD DIR CONFIG..

ah... no.... i never said that. i said that i was changing the light and the
SPG. and since when is post number one in a thread "the end of the posts?"

BECAUSE IS WASN'T POST NUMBER ONE WHERE YOU STATED THAT YOU WERE DIVING WITH STAGES ON THE RIGHT, ETC.

from post one:

well, after thinking about this for a while, and trying various things out,
i have decided that after about two years of diving with the standard DIR
configuration (plus computer), i will change two more things about the DIR
equipment configuration:

I should know better than to try to help someone who argues for a living...

 

[H2Andy]

I should know better than to try to help someone who argues for a living...

wow.... real cheap shot there, bud

sorry i wasted my time trying to explain what i meant to you

 

[H2Andy]

There is no practical way to do this if the canister is worn on the left.

well... you don't have to use the light canister to "tuck" the hose under it.


what i do is i arrange the hose across my chest, behind my neck, and into my
mouth. i then tuck the excess hose on my harness belt.

it's routed properly, and it's out of the way

so from that perspective, the light canister on the right is useless to me

i also don't scooter, so that is not a consideration for me

 

[jepuskar]

Andy, just face it...you are a stroke.

 

[DIR-Atlanta]

well... you don't have to use the light canister to "tuck" the hose under it.

True - many divers (myself included) tuck it into the waist strap when diving without a canister light.

so from that perspective, the light canister on the right is useless to me

Except that you mentioned you are using stages, which go on the left, and would interfere with the canister light if it were worn on the left hip. And the reason why stages are not worn on the right is because (in addition to the scootering issue), it would convolute hose routing and donation during an OOG situation.

If you're donating a long hose, then it's going to be much more difficult to get that around a stage bottle. And if you're donating a stage reg, then you will need an extra few inches of hose to reach the required distance. Think about the reg placement in the receiving diver's mouth, and the path the hose has to follow to get back to its source - it's much more straight-forward if the stage bottles are on the donating diver's left.

i also don't scooter, so that is not a consideration for me

I used to say that, too.

 

[ultravinnie]

-see tagline-

what's all this superiority (dir or otherwise) stuff anyway ?
Have some fun underwater. Look at the fishies.

 

[Dive-aholic]

I think the important point here is that he DOES understand DIR. HE made the choice to follow that discipline for several years. However, he found that it doesn't work for him like it does for you.

I guess some are comfortable being assemilated into the collective and others make thier own choices. :1poke:

My question for the DIR folks... Why do you do what you do? Is it because someone else said it was the best? Or did your entire dive group sit down and work out what YOU (collectively) felt was the best options. You could still have all the DIR advantage with the different setup correct?

FD

:classic:

Wow! This thread has sure headed south fast! I've stated before that I'm not DIR. I've been interested in learning more about it. I've read about it (not just on the Internet), but there is no DIR-F class available where I'm at. However, reading threads like this makes me want to avoid DIR-F. I've always thought DIR was supposed to be helpful and help improve dive skills. It doesn't seem that all DIR divers follow that mantra.

A suggestion - We have a DIR forum, can we have an anti-DIR forum that's opt in only for non DIR divers?

Come on people. We're all divers here. Why does everyone have to be DIR? I know this isn't DIR, but different environments call for different configurations. DIR doesn't work everywhere or for everyone.

My gear configuration is very similar to Andy's. It probably has to do with the fact that we've had the same cave instructor and our gear is configured similar to his. What's the big deal?

This isn't an anti DIR thread. It's a thread looking for answers. I'm getting tired of seeing so many threads here on the Board turning into DIR v. non-DIR wars. And they're being started by the DIR folks. I'm not trying to flame anyone. I'm just calling it as I see it. It seems like it's the DIR folks that are trolling all the threads.

Can't we all just get along?