An observation about divers

[CamG]

Greetings Randy and great thread!
I have had a blast reading the posts to this thread as it awakens so many hours spent reading, searching, diving, moving into these realms.
I to have experienced the attitudes you encountered but have been able to open minds as well.
It has been a great time of evolution as a diver to challenge myself and a few others along the way.
It has not always been a bowl of cherries but it has been worth all the hardships and stress.

On the comments about DM.......well it would be better addressed on another thread.
I will simply say that TSandM is spot on IMO.
It has been my pleasure to have the friendship, mentorship of MSDT Mark and in all the training from OW on it has been about pushing to the next level of training.
There is no shame in failure if you are striving to become the best diver you can be!
The levels you are going to pursue are beyond those of the average Joe diver and no offense to Joe at all.
Some of us by choice, choose to pursue more challenging environments which demand a higher level of training / skill levels.
To do the dives we want to do safely and correctly it demands our focus, our commitment to success.

There are many different ways to achieve goals, we all choose our own path.
GUE , DIR, UTD, etc. have not hurt the diving GP IMO they have helped to bring awareness!
What one thing in a the dive world can we never have enough of? "AWARENESS!"
In 2007 when my journey began I had no idea what and where diving would take me.
4+ years and I am still a wide eyed novice at best striving to learn and excel.
The TEC realm demands more and more is what it takes to execute dives safely.

So Randy I say have a blast, commit to the training, be very focused, and conquer your skills. You will fail but do not be dismayed keep pushing onto mastery!
A healthy attitude will carry the day and always, always think at all times!
Please continue to update us on your progress.

CamG Keep diving....Keep training....Keep learning!

 

[randytay]

My only question is, why are you playing these two individuals against each other to begin with? It sure seems awfully sophomoric to me. You'd get the same reactions if you started carrying tales back and forth between your wife and your mother in law. This post really has less to do with diving philosophy and more to do with human nature and you trying to pit individuals against each other.

Now if this isn't your intent, simply learn what you can from each instructor and be happy to have people who will work with you.

Nope, I didnt say anything about what each individual said to each other. I spoke to the GUE instructor, he says I need another 2 person to start the course. I said I cannot think of anyone who might be interested, so he recommended I start by asking my instructor, who is also my CD. I mentioned that he may not be interested and this is where he threw the challenge.

I went to my CD during a dive meeting and ask him about taking the the Fundies and he gave me the DIR comment.

Is that clearer to you now?

 

[randytay]

Thal, those of us who dive within the system are aware of the reductionist characteristics of hawking specific skills. But it is the desire for the skills that brings the student to training, and it is really only in the context of a group that the desirability of a team approach can become clear. I know, when I took Fundies, I was mostly interested in better buoyancy and propulsion, and I was not in any way a "convert". But what I came out of the class with, more than ANYTHING else, was the first glimmerings of an understanding of what teamwork could be when diving, and how a uniform system worked to make things smoother, easier, and possibly even safer. Kicks got me in, but team carried me forward, and team is what keeps me doing what I'm doing.

Yes, it is possible for a pair or trio who dive regularly together to build that kind of teamwork, if they have the skills . . . but being part of the DIR world means I get that the minute I get in the water with someone with similar training. I had that LOVELY experience in LA last weekend -- a true, honest-to-God instabuddy, someone I had never met or even HEARD of before the dive. And it was like diving with an old friend. Man, is that worth a lot! Imagine traveling to places you've never been before, and slotting into a dive team like you'd always been there. Imagine going somewhere and only having to take the dive gear that's fit-critical, because you can borrow everything else and it's JUST LIKE YOURS. Imagine the ease of pre-dive preparation, when everybody knows exactly what needs to be covered and what needs to be done, and does it the same way. Imagine cruising a 100 foot square silt-covered dive site with eight buddy teams for an hour (we were doing a formal search for a lost item) and leaving the viz precisely as we found it.

There are SO many nice things about the system. Yeah, you give up a little "personal choice", and yes, it takes work to bring your skills to standards. But the payback is worth it.

That is precisely why I am looking to be DIR trained. Some people are happy to be OW, but I want to learn everything I can. As I said, after meeting with AG and Jeff (and a few other UTD instructors), I am so excited to be able to learn from them. I may not have that much experience in diving, but I do know for sure that if I meet anyone who is DIR trained in a foreign dive site, I would be able to avoid the horror stories my friends tell me about when they go on diving trips.

 

[randytay]

Greetings Randy and great thread!
I have had a blast reading the posts to this thread as it awakens so many hours spent reading, searching, diving, moving into these realms.
I to have experienced the attitudes you encountered but have been able to open minds as well.
It has been a great time of evolution as a diver to challenge myself and a few others along the way.
It has not always been a bowl of cherries but it has been worth all the hardships and stress.

On the comments about DM.......well it would be better addressed on another thread.
I will simply say that TSandM is spot on IMO.
It has been my pleasure to have the friendship, mentorship of MSDT Mark and in all the training from OW on it has been about pushing to the next level of training.
There is no shame in failure if you are striving to become the best diver you can be!
The levels you are going to pursue are beyond those of the average Joe diver and no offense to Joe at all.
Some of us by choice, choose to pursue more challenging environments which demand a higher level of training / skill levels.
To do the dives we want to do safely and correctly it demands our focus, our commitment to success.

There are many different ways to achieve goals, we all choose our own path.
GUE , DIR, UTD, etc. have not hurt the diving GP IMO they have helped to bring awareness!
What one thing in a the dive world can we never have enough of? "AWARENESS!"
In 2007 when my journey began I had no idea what and where diving would take me.
4+ years and I am still a wide eyed novice at best striving to learn and excel.
The TEC realm demands more and more is what it takes to execute dives safely.

So Randy I say have a blast, commit to the training, be very focused, and conquer your skills. You will fail but do not be dismayed keep pushing onto mastery!
A healthy attitude will carry the day and always, always think at all times!
Please continue to update us on your progress.

CamG Keep diving....Keep training....Keep learning!

Thank you for your encouragements. For now, I am keeping my focus on the BP/W trial and then on to the essentials.

 

[Kingpatzer]

Just what skills can one not adequately demo (as long as you deal with your necklace first and wear a snorkel)?

R&R of scuba unit both above water and underwater is something I do differently depending on if I have adjustable shoulder straps or not. I would assume that's true of most people.

The easiest way to do that in a jacket style BCD is not to pretend those adjustments don't exist.

 

[MRadke]

Nope, I didnt say anything about what each individual said to each other. I spoke to the GUE instructor, he says I need another 2 person to start the course. I said I cannot think of anyone who might be interested, so he recommended I start by asking my instructor, who is also my CD. I mentioned that he may not be interested and this is where he threw the challenge.

I went to my CD during a dive meeting and ask him about taking the the Fundies and he gave me the DIR comment.

Is that clearer to you now?

Well in that case, I'd just find someone to take the fundies course with me and not mention anything more to the CD. He may not have even meant anything by it as there is quite a bit of dark humor in every industry. If someone ever heard a bunch of firemen talking about a nasty call they'd think that we were all nuts.

 

[TCDiver1]

This tired argument seems to go on and on-with different headings of course.

Yup and the band plays on. Analites on both sides will continue trying to suck all the life out of divers potential enjoyment of the sport.

By the way Kingpatzer, i can't believe you're evidentally still hunting with a recurve bow. Real hunting is running around in a loin cloth with a sharpened stick or club.

 

[danvolker]

Yup and the band plays on. Analites on both sides will continue trying to suck all the life out of divers potential enjoyment of the sport.

By the way Kingpatzer, i can't believe you're evidentally still hunting with a recurve bow. Real hunting is running around in a loin cloth with a sharpened stick or club.

I think DIR for this would be hiding in the tree and jumping on the animal below as it passes....it would certainly be Sun Tzu

 

[knowone]

Well in that case, I'd just find someone to take the fundies course with me and not mention anything more to the CD. He may not have even meant anything by it as there is quite a bit of dark humor in every industry. If someone ever heard a bunch of firemen talking about a nasty call they'd think that we were all nuts.

The thing is, most of them have nuts, and generally don't talk about it.

 

[TSandM]

I think DIR for this would be hiding in the tree and jumping on the animal below as it passes....

Only if you did it in pairs . . .

It does make me sad when people suggest that DIR sucks all the joy out of diving . . . joy and freedom were what I found in it.