Attitudes Toward DIR Divers

[Wibble]

As a new entrant into the GUE family, I just like that people a lot smarter than me, with a lot more diving experience than me, came up with a standardized configuration. It makes it a lot easier from a bubble check all the way to an emergency shutdown to know exactly what things should look like and what should be functioning / what functionality has been lost.

Does it not bother you that you will be diving with that configuration regardless of how relevant it is to that dive, even to the extent of it being sub-optimal?

Spare computer; on your team-mate’s wrist. Twinset for shallow dives. Twinset where sidemount is more appropriate. All deco tins left even though balancing left and right may be more compact. Bungees to keep stages in check. Reels for deep SMB deployment…. etc., etc., etc…

 

[Nick_Radov]

Does it not bother you that you will be diving with that configuration regardless of how relevant it is to that dive, even to the extent of it being sub-optimal?

I'm not sure what you mean with some of this stuff. What specifically is sub-optimal? Some divers get too caught up in trying to micro-optimize trivial aspects of their gear and lose sight of how that impacts the complete system including the effectiveness of training and operating as part of an integrated team. Major in the major, minor in the minor.

Spare computer; on your team-mate’s wrist.

GUE course standards don't require a spare computer (or bottom timer) but don't prohibit it either. Feel free to bring one if it makes you happy. There are pictures on GUE's own website of divers wearing backup computers.

Twinset for shallow dives.

GUE entry-level courses are taught in a single-tank configuration. DIR divers use single tanks all the time for shallow dives. Occasionally we might use doubles for shallow dives to get more bottom time, or just for skills practice.

Twinset where sidemount is more appropriate.

GUE offers a sidemount course for those caves where it's more appropriate.

All deco tins left even though balancing left and right may be more compact.

Did you mean tanks? When using a typical backmount doubles configuration, the first two stages (whether those are for deco, travel, or bottom gas) are clipped to the left chest and others are clipped to a trailing leash. It's not a good idea to put stages on the right because those interfere with the long hose and the light cord, and they dangle down in the prop wash of a scooter driven with the right hand. (There are some rare situations where a diver who has to move a huge bundle of stages a short distance might temporarily clip some on the right, but this isn't something that comes up in regular diving.)

Bungees to keep stages in check.

Stages are rigged with two bungees to keep the regulator hose in place when not deployed. Bungees aren't used to keep the stage tanks themselves in position.

Reels for deep SMB deployment…. etc., etc., etc…

Usually we would use spools instead of reels for SMB deployment due to the risk of fouling. Regular spools have up to 150ft / 45m of line, so even if deploying from somewhat deeper you can just hang on to the spool as you ascend to your first deco stop.
Larger reels can be used if you have to tow a surface float throughout an entire deep drift dive, but that's a different situation.

 

[The Chairman]

Maybe we should include attitudes DIR divers have towards others as well!

 

[ginti]

Does it not bother you that you will be diving with that configuration regardless of how relevant it is to that dive, even to the extent of it being sub-optimal?

Spare computer; on your team-mate’s wrist. Twinset for shallow dives. Twinset where sidemount is more appropriate. All deco tins left even though balancing left and right may be more compact. Bungees to keep stages in check. Reels for deep SMB deployment…. etc., etc., etc…

@Wibble, this is completely inaccurate. Really, totally misleading and false. Not only that, but also most of what you say is the clear opposite of what GUE says... If you write the exact contrary you would have an almost perfect description of GUE

Many of your contributions are awesome, but since I remember you posting on SB you have often written about GUE, and I cannot remember one of your posts about GUE that was not inaccurate or even plain wrong.

I will never understand what makes you so passionate about something you know so poorly, especially given the passion you show for scuba diving and the interesting contribution you provided in other contexts. Anyway, if you are so happy with it, I surely won't try to stop you

 

[mstevens]

The less fit you are the easier the float is...

The less lean you are the easier the float is.

I watch extremely lean, extremely unfit people (literally as they are dying) all the time. Those folks often aren't sitting, let alone trying to take a dive course, but there are tons of stringy, lean people who are very unfit. There are also people with lots of body fat who are pretty fit.

 

[Germie]

@Wibble, this is completely inaccurate. Really, totally misleading and false. Not only that, but also most of what you say is the clear opposite of what GUE says... If you write the exact contrary you would have an almost perfect description of GUE

Many of your contributions are awesome, but since I remember you posting on SB you have often written about GUE, and I cannot remember one of your posts about GUE that was not inaccurate or even plain wrong.

I will never understand what makes you so passionate about something you know so poorly, especially given the passion you show for scuba diving and the interesting contribution you provided in other contexts. Anyway, if you are so happy with it, I surely won't try to stop you

I think Wibble tries to get an answer of an THINKING diver, not from someone who just follow what is told how to do it. We all want to become thinking divers I believe and not the one who states: 'When diving to 30.2 m depth you will die if you don't use 21/35. And air is a bad gas to use.

In my country, most people do fundies with a twinset and drysuit, because the only thing that is important is the 'techrating'. The rest means 'failed'. And I think this is more or less true. So this means the twinset is the bible of diving.

And the less experience divers have, the more they seem to tell what them was told in a course as the only truth to others. They only have seen 1 thing, but don't have real experience. Really, I have been told by a new T1 diver on a shallow dive in a lake that my Inspiration CCR was a wrong CCR and dangerous. He was just newborn in technical diving and did not know a lot about the real world. I told him that 99% of the divers took courses from other agencies and that also technical diving is done with CCR's, sidemount, and sometimes also in a wetsuit. Maybe now, a couple of years later he is dry behind is ears and have seen this also.
If divers get more experience, in a lot of cases the attitude towards others change, and most times it softens as they see that other things also work.
But this is not different from the (mostly inexperienced) divers who tell me that solodiving is dangerous as that is told them in a beginner course, 'never dive solo'. Later they will know that solodiving can be done safe and that there are courses for.

I also softened when I saw and found out that ccr and sidemount are nice tools too and that the twinset had limitations. And that diving in warm water in a wetsuit with a single tank can also be relaxing, as solodiving also can be.

 

[ginti]

@Germie that was not my point. I appreciate that @Wibble tries to be a thinking diver, and I think he is given his great contributions in other topics.

But anytime he speaks about GUE he just says it wrong. Just plain wrong. And this false depiction may convince new divers of wrong stuff. Not good.

Also, I am sincerely sorry for your experience with these fresh Fundie/T1 evangelists, but that's their problem, not GUE's one. By the way, you'll find people who think they know it all everywhere, independently from the agency.

Anyway, as I said, I won't try to fix it

 

[DiveLikeAMuppet]

But anytime he speaks about GUE he just says it wrong. Just plain wrong. And this false depiction may convince new divers of wrong stuff. Not good.

@Wibble doesn’t like GUE fundamentalists. The thing is, in the UK you rarely see GUE diving outside of a quarry, so you tend to mostly run into the crazy types

 

[lermontov]

@Wibble doesn’t like GUE fundamentalists.

I appreciate those who are passionate about their sport and strive to become excellent, some want to improve and fine tune their configuration by observing different systems and embracing those aspects that are better- thats fine by me. Some just want to dive now and again on vacation for example and dont really care, thats ok too

What irks me is this underlying disapproval of those that dont agree with "my" method, or those that dont meet "my' standards It must be tiring constantly measuring others

 

[The Chairman]

What irks me is this underlying disapproval of those that dont agree with "my" method, or those that dont meet "my' standards It must be tiring constantly measuring others

Dive and let dive. Teach and let teach. Remember the new golden rule: Mind your own damn business. People seem to love to pigeonhole others, and I don't really mind as long as you keep it to yourself. In that vein, I only give advice when specifically asked. I don't dive to evaluate others, so don't expect me to have an opinion about your diving. Ask me ahead of time if you want my advice but be careful. It might not be what you want to hear!