Attitudes Toward DIR Divers

[divad]

I don't do Farcebook. How's that for elitism?

Fartism

 

[Boarderguy]

Man this exact thread has been on the internet since electrons were born. You all take the bait every damn time. Find something, anything, unique or original to talk about.

That takes the fun out of slow days

 

[scrane]

Either I've never come across a DIR diver or they figure I'm too far gone to worry about.
Different people need different amounts of order and regimentation in their lives. Some find comfort in conformity.

 

[MannyDib2]

Maybe someone should start up an agency titled....(DIL).... "Doing It Left". Kinda like NASCAR....they always go left.

or "Doing it Better". A lot less judgmental.

 

[boulderjohn]

On a dive trip I carry a handful of little yellow silicone octo keepers. When I see an octo floating around, when we get back on the boat, I offer one to the person. They always know it should not have been floating about, but were unaware that it was. They thank me, I hitch them up, problem solved. You are suggesting I should tell them they need a 7 ft primary so their octo won't be floating around? Right. Get over yourself.

This brings me back to what I wrote earlier, about the rhetorical strategy of exaggerating your pros and your opponents' weakness.

A couple decades ago I was a typical vacation diver with typical vacation diver gear. Then I discovered ScubaBoard and the DIR wars being fought then. The tendency of the DIR faction to go way overboard turned me off, and this issue was a prime example. One very prominent poster wrote several times that the problem with the traditional "golden triangle" alternate was that the alternate always came loose and dragged in the silt. That silt always damaged the inner workings of the second stage to the point that it would never be able to be used in an OOA emergency. I knew that was ridiculous--I had never heard of such a thing happening ever, let alone always. I still haven't.

Then I became a tech student and had to use a long hose and bungeed necklace. While doing that, I read about a NDL diver who drowned when she went OOA and could not get her buddy's alternate because it had come loose and was dangling behind him. I then realized that the fact that the alternate comes out and dangles so easily was by itself a good reason to use the bungeed necklace. I switched to the bungeed necklace and long hose for my NDL diving, too. (I use a 40" hose for NDL dives now.)

The lesson for me was that the ridiculous overselling by the DIR fanatics had turned me off to any advantage that DIR offered. I wanted nothing to do with anything DIR, just as a matter of principle. When I started tech (and it was DIR), I was able to try things out and make more objective judgments. I had to get past the rhetoric.

 

[crofrog]

Let's do a thread where we drag PADI next and see how long before the mods close it and delete a bunch of replies.

 

[Zach The Diver]

This brings me back to what I wrote earlier, abut the rhetorical strategy of exaggerating your pros and your opponents' weakness.

A couple decades ago I was a typical vacation diver with typical vacation diver gear. Then I discovered ScubaBoard and the DIR wars being fought then. The tendency of the DIR faction to go way overboard turned me off, and this issue was a prime example. One very prominent poster wrote several times that the problem with the traditional "golden triangle" alternate was that the alternate always came loose and dragged in the silt. That silt always damaged the inner workings of the second stage to the point that it would never be able to be used in an OOA emergency. I knew that was ridiculous--I had never heard of such a thing happening ever, let alone always. I still haven't.

Then I became a tech student and had to use a long hose and bungeed necklace. While doing that, I read about a NDL diver who drowned when she went OOA and could not get her buddy's alternate because it had come loose and was dangling behind him. I then realized that the fact that the alternate comes out and dangles so easily was by itself a good reason to use the bungeed necklace. I switched to the bungeed necklace and long hose for my NDL diving, too. (I use a 40" hose for NDL dives now.)

The lesson for me was that the ridiculous overselling by the DIR fanatics had turned me off to any advantage that DIR offered. I wanted nothing to do with anything DIR, just as a matter of principle. When I started tech (and it was DIR), I was able to try things out and make more objective judgments. I had to get past the rhetoric.

You aren’t wrong at all. That’s why you can’t go around espousing anything to people without giving them the “why”. As much as I love DIR I’d agree that there are some that insult the intelligence of those they are trying to help.

 

[Boarderguy]

Let's do a thread where we drag PADI next and see how long before the mods close it and delete a bunch of replies.

DIR isn't an agency. GUE is, but it's not being drug through the mud, just some of its founding dogma that was screamed from the masts to the depths as the only safe way to submerge.

Go ahead and slam PADI, they're always worth talking crap about.

 

[crofrog]

DIR isn't an agency. GUE is, but it's not being drug through the mud, just some of its founding dogma that was screamed from the masts to the depths as the only safe way to submerge.

Over a quarter century ago.

 

[Zach The Diver]

Does it matter at a safety stop? The final ascent when there is the possibility of boat traffic should definitely not be horizontal.

Umm… just turn your head. Situational awareness doesn’t have to be completely sacrificed if you’re horizontal. No reason to do this unless you’re at the surface.