StSomewhere
Contributor
5thd-x Essentials of DIR:
AG over at www.5thd-x.com (who I'm told originally developed the idea for GUE's DIR-F workshop) recently put together a new (non-GUE) workshop called Essentials of DIR. Instead of being a pass/provisional/fail type of class, it's a 2-1/2 day workshop to present the basic underpinnings of DIR and work on basic skill development. The emphasis is for recreational single-tank divers.
Obviously, there is still a DIR-F/Intro to Tech class, with doubles and graded evaluations and all that, which is their prereq to Tech-1, Wreck-1, etc. Essentials is a different class with a different -- recreational -- target audience.
After exchanging more than a few emails with JoeT, I signed up and took a long weekend off work to fly out to Monterey. I had only 25 "real" dives (I don't count my numerous trips to 30-40 ft in a local quarry but that's fine with me if you do). I pretty much knew where my skills were (or weren't as the case may be), and I knew that meant I wasn't ready yet for DIR-F.
The workshop with JoeT was everything I'd hoped it would be and then some. We had classroom sessions where we covered theory and watched videos of the skills would be doing the water. We worked a lot on buoyancy/position/trim, because we needed a lot of work there (and I still do when task loaded). We practiced doing the four fin kicks out of the water, then tried them at 25 ft on the rope course. We learned the basic 6 (which is the basic 5, plus long hose reg retrieval), we did valve drills (and learned a few stretching exercises!!), we did modified s-drills. Like you'd expect we watched our video reviews in horror, the second days dives were an improvement over the first. My buddy awareness is attrocious, not spot-on like I would've thought. We didn't get as far as I would've liked, because of time spent on remedial skills like buoyancy/position/trim. But its a workshop so the places where emphasis was needed were the things that we worked on.
There wasn't the "normal" rigid insistence on having the exact DIR-F equipment, instead we had the chance to compare and understand why the DIR equipment is what it is. My dive buddy for the class tried a BP/W for the first time, and once he got his trim down it was like this incredible transformation. I used to use a primary reg on 40" hose with a 90° elbow (routed under my right arm) and a bungeed backup, but you can believe the first time I tried a modified s-drill and handed my buddy the upside down edge of my primary
was the end of that.
But the main thing I got out of this is what I need to work on. Now I can actually practice, because I know what to practice and how my equipment should be setup. (The classic moment was me asking JoeT, "Are you SURE the d-rings should be that high up?" only to discover later that clipping off my primary reg is automatic with my d-rings properly configured. DIR is like that.)
Now you've got to be asking yourself, why take a class to take a class? The answer is, you only need Essentials if you need it. I suppose I could've gone ahead and just taken DIR-F from JoeT (I seriously considered this before giving it a pass). I even got a swim coach over the summer so I could pass the swim test. But still I knew I was over my head, and I knew from other (non-dive related) training that the result is either the fast part of the class gets held back while the slower group comes up to speed or the slower group gets left in the dust. As it was, I'm glad I wasn't wasting someone else's time who was legitimately on their way to Tech-1, Cave-1, Wreck-1, etc.
Would I do it all over again? You bet, in a heartbeat. But the beauty is that I won't need to. I don't know how much less inept I'll be when I do DIR-F this summer vs. before taking Essentials but there's already a difference.
John
-----------------------------
Note: Originally posted here in response to another "how did you get ready for fundies" thread.
AG over at www.5thd-x.com (who I'm told originally developed the idea for GUE's DIR-F workshop) recently put together a new (non-GUE) workshop called Essentials of DIR. Instead of being a pass/provisional/fail type of class, it's a 2-1/2 day workshop to present the basic underpinnings of DIR and work on basic skill development. The emphasis is for recreational single-tank divers.
Obviously, there is still a DIR-F/Intro to Tech class, with doubles and graded evaluations and all that, which is their prereq to Tech-1, Wreck-1, etc. Essentials is a different class with a different -- recreational -- target audience.
After exchanging more than a few emails with JoeT, I signed up and took a long weekend off work to fly out to Monterey. I had only 25 "real" dives (I don't count my numerous trips to 30-40 ft in a local quarry but that's fine with me if you do). I pretty much knew where my skills were (or weren't as the case may be), and I knew that meant I wasn't ready yet for DIR-F.
The workshop with JoeT was everything I'd hoped it would be and then some. We had classroom sessions where we covered theory and watched videos of the skills would be doing the water. We worked a lot on buoyancy/position/trim, because we needed a lot of work there (and I still do when task loaded). We practiced doing the four fin kicks out of the water, then tried them at 25 ft on the rope course. We learned the basic 6 (which is the basic 5, plus long hose reg retrieval), we did valve drills (and learned a few stretching exercises!!), we did modified s-drills. Like you'd expect we watched our video reviews in horror, the second days dives were an improvement over the first. My buddy awareness is attrocious, not spot-on like I would've thought. We didn't get as far as I would've liked, because of time spent on remedial skills like buoyancy/position/trim. But its a workshop so the places where emphasis was needed were the things that we worked on.
There wasn't the "normal" rigid insistence on having the exact DIR-F equipment, instead we had the chance to compare and understand why the DIR equipment is what it is. My dive buddy for the class tried a BP/W for the first time, and once he got his trim down it was like this incredible transformation. I used to use a primary reg on 40" hose with a 90° elbow (routed under my right arm) and a bungeed backup, but you can believe the first time I tried a modified s-drill and handed my buddy the upside down edge of my primary
was the end of that.But the main thing I got out of this is what I need to work on. Now I can actually practice, because I know what to practice and how my equipment should be setup. (The classic moment was me asking JoeT, "Are you SURE the d-rings should be that high up?" only to discover later that clipping off my primary reg is automatic with my d-rings properly configured. DIR is like that.
)Now you've got to be asking yourself, why take a class to take a class? The answer is, you only need Essentials if you need it. I suppose I could've gone ahead and just taken DIR-F from JoeT (I seriously considered this before giving it a pass). I even got a swim coach over the summer so I could pass the swim test. But still I knew I was over my head, and I knew from other (non-dive related) training that the result is either the fast part of the class gets held back while the slower group comes up to speed or the slower group gets left in the dust. As it was, I'm glad I wasn't wasting someone else's time who was legitimately on their way to Tech-1, Cave-1, Wreck-1, etc.
Would I do it all over again? You bet, in a heartbeat. But the beauty is that I won't need to. I don't know how much less inept I'll be when I do DIR-F this summer vs. before taking Essentials but there's already a difference.
John
-----------------------------
Note: Originally posted here in response to another "how did you get ready for fundies" thread.
