DIR and Solo Diving, Incompatible?

[hockeyplay]

I am new to diving in general and have logged a whopping 7 dives. I have no desire to reach deeper than 60 feet as my 2 dives to wrecks in 96' fsw were not nearly as interesting as my 30' reef dives.

With my disinterest in deep diving and shallow tastes, is there any reason for me to bother going DIR?

Assuming I do adopt the philosophy, is there room in DIR for solo divers? (I love photography and see a buddy more as a distraction than an asset)

( I am not looking to bust cajones, but rather to get a serious answer. Not having enough experience either way, I think it's best to know which way to go before I start down the road)

Thanks.

 

[JeffG]

With my disinterest in deep diving and shallow tastes, is there any reason for me to bother going DIR?

DIR has nothing to do with depth, its a way to dive.

Assuming I do adopt the philosophy, is there room in DIR for solo divers? (I love photography and see a buddy more as a distraction than an asset)

No

Thanks.

Your Welcome

 

[GDI]

No reason to stop learning because you want to stay shallow

 

[UWSojourner]

No reason to stop learning because you want to stay shallow

I second that. I'd recommend the DIR-Fundamentals book (FWIW I'm not DIR).

Also, we saw a heck of a lot of great reef below 60' in the Caymans.

 

[Hory]

I guess that's how new divers feel in the beginning. Fear of the dark blue depths, wild imagination of what one could find at those depths, etc. As you do more dives, learn more about diving and DIR, understand the environment and pursue your passion for photography, going to deeper depths will come naturally. Personally, I've set a limit for myself...no more than 130 ft. because of my age and personal comfort level. With 7 logged dives, you still have a way to go and a lot to learn. One thing good about this sport, you never stop learning.

BTW, you already into uw photography? I hope your bouyancy control's good. That's the first thing you have to do naturally before taking on photography. Hope this helps.

 

[Scubakevdm]

I guess that's how new divers feel in the beginning. Fear of the dark blue depths, wild imagination of what one could find at those depths, etc. As you do more dives, learn more about diving and DIR, understand the environment and pursue your passion for photography, going to deeper depths will come naturally. ...
BTW, you already into uw photography? I hope your bouyancy control's good. That's the first thing you have to do naturally before taking on photography. Hope this helps.

Well, now I guess I'm still kinda new at this myself. But after the last twenty-one years of diving, I don't care much for wrecks myself. I'm not sure if its my fear of the dark blue depths, or the fear of being really bored. They're kinda cool, but I'd rather be out on the reef. That's just me you know? I mostly just like swimming with the fish.
So the other thing that I'd like to mention to you is the whole DIR thing. DIR is a good idea if you are able to apply it to the kind of diving that you want to do. Its a good way to learn some good skills and principles, because it's a system. Some of the stuff doesn't apply so much to reef diving, but there's some good stuff to know. You could also dive alot with some of us reef folk, ask us questions about our gear, how its set up, watch us swim, see how we approach different marine life. There's no system to learn from us, as far as I know. We mostly just call it being a good diver, but like I said they teach a good bit of it in DIR-F. BTW, I think its great that you're interested in photography.

 

[lamont]

It seems to me that there's a real need for something like DIR which isn't so all-or-nothing.

What i'm imagining is a class which would push people in incremental steps towards DIR. If a student couldn't afford the gear they could get taught better bouyancy control and buddy awareness. Another student might get on a plan for how they're going to convert their gear incrementally (maybe after renting DIR gear and trying it out). Another student could get DIR gear and bouyancy training, but they'd be using it for solo diving. Maybe one student totally resists the long hose, but you can get them bouyancy trained and into a bp/w until they come around and see the light.

I'm sure that GUE would want to have nothing to do with this because it doesn't fit with why they bother with DIRF training. It also wouldn't be DIR because it violates the holistic princple of DIR. I don't, however, think that DIR principles are entirely useless outside of the holistic view.

 

[Arnaud]

It seems to me that there's a real need for something like DIR which isn't so all-or-nothing.

What i'm imagining is a class which would push people in incremental steps towards DIR. If a student couldn't afford the gear they could get taught better bouyancy control and buddy awareness. Another student might get on a plan for how they're going to convert their gear incrementally (maybe after renting DIR gear and trying it out). Another student could get DIR gear and bouyancy training, but they'd be using it for solo diving. Maybe one student totally resists the long hose, but you can get them bouyancy trained and into a bp/w until they come around and see the light.

I'm sure that GUE would want to have nothing to do with this because it doesn't fit with why they bother with DIRF training. It also wouldn't be DIR because it violates the holistic princple of DIR. I don't, however, think that DIR principles are entirely useless outside of the holistic view.

DIR is not a holistic approach just for the sake of it. The idea is to have a system that is uniformly adopted by each DIR diver. As an example, if one diver doesn't have a long hose, the S drill could not be properly performed, nor could an actual OOG be properly handled.

As a diver, you are free to chose to dive the way you want, solo, or not, long hose or short hose, or whatever. But you can't pick and chose what you like and expect other divers to follow whatever customization you went for; it just wouldn't be a system anymore.

 

[Northeastwrecks]

With all due respect, with 7 dives under your belt, whether DIR is compatible with solo diving (it isn't) may be misstating the question. The proper question is whether you are properly trained and equipped to handle solo diving under any circumstances.

I'd suggest that you are not and that you should not be diving solo.

 

[Boogie711]

With all due respect, with 7 dives under your belt, whether DIR is compatible with solo diving (it isn't) may be misstating the question. The proper question is whether you are properly trained and equipped to handle solo diving under any circumstances.

I'd suggest that you are not and that you should not be diving solo.

A STRONG amen to that!