ams511:
Thanks for your replies. What prompted my interest in DIR is that I am switching from one environment to another. I used to live in Florida, did primarily beach dives where the max depth is about 20 ft. I know you can drown in a bucket of water but to me warm clear 20ft water was not much of a risk. I could always swim to the surface in the event of any equipment failure. Now I am in Pennsylvania where the diving is deeper and the water is colder, the risk is greater so I am looking to upgrade both my equipment and my diving skills.
I currently don't do any technical diving. I may sometime in the future, that is why I would rather purchase better equipment now especially being that the incremental cost of better equipment is not that much higher. However the equipment selection is confusing when people make specific recommendations. For instance regulators. From what I understand is Apeks regs were/are sold under different brand names: Apeks, Sea Quest, Zeagle, and Aqualung. So why would an Apeks be "DIR approved" while a Titan LX not be?
I will check the websites you all suggested. Thanks again for your help.
P.S. I always had spring straps, I have a pair of the old Oceanic fins that had them. To me I never understood why all fins were not attached this way. They are the best.
First of all - it continues to sadden me that many legitimate questions about DIR are prefaced or qualified with statements like "this is not a troll...", etc. If you get pounced on for asking a real question, PM me and I'll take the loser out back and pummel them with my worthless split fins.
ANYWAY - as mentioned, its feature specific most of the time. Heck, I dive Atomic regs. Breathe great, work great, less filling. I am DIR and have no intentions of switching to SP, Apeks or anything else.
I'm a recreational diver who is DIR - I have no desire to go to 300 feet schlepping 4 deco bottles, on a scooter, into a cave, etc, etc... I flop in, dive for a bit, get out for awhile, then do it all again. DIR works for me.
You're asking the right questions - NEVER lemming out and never stop asking why, my friend. You're right on the mark when you say buying the good stuff isn't honestly that much more money (sometimes, its less...) Heck, 99% of my rig (Back plate, wing, can light, fins, gloves, mask, bag, regs, bottom timer, etc, etc...) all came from eBay!
Be smart, ask a lot of questions, and most of all, dive with some of us. We don't bite.
Enjoy the ride.
K