DIR "Approved Equipment" ?

[ams511]

The book never mentions to buy halcyon. At least not in my edition.

Actually yes it does. It says that some gear is DIR and others are not then buy Halcyon or something like that.

Nor does it advocate only two brands of regs, one brand of fins, etc.

That was my point. People talk about specific equipment choices but the book is very general about most things, except spring straps.

As M mentioned. Don't be a lemming and follow one of these 10%'ers over any cliffs any time soon. Question all things and don't assume the loudest voice is in charge.

I don't but I don't want to buy the wrong gear again.

 

[ams511]

The only shame is that people have to be ripped out of their "stroke" gear and resold another rig.

If only they would give everyone a cup of Kool Aid at birth so much money could be saved.

The shame is dive instructors selling new divers less the optimal equipment and junk they don't need. The Kool-Aid should be given to Instructors that abuse the trust of new divers. I feel like starting a new thread on dive lies told to newbies to sell gear and useless stuff.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

The shame is dive instructors selling new divers less the optimal equipment and junk they don't need. The Kool-Aid should be given to Instructors that abuse the trust of new divers. I feel like starting a new thread on dive lies told to newbies to sell gear and useless stuff.

Go easy on the slams...

I doubt many reputable dive instructors deliberately sell less than optimal equipment and junk. Some do, perhaps. But likely not the majority.

For a person who wants to do strictly recreational diving there is nothing wrong with high quality recreational equipment. For the most part it is reliable, well designed, and reasonably safe if used as intended.

The problem comes when you try take tools designed for one purpose and use them for other purposes, in environments where conditions are different and those tools become less than optimal...in certain cases dangerous.

But that's a function of using the right tool for the job, not of either tool necessarily being 'junk'.

Diving, like most things, involves a process of gaining experience and developing skills over time. If everyone began diving knowing they would eventually like to perform technical dives, then perhaps it would make sense to start every diver in what might be called a 'technical rig'.

But there are many divers who prefer to remain recreational divers, and recreational equipment will work fine for them. (Either way, if you ask any diver who has been diving for a decade or so, they will likely take you to a closet and show you all sorts of gear that they've bought, used for a while, then replaced. It sort of comes with the territory! )

 

[Boogie711]

Actually yes it does. It says that some gear is DIR and others are not then buy Halcyon or something like that.

OK AMS5111, I'm sure you mean well and all, but I have a copy of "Fundamentals of Better Diving" sitting right here on my desk. Please reference a page number for me.

 

[Scubaroo]

OK AMS5111, I'm sure you mean well and all, but I have a copy of "Fundamentals of Better Diving" sitting right here on my desk. Please reference a page number for me.

Page 72 Boogster

Alternatively, divers can avoid all of these modifications, and purchase a BC that is designed specifically for DIR, namely, the Halcyon BC.

As most of us know, alternatives now exist!

 

[Boogie711]

LOL.. OK. I'll give you that. I'll even further concede that all the gear pictures in the book are primarily Halcyon. But I don't see anywhere where it says that they are anything BUT examples.

I have a copy of the YMCA Nitrox manual, which was co-written by Joel Silverstein (Joel is high up at Abysmal/Abyss Dive Systems). All the gear pictures in there are Abyss. So is the YMCA pushing Abyss now, too? Is Abyss gear the only YMCA approved gear?

 

[Tom R]

Page 72 Boogster As most of us know, alternatives now exist!

I wouldn't say that alternatives exisit that easily, if you buy a OMS or Oxy check wing and have to hack off a couple of inches and purchase a new hose to make it right.

 

[Scubaroo]

I wouldn't say that alternatives exisit that easily, if you buy a OMS or Oxy check wing and have to hack off a couple of inches and purchase a new hose to make it right.

Not this BS again about hose lengths. I've posted PHOTOS showing that the corrugated hoses are almost identical lengths on an OxyCheq and a Halcyon. Prototype wings had a long corrugated hose that was shortened after user trials, and early feedback mentioned this, and the very original batch of two or three wing sizes (out of the current nine models, tenth on the way) had a 30" LP inflator hose supplied instead of 24". I dunno how many wings in total have been sold since then, but it *is* in the thousands, all with the correct 24" hose.

I've owned and dived wings of both companies. I'm still using the LP inflator hose that was supplied with my Pioneer wing with my OxyCheq wing. Guess what - they're both 24" long, and it fits the O wing just fine.

But feel free to keep telling people, maybe you can sell them a Halcyon wing. Good luck to you.

 

[rjchandler]

I wouldn't say that alternatives exisit that easily, if you buy a OMS or Oxy check wing and have to hack off a couple of inches and purchase a new hose to make it right.

If changing hoses is a big hurdle then perhaps a diver should think twice about where they are going.

 

[Tom R]

Missed point here Joe, your buying something dir like and have to purchase some thing extra to make it work, or modify it. Also the 25$ saving is no longer a point as you just had to buy another hose.