DIR Article - Gear Configuration

[jeckyll]

Don't get me wrong, I think it's smart to think about. But the proponents and opponents are so entrenched, how many will go and keep an open mind in a thread like this?



Bjorn

P.S.: I'm glad the cat is back

 

[do it easy]

"Is my green snorkle DIR?"

Not if it has a purge!

I think Jeff is on to something... Let's take our average diver, call him Ace. He's just starting out diving and he's not made of money, so he buys things piece by piece.

1) regs, doubles, and BP/W
2) can light
3) wetnotes, SMB, spool
4) drysuit and jet fins
und so weiter...

At what point does he become DIR? After he buys the can light? Maybe after the SMB/spool?or maybe it's a mindset that motivates his gear choices?
What if Ace doesn't want to dive in caves or wrecks, and doesn't want to get into deco? Does it matter which side his can light is on?

 

[JeffG]

Let's take our average diver, call him Ace. He's just starting out diving and he's not made of money, so he buys things piece by piece.

1) regs, doubles, and BP/W
2) can light
3) wetnotes, SMB, spool
4) drysuit and jet fins
und so weiter...

Well, I wouldn't start there. It would be a single tank, with a single tank wing.

Drysuit is very area specific, but if you were a cold water diver I would say it was a must.

Can light...a nice to have, but if you are not made of money it could be subsituted with something else.

At what point does he become DIR? After he buys the can light? Maybe after the SMB/spool?or maybe it's a mindset that motivates his gear choices?

You know better. Gear alone doesn't make someone DIR. They can have all the "right" gear, but be more strokish than the bungied dual wing single tank diver.

What if Ace doesn't want to dive in caves or wrecks, and doesn't want to get into deco? Does it matter which side his can light is on?

But how can you answer "I'll never do that"? How many people here would say that at some point in their dive history they say one thing, but a yr later change there mind?

Neither side will "kill" you, but using it on the "wrong" side would potentially create a scenario where you would have to unlearn a whole bunch of things. Why even go there?

 

[Cacia]

I think I can say that many non-DIR divers consider them the diciples of gear.

 

[Meister481]

Excellent thread.

I'm not a DIR diver, but I do see merit in a streamlined, consistent gear system.

I've seen what happens when we tried to get a person thru a cavern course with a single large steel cylinder with h valve attached to a jacket BC, diva no less. It was a tragic setup, there was no easy way for the individual to clip anything off. The next 2 days the same person used a completely foreign Hogarthian setup to complete her Cavern class. She did remarkably well and I recently helped her setup her new BP/W setup when it came in.

When I bought my "tech" Jacket BC I thought I was doing the right thing because I had never been exposed to any tech diving or real tech gear. I was upset to learn what happens when you put doubles or a large single on a standard jacket BC, it's tragically unbalanced and just ridiculous to see in use. Then comes the whiz bang hoseless AI computer I purchased, money wasted. Luckily I did make a good purchase with the reg, I still use it and purchased a second.

I would think that if a person had the foresight to know what direction they wished to go would be better served to start with a BP/W if tech was their ultimate goal. I don't know too many people who were in the position to know they were going tech from the beginning.

I see so much value in the rigid standards set by the GUE when it comes to training. I was never too much on the equipment standards used, but I do see the value now that I started cave diving. My diving has evolved along with my system to the point that I now have MANY similarities with the DIR configuration.

Who'da thunk? Me, thinking about taking a fundies class.:11:

 

[Ben_ca]

Optimal... safest...

Standardized is the key point I take from it.... when you have everyone in the same rig it makes things a lot easier. Also the economics of buying Jet fins, BP&W and a DIN reg right off the bat makes sense to me.

 

[JeffG]

I would think that if a person had the foresight to know what direction they wished to go would be better served to start with a BP/W if tech was their ultimate goal. I don't know too many people who were in the position to know they were going tech from the beginning.

Here's the kicker.

If everyone started with a BP/W regardless of where they wanted to go...no harm...no foul.

Good for tech...good for rec.

 

[Meister481]

Here's the kicker.

If everyone started with a BP/W regardless of where they wanted to go...no harm...no foul.

Good for tech...good for rec.

True, but many rec divers like the security of the jacket and the trim characteristic while on the surface. That by no means tells the tale, just what I was told when I started. plus, most vacation divers who like to watch the pretty fish a couple times a year dive standing up anyway.

 

[rjack321]

True, but many rec divers like the security of the jacket and the trim characteristic while on the surface. That by no means tells the tale, just what I was told when I started. plus, most vacation divers who like to watch the pretty fish a couple times a year dive standing up anyway.

I know a few divers who were certified in BP/W and they don't feel "insecure" on the surface. The whole lifejacket approach to bouyancy starts when they're baby bubblers. Start 'em out on BP/W and the benefits of good trim UW supercede any conceptions about inadequacy on the surface.

As far as diving standing up, well that's just poor/inadequate teaching - not a gear issue per se.

 

[Meister481]

As far as diving standing up, well that's just poor/inadequate teaching - not a gear issue per se.

exactly my point, the BP/W trim characteristics would be lost on them anyway