DIR Feedback

[Divesherpa]

Lost Yooper, out of curiosity, when you said that you were introduced to DIR by a PADI/TDI instructor, who was teaching against the grain, what exactly did you mean? Was he breaching standards or supplementing with personal stances on DIR?
Which class were you taking?

 

[roakey]

I suppose I should settle down and actually answer the questions…

- If you've adopted some or all of DIR, why?

This first answer is going to be long, because it’s a long road. The following answers will be much, much shorter.

I started diving in the early 70s. My last big gear upgrade was in the early-to-mid 80s. Though I liked many of the improvements since the 70s, like BCs and power inflators, by the mid 90s I longed for the way I used to slip through the water with only a backpack, what’s now called a snorkeling vest and a regulator. Those were the days of the J valve and when it became hard to breathe you yanked on the bar running down the side of your tank and surfaced. I felt like I now plowed through the water with my four hoses and a bulky BC jacket and was in general dissatisfied with my current equipment.

It had been a good ten years since I had taken any classes so I decided to sign up for a PADI Nitrox class to see what Nitrox was all about. This particular shop was running a special of buy a Nitrox computer and get a Nitrox class free, so this seemed like a good deal since I was thinking of getting a hoseless Nitrox computer to streamline. This of course is really stupid, because hoses are the least of your worries when it comes to streamlining! So I ordered an Oceanic Data Trans+, got the PADI Nitrox book (typical dive shop subterfuge -- the class is free, but you need to buy the materials) and went through it from cover to cover (as all students are SUPPOSED to do ) before the class. I wasn’t even aware of it at the time, but a flame had been kindled. There’s formulae between them thar covers, and I enjoy working the problems. Here’s diving that appeals both to my intellect as well as my basal enjoyment of the sport.

I show up for class and EVERYONE but me had cancelled. The instructor, Tom Karnuta is stunned that someone actually opened the book before class. We go through day 1 of the two evening class in about 20 minutes and spend the rest of the time getting to know each other. He used to be a commercial diver and I start grilling him on mixed gasses (he did a bunch of Heliox) and in general fan the flames that the book started. Day 2 we finish the class and yack about more stuff. Basically we hit it off real well. In passing he mentions that it’s possible to build your own O2 analyzer and that there’s a book out there called “The Oxygen Bible” or something. I start searching the web and start finding plans for O2 analyzers as well as “The Oxygen Hackers Companion” (http://www.airspeedpress.com/) which is what he was talking about.

You mean I get to dive, do formulas AND build stuff? I’m hooked.

We do our two Nitrox checkout dives and I decide the Data Trans+ sucks. Every time I fold my hands at my waist the thing starts beeping at me (no signal). I return the computer and ask for my money back. They accept the return but it’s a struggle to get my money back. Eventually I get it back minus the cost of the class (fair enough, I didn’t buy a computer so I pay for the class) and about a month later the shop folds. Colorado Springs is back down to two dive shops again.

I’m now starting to think endgame. And the endgame is technical and though I don’t know what kind, it’ll involve doubles. So I go to both shops in town and decide on a fashion tek Oceanic BC that can handle doubles (with a converter) and get a TUSA Duo Air to eliminate one hose (still fixated on hoses for streamlining). I assemble the equipment and my web research lands me on this company called “Dive Rite.” Wow. Now this is real technical stuff, not gear made to look technical. The Oceanic BC hasn’t been in the water so I return it for a refund and eBay the Duo Air since it was a special order and non-returnable.

Looking back that’s one of the first solid mile markers to going technical: eBaying crap you bought when you didn’t know better.

The Dive Rite stuff looks great. Especially the back inflation to keep from getting squeezed and better trim while diving. Meanwhile my research landed me on another company: Halcyon. My jaw just dropped. Here’s a giant step backwards to the backpack I dove in the 70s but with a power inflation system on the back that makes it comfortable and trims you better. From Halcyon I find the term “Hogarthian” to search on and my DIR discovery begins. I start running the philosophies, methodologies and equipment through my mind and it all makes sense. These are people who actually think about DIVING, not just worry about color coordination!

I’m going to Cozumel in a couple months, so it’s time to take the plunge. A SS backplate, harness, STA and 18 pound lift wing shows up on my doorstep. Tom Karnuta and I have been keeping in touch and we get together a couple of times to dive locally. Completely independently of me he’s been wandering down the technical path and has a brand new Zeagle Ranger. He tries out my gear on one of our dives and immediately there’s an almost brand-new Ranger on eBay.

I’m now reading more about DIR and I order the correct length hoses and install them just before I head to Cozumel. In Cozumel my diving takes a giant step backwards to the effortless, easy diving that I remember from the 70s. This gear and configuration rocks. I know where everything is, I can drop right down inches from something I want to look at and I’m flat and neither my gear nor I am touching the reef. Even with just a polartec suit on, the “uncomfortable looking” backplate is more comfortable than any BC I’ve ever worn. The tank feels like it’s bolted to my back. The gear is perfect, it implements modern diving methodologies but has the streamlining of the equipment of the 70s. It doesn’t get better than this!

I’m back from Cozumel for about a month and I get a call from Tom: “I’ve always wanted to cave dive, you want to take a class together?” Four months later we’re on a plane, our ultimate destination: High Springs and Cave I training from Global Underwater Explorers, DIR Mecca

So that’s how and why I “went” DIR.

- If not "100%", what parts did you decide not to adopt and why?

“Decide not to adopt” isn’t the right phrase, “not there yet” is more appropriate. When I took Cave I, I was a big time runner. For some reason I’ve gotten out of it, gained weight so one DIR facet that I don’t match up with is that I’m out of shape. That needs to change over the next 6 months. I also need to be more disciplined in the buddy system. Scubaturek and I are good in the lakes, where the visibility is poor, but when we go to Blue Hole, which is a very clear spring (no cave system) in New Mexico, we have a tendency to be “same water same time” buddies. We need to tighten up our buddy system. Blue Hole is only about 80 feet deep, 60 feet across at the top and about 80-100 feet across at the bottom so for all intents and purposes it’s confined water, but that’s an excuse, not a good reason for doing what we do.

- Have you taken any courses? If so, which ones?

Cave I. I’m shooting for Cave II this fall. Got a lot of work to do between now and then.

- How did these courses shape your impression of DIR? Did you adopt/emulate everything you saw/learned in your course(s)? If the answer is no -- why not?

In Cave I we were tag-teamed by Jarrod Jablonski and Ted Cole. Tom Karnuta, Jeffrey Villanueva (http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Paradise/3415/index1.html) (who we didn’t know before the class) and myself were all rigged DIR when we showed up. JJ and Ted poured over our equipment and we passed muster. They did take a long, close look at the bicycle inner tube solution I used for my “fusible links” between my bolt snaps and light head/long hose/SPG but appeared to be satisfied with it and never said anything.

So in terms of equipment, there was nothing new to adopt or learn; all three of us were already sold on it.

The HUGE win was that we were all diving “web-taught” DIR before we showed up for the class. So the hump that most new cave divers need to get over, which is learning how to deal with all this new equipment, was a complete and total non-issue. Even though we were all diving doubles for the first time, our “interface” to our equipment was unchanged. This allowed us to focus on the task at hand: Learning how to stay alive in a cave, without being distracted by learning how to use new equipment.

Not having to bumble with our equipment allows the GUE Cave I course to cover a lot of ground very quickly. In terms of cave techniques there’s nothing really different between what GUE teaches and anyone else, I just think that because GUE gets already DIR-equipped divers (and now even more so with their DIRF requirement) that they can do a better job IN the cave teaching. As an example, we learned nuances such as not crossing over other people’s lines and if you have to, to run your line under them. During the class we had other divers run lines over ours several times.

So I’ve dove DIR from Cozumel to Cave and it works in both extremes. Sometimes I have heavier exposure protection than other times. Sometimes I wear a single, sometimes doubles. The bottom line is that my “interface” with my equipment NEVER changes. I don’t switch back to a BC for “recreational” diving. I don’t want to change the way I interface with my equipment because of two reasons: First, I don’t want to dilute learned behaviors that I might need in the least forgiving environment I dive in, which is a cave. Secondly, and this is the beauty of DIR, there’s no reason to. Cozumel to Cave, Tropical to Ice, DIR works, works well and makes you work well.

Roak

Ps. To read about my GUE Cave I class check out these two links:

http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Paradise/3415/cave.html (Jeffrey’s version)
http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Paradise/3415/rogercave.html (my version)

 

[Lost Yooper]

Originally posted by Divesherpa
Lost Yooper, out of curiosity, when you said that you were introduced to DIR by a PADI/TDI instructor, who was teaching against the grain, what exactly did you mean? Was he breaching standards or supplementing with personal stances on DIR?
Which class were you taking?

I don't think he particulary cared for either organization based on philosphical differences and how he viewed their motives. Actually, he didn't even get into technical diving until after we took him with us -- before he certified us. He was DIRish and that was my introduction. I took over learning about it after that -- much like Roakey's description.

He ignored some of the irrelavent stuff that wouldn't apply to us and our diving and emphasized or supplemented more important stuff. Whether what he may have done would be considered a "breach", I don't know and don't care. We were far more advanced at the time he certified us than the classes we were taking -- Rescue Diver, Nitrox, and Advanced Nitrox.

Mike

 

[Divesherpa]

This is not a personal attack, I'm just curious.
Lost Yooper, when you say you were far more advanced than the classes you were taking(adv. Eanx, Eanx, and Rescue), Why on earth would you take them?


And by the way, when it comes to standards, I don't agree with a lot of them, but they must be included in the class. By teaching you only what applied to you, it sounds as if he breached standards and short-changed you. The actual education is in the minute details that most leave out.
Kind of like DIR. I don't know if you are a cave diver, but a lot of the reasons DIR is so one way is to fill in the gap for extreme pushes. It sounds like this wouldn't apply to you as the surfacing an unconscious diver wouldn't apply.
Cheers

 

[Lost Yooper]

We took the classes so we could get fills for nitrox while on vacation. The Rescue Diver was just there to take.

He certainly didn't short change us. We simply "by passed" some of the BS and concentrated on the more relavant stuff. He wasn't about to blindly follow some of the things those agencies required. He took some initiative and made the courses more realistic for us.
I'm a wreck diver who enjoys venturing deeper than most so I can see better wrecks. I think cave divers are a bunch of nut cases, personally . However, it's only a matter of time before I'll be signed up to try a Cave 1 class -- just can't help myself .
I really don't understand what you mean by your last paragraph, but I'm getting a sense of distaste. So, before I jump to any conclusions and say anything I may regret, I'll give you a chance to ellaborate.

Mike

 

[tombiowami]

DIR need not have anything to do with technical diving, get that out of the noggin.

The beauty of it is that no major changes are needed to the BASIC equipment or ideas, no matter what direction someones diving takes them or does not take them.

Tommy

 

[Lost Yooper]

DIR=tech is probably the single biggest myth and/or misconception regarding DIR that is out there.

Mike

 

[Divesherpa]

L_Y, I will retract my last statement. I just don't understand the reasoning behind attempting to make all divers totally uniform. It makes excellent sense for big teams doing large pushes, but on a 30 foot wreck, it doesn't make that much of a hill of beans.
I believe all of the DIR instructor guys would either be Cave or Deep Wreck by background, which is where there experiences lie. For someone to say Dir=technical is crap is not really paying attention to who is teaching(in my opinion). A lot of the caves in Florida are closed to everyone who isn't an Irvine groupie. Irvine has lots of bucks, while a lot of the rest of us are actually diving EVERY day instead of selling junk bonds. I hope this DIR doesn't attempt to saturate the pleasure divers as well, or the Keys will be closed off to non-DIR guys.
One more thing, attention to detail is the single best part of DIR(IMHO), which would mean that bypassing any "BS"

Cheers

 

[tombiowami]

For someone to say Dir=technical is crap is not really paying attention to who is teaching(in my opinion)

That would be the training director Jarod Jablonski, maybe he does not pay attention to himself, but my impression is that he does.

I also do not really remember mentioning "crap", it sounds like you may have been hanging around George with language like that, why the need to add it to my post?



People just seem to focus on the tech because it gets the most exposure. Those guys do 30' reef dives and all, they just don't get many tv specials or documentaries on those.

Tommy

 

[roakey]

Originally posted by Divesherpa
L_Y, I will retract my last statement. I just don't understand the reasoning behind attempting to make all divers totally uniform. It makes excellent sense for big teams doing large pushes, but on a 30 foot wreck, it doesn't make that much of a hill of beans.

If you want to discount the uniform part of the configuration you can always look at the better trim, less clutter, better reef conservation from better diver training and no danglies. Also I don't think anyone can ignore the advantage of a consistent response to emergency situations that's offered by DIR, versus "where's-my-buddy's-octo-and-does-it-work" approach that's taught in mainstream SCUBA today.

Originally posted by Divesherpa
A lot of the caves in Florida are closed to everyone who isn't an Irvine groupie. I hope this DIR doesn't attempt to saturate the pleasure divers as well, or the Keys will be closed off to non-DIR guys.

As usual, the order of events are misunderstood and are turned into an anti-DIR statement. Years ago there were many caves that were closed to ALL SCUBA diving, period. The WKPP's excellent track record allowed the WKPP to negotiate the reopening of those caves to the WKPP. You seem to imply that George closed those caves. No, he reopened them. And a landowner-specified condition of their reopening is that they would only be open to the WKPP, an organization that wasn’t bending, toxing and killing its members left and right.

Why were landowners closing their caves? Perhaps a good example would be to look at the Wakulla 2 project. After the WKPP had been diving Wakulla successfully for years, Bill Stone convinced the state of Florida (who holds the keys to Wakulla) that he should be allowed to explore it too. In three months (contract this to the YEARS the WKPP has been diving Wakulla) he racked up an impressive list of accomplishments:

The banks of the spring trashed by the equipment they were using, one bent diver evacuated by helicopter, one National Geographic photographer dragged out of the water convulsing from Oxygen toxicity and one Nobel prize winning scientist dead from hypoxia.

So you can blame Bill Stone, not Irvine for making absolutely sure that no one but the WKPP will ever dive Wakulla in the foreseeable future.

Make no mistake about it, I think George’s a first-rate ***hole, but that doesn’t make what he’s saying BS. I’d love to see a better spokesman for DIR, but his right to say what he says and the way he says it is protected by the first amendment, nothing we can do about it.

If you chose to ignore the message simply because of the messenger, there’s nothing I can do about that, either. The sad thing is those that choose to ignore the message because of the messenger don’t know the vast amount of information they’re missing.

Their loss.

Roak