DIR for the recreational diver - feedback appreciated

[ScubaSam]

As long as you're comfortable diving your configuration and your dive buddy is familiar with your configuration, you don't need a sanity check.

The ones asking you need the sanity check!

 

[reddiver970]

PeterB,
I would counter with the question to him of what do you have against a more streamline set-up which produces less drag? Like ScubaInChicago indicated with essentials or fundies training you will appear to be a more compentent diver and will unlikely receive such questions....

Or you go with my favorite quote from the movie Pulp Fiction and Samuel L Jackson and state "I don't remember asking you a *** damn thing".

exactly

 

[Scott L]

I would advise against countering with anything ... doing so almost always leads you into a no-win situation.

I have found that the only people worth explaining your diving style to ... no matter WHAT style you dive ... are those who are truly interested. Everyone else already has their mind made up, and you ain't gonna change it anyway ... so who cares what they think ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

If the question came from an instructor/DM or boat crew you are quite correct in which case the Samuel L Jackson line comes into play. I catch greif from the same idiots about utilizing long free diving fins when spearing/hunting off of larger cattle boats. Their rational is they take up too much room on a crowded boat when in fact I walk to the launching deck with fins in hand then quickly slip on and splash in causing no issues what so ever.

 

[Tortuga68]

Eh, just stab them with the 3" knife you have conveniently located on your waistband while they're waiting for the lady of the lake to deliver Excaliber to them from their inner calf...

 

[TSandM]

It sounds as though it is not that the comments you get make you acutely uncomfortable at the moment, but that the number of them is making you uncomfortable with your decision to use the gear you have.

There are a lot of people who think a Hogarthian gear setup is overkill for recreational diving, and in some senses, it is. It is highly unlikely that you will encounter a situation in open water, no-stop diving that would REQUIRE a seven foot hose to manage it. It is far from unlikely however (at least in my experience) that you may encounter situations where a 7' hose makes managing things more convenient. Sharing gas, in traditional teaching, is an emergency procedure which ends a dive; with a long hose, sharing gas can be contemplated to make terminating a dive smoother or less risky, in places where a direct ascent is not recommended (near marinas, or in shipping lanes). The minor issues involved in learning to manage a long hose, to me, are more than made up for by the expansion of options that the long hose represents. In addition, and this is rarely mentioned, wrapping the hose the way the Hog rig does is a very streamlined arrangement.

A backplate and wing is just a BC. They look funny to people who don't use them, who are almost always convinced they would be extremely uncomfortable, but it's still just a subspecies of back-inflate BC. There really is no reason for someone to be set against them, except unfamiliarity. There are people, however, who feel the harness with no releases in it is a safety issue -- I am sure none of those people has ever cut a harness in an emergency, but I have (or rather, I was participating in the emergency when it was done) and if anything, it's faster than trying to find and squeeze releases.

In the entire recreational diving world, there are probably only a few hundred instructors, at most, teaching this approach to diving, so the likelihood of encountering someone who is familiar with the system is low. The likelihood of encountering someone who IS familiar with the system, and has thought through each piece of the gear and rejected it on sound grounds is even lower. I don't think you need to rethink what you are doing, based on the comments you are getting.

DIR works great for recreational diving. If you have not had the pleasure of diving with a team of trained folks, you owe it to yourself to set that up, so you can see how much good gear, good skills, and good teamwork add to the enjoyment of each dive.

Oh, and I agree with Bob. Just smile at the folks who make the comments. You're not going to convince them.

 

[PeterB]

Thanks all for the great feedback. As pointed out, I'm not *really* a DIR diver, at the moment I'm just wearing a hogarthian rig. However, just joined GUE and have bought a couple of the intro books to get me started before I dive in Thailand. I'll try to fit a fundies course in somewhere this summer (even if I don't pass, it'll improve my diving) and I'll try giving the local diving a shot when things warm up.

Thanks for both the sanity check and the great suggestions for improving my diving!

Peter

 

[Scott L]

There are a lot of people who think a Hogarthian gear setup is overkill for recreational diving, and in some senses, it is. It is highly unlikely that you will encounter a situation in open water, no-stop diving that would REQUIRE a seven foot hose to manage it. It is far from unlikely however (at least in my experience) that you may encounter situations where a 7' hose makes managing things more convenient. Sharing gas, in traditional teaching, is an emergency procedure which ends a dive; with a long hose, sharing gas can be contemplated to make terminating a dive smoother or less risky, in places where a direct ascent is not recommended (near marinas, or in shipping lanes). The minor issues involved in learning to manage a long hose, to me, are more than made up for by the expansion of options that the long hose represents. In addition, and this is rarely mentioned, wrapping the hose the way the Hog rig does is a very streamlined arrangement.

I could not agree more. The 7' hose wraps nicely around the body reducing drag. This is clearly evident in high current days when diving on the edge of the Gulfstream here in the Palm Beaches. A normal length regulator hose gets battered about in the current also causing mouth/teeth fatigue. In addition, the longer hose facilitates my buddies asking for gas sharing (LOA) in order to complete a proper safety stop (don't get me on that subject/non DIR) otherwise they simply would not ask another nearby diver having to be mask to mask (too close) to each other....

 

[divad]

**** them.

+1. Just smile.


You should talk to this guy, a founding member of GUE and The Mayor of Dutch Springs:


Bob Sherwood @
ALL ABOUT SCUBA
829 Main Street
Vestal, NY 13850


Phone: (607) 786-3941
Fax: (607)748-7565


bob@allaboutscuba.com

 

[ScubaSam]

There is a large group here in the forums that refer to themselves as Dive NY.

You have a real nice quarry (I know I have real and nice and quarry in the same sentence, and usually that doesn't go) not too far away from you. It is Dutch Springs.

Dutch Springs

My understanding is it is very close to NYC.

Hook up with those guys and get more dives!

As for your rig, I switched to nearly the exact same one very early in my career. I too would get comments. You'll figure out most of the people that makes those comments tend to be morons anyway. Ignore them. I found it is better to just change the topic.

One tip, make sure that your dive buddy knows where to go for air. Most new divers are trained not to go for the primary of their buddy. If you have a regular dive buddy, pass them your primary at a safety stop or something easy and safe. You may find they are making the switch themselves.

Good luck!

PeterB- Yes, pop into Dive NY, there is always someone from the group at Dutch which is 1.5 hours from Manhattan sans traffic.

Dive NY - ScubaBoard

**** them.

+1. Just smile.


You should talk to this guy, a founding member of GUE and The Mayor of Dutch Springs:


Bob Sherwood @
ALL ABOUT SCUBA
829 Main Street
Vestal, NY 13850


Phone: (607) 786-3941
Fax: (607)748-7565


bob@allaboutscuba.com

+1 for Bob Sherwood, he IS the Mayor of Dutch Springs.

 

[HenrikBP]

Thanks all for the great feedback. As pointed out, I'm not *really* a DIR diver, at the moment I'm just wearing a hogarthian rig. However, just joined GUE and have bought a couple of the intro books to get me started before I dive in Thailand. I'll try to fit a fundies course in somewhere this summer (even if I don't pass, it'll improve my diving) and I'll try giving the local diving a shot when things warm up.

I went with BP/wing and long hose after my OW and first dive trip. The regular rec set-up just didn't make sense *to me*. I've gotten a few questions, but never negative "comments" ... yet But as everyone else have said; if you know and are comfortable with your gear, who cares what anyone else thinks?

I'll second the nudge to come out to Dutch. It ain't Thailand (no, I'm not jealous ... :mooner but it's great for getting wet and practicing. And Dive NY is a fun and very varied group of divers so I'm sure you'd have a great time.

Also, second the nudge to get in touch with Bob Sherwood. I did Fundies with Bob this Summer with Sam (great time and lots of stuff learned) and highly recommend it. I also know that 3 or 4 Dive New Yorkers are signed up for Fundies - in June I believe - already. Worth looking into getting in on that course.

Henrik
(I see Sam beat me to it )