"DIR: Fundamentals of Better Diving"

[do it easy]

:11:



:mooner:

 

[b1gcountry]

 

[Rick Inman]

Oh no. Nothing to see here. I'm too smart to mess with anyone named Tony from Chicago.

 

[do it easy]

Oh no. Nothing to see here. I'm too smart to mess with anyone named Tony from Chicago.

I guess I couldn't interest you in a set of permanent ankle weights? They're not very DIR, but they fit like they're made for you.

 

[b1gcountry]

Thanks for all the great advice, everybody. Of all the people I was hoping would reply, this is basically them. I was guessing someone would recommend Dress for Success. I read a LOT, so I don't mind adding another book to my stack...although I will have to make sure Kathy doesn't see it come in the mail (we have four bookshelves in the bedroom)

Rjack-
Yeah, a lot of the stuff seemed to be mostly geared towards things you will be diong in the future. I really do want to get Cavern Certified, but I can't see myself doing anything that needs a scooter, or a light with 12hr burn time. I'm basically trying to find out the things that make sense for me, verses the things I will never use. (I'm not trying to knock the holistic approach, here, just trying to be smart and realistic about it)

Tony-
I sent you a PM. I'm up in Chicago a bunch, I wouldn't mind sitting in on a DIR get-together if there are some people up there that do regular dives or anything.

THanks again,
Tom

 

[TSandM]

Dress for Success is a great reference for gear, but I'm not sure it's going to give you the "whys" you're looking for.

I always ask why. I asked why about backup lights -- Why can't they have a switch? Dress for Success doesn't tell you, and neither does Jarrod's book, and my Fundies instructor never answered my e-mail. The answer is actually rather obvious, which may be why he didn't write back to me, but there are a lot of why's you shake your head about, or ask on DIR-dedicated boards (like DIR Explorers, or the Quest list) until you figure it out.

So far, everything has made sense once explained, so I've relaxed a little bit about accepting the things I don't understand until I can find the reason why.

 

[Otter]

...snip... Why can't they have a switch? ...snip....

Greater risk of flooding?

 

[WJL]

Greater risk of flooding?

And breaking.

 

[TSandM]

Basically, the answer was, you have to have an opening in the light to put the batteries in. If you can have just that one, and use it as a switch as well, you haven't added any additional weak points to the light. If you add a switch, that's another penetration of the waterproof canister, another failure point, and adds nothing. Made sense, once it was explained. But there's no explanation in the books.

 

[ppo2_diver]

Tony-
I sent you a PM. I'm up in Chicago a bunch, I wouldn't mind sitting in on a DIR get-together if there are some people up there that do regular dives or anything.

Tony is DIR? Oh yeah, that's because he brings along grape Kool-Aid to drink during our surface intervals.