Lost Yooper
Guest
Glad we cleared that up 
.
Take care,
Mike
.Take care,
Mike
DIR: God's gift to diving or Hell spawn?
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good to see you in the neighborhood
There is more than one way to skin a cat (IMO some ways are better than others). No he isnt DIR, and like you said they do share some ideas, I think that if Gary was a cave diver he would embrace more of their ideas. Thats the thing I like about DIR, it can take you from the reef to the wreck, to the cave w/o changing your config. Thanks for the link Texan!
This is where I have to draw the line in the sand. Let's make one thing perfectly clear. George has earned the right, through his diving, to have and express his opinions about diving.
George has NOT earned the right, and, IN FACT NO ONE HAS, to say the savage, foul, and obnoxious things that George has said in print in public forums. The comments that he has made have caused extreme distress and emotional harm to friends and relatives of people who have died. His vicious commentary exceeds all of the bounds of normal and polite society. His complete lack of regard for others, and the standards of society can only be described as sociopathic.
He can be quite pleasant when one meets him in person, and his speeches about diving are both reasonable and instructive. Even his friends decry, however, his Jekyll and Hyde nature when it comes to an internet keyboard.
Whatever his reasons may be, his viciousness transforms his commentary into "hate speech" no different in nature than that spewing from the mouths of Neo-N***s and Ku Klux Klan members!!!
I consider Gary a friend... and I like the guy a lot. I think his writing is interesting and I believe he has made a worthwhile contribution to our collective understanding of what works and what doesn't... diving and otherwise... And anyone who's shared mess space with him will tell you he has interesting taste in food. However, when it comes to gear configuration and gear management, Gary is a dinosaur... difference between him and many others is that he freely admits he's a dinosaur... He also has pretty thick skin... Everytime Gary's on a boat some joker will step out onto the "flight deck" at some point and say real loud: "Hey, who left this old pile of **** here on the bench?" To which the standard response is: "Don't worry, it's just Gary's dive gear."
Take care.
And anyone who's shared mess space with him will tell you he has interesting taste in food. However, when it comes to gear configuration and gear management, Gary is a dinosaur... difference between him and many others is that he freely admits he's a dinosaur... He also has pretty thick skin... Everytime Gary's on a boat some joker will step out onto the "flight deck" at some point and say real loud: "Hey, who left this old pile of **** here on the bench?" To which the standard response is: "Don't worry, it's just Gary's dive gear."Take care.
Doppler once bubbled...
I consider Gary a friend... and I like the guy a lot. I think his writing is interesting and I believe he has made a worthwhile contribution to our collective understanding of what works and what doesn't... diving and otherwise...
Take care.
I have always enjoyed Gary Gentile's sense of humor in print. It is good to know, from Doppler's anecdote above, that it remains constant in reality.
The message that I liked the most from his book "The Technical Diving Handbook" is the same as that imparted to me by my diving "guru", Frans Vandermolen (IANTD International Advisory Board). The message is, of course, that of the need to maintain mental flexibility. Analize things. Test them. If they work reliably for you, use them. Above all, don't ever stop learning!
By the way, Doppler, thank you for the personal insight. Every time I read it, I'm LOL!
Tekkie
Guest
I have about read two of Gary's books I think there both great books. I have read Deep Desent and I am half-way through The Technical Diving Handbook. In his books I love the humor he uses to get across a point. I also like the fact that he is not pro DIR or agenst DIR. The information in his books comes from first hand experience. I have also read DIRf and I am compairing the two togeather and I am seeing the differences in oppinons about gear, gas, what ever. In short I love Gary's books, I love his system of diving and I am looking forward to reading more of his books and some day meeting him.
Gary didnt write Deep Descent...
Tekkie
Guest
Ooops, my bad, I ment Andrea Doria.
Humm - got stuck on the seatbelt analogy. Gary's book came out quite a few years before the GUE/DIR emergence. Some of the thoughts and direction was be contradictory to the west coast way of diving back in the day, however, there are salient points in it. It also serves as a mile post in the ever evolving world of "tech" diving. Put it up on the shelf with your other Tech Books Mine is sitting right next to the Fundmentals of DIR followed by Intro to Cave, which is next to More Than Nine Lives (hardhat diving for abolone when California had it - talk about a history book of 22 ways to kill yoursewlf while underwater!)
Personally I don't know if Gary wears his seatbelt. I got tired of big brother telling me what to do so I bought a 1961 Volvo. It ain't got no stinkin' seat belts in it. Doesn't mean I don't belt up in vehicles that do have them.
ptf
Personally I don't know if Gary wears his seatbelt. I got tired of big brother telling me what to do so I bought a 1961 Volvo. It ain't got no stinkin' seat belts in it. Doesn't mean I don't belt up in vehicles that do have them.
ptf
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