DIR: God's gift to diving or Hell spawn?

[gj62]

Actually "DIR" is a registered trademark of one of the Ski compani's (Nordica I think) it stands for Dynamic Interactive Release or something similar. Was all over my Ski's in Italy this winter with its little (R) mark, which technically means no one else can use it

Here in the US, Halcyon has trademarked "DIR" and "Doing It Right" - see below (from the US PTO):

Word Mark DIR

Goods and Services IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: Diving, snorkeling and scuba equipment, namely, tanks, fins, hoses, wetsuits, dry suits, regulators, buoyancy wings, back plates, lift devices, life rafts, weight release systems, weight systems, lift bags, rebreathers, alert markers, buoyancy compensators, lights, valves, personal flotation devices, wraps, pockets, dry suit inflation kits, bottle rigging kits, knives, clips, snaps, gear bags, hose units, bucklers, tank bands, manifold, snorkels, masks, flippers, weight belts and parts therefore, prerecorded videos in the field of scuba diving and diving techniques

IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Educational services in the field of scuba diving and diving techniques, developing educational materials for others in the field of scuba diving and diving techniques, educational demonstrations in the field of scuba diving and diving techniques, educational services, namely, conducting courses, classes, seminars, conferences, instructions, workshops and programs, in the field of scuba diving and diving techniques, educational services in the nature of scuba diving schools

Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 78235834
Filing Date April 9, 2003
Current Filing Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Owner (APPLICANT) HALCYON MANUFACTURING, INC. CORPORATION FLORIDA 15 SOUTH MAIN STREET HIGH SPRINGS FLORIDA 32643

 

[novadiver]

As a non-DIR diver, I like some of the DIR techniques, but not others. It all comes down to what's best and safest for you and your dive buddy. I will say that it is nice to know where all of your dive buddies gear is in an emergency.

 

[minnediver]

As a non-DIR diver, I like some of the DIR techniques, but not others. It all comes down to what's best and safest for you and your dive buddy. I will say that it is nice to know where all of your dive buddies gear is in an emergency.

What are the other techniques you didn't like?

 

[leadweight]

Amazingly long thread.

What I find interesting is that GUE has 31 instructors total out of which 16 are qualified to teach "Technical".

IANTD has over 1300 instructors qualified to teach open water, 413 qualified to teach "Technical", over 1000 qualified to teach their entry level technical course Advanced Nitrox and I am not sure how many total instructors.

Yet, get on the internet and you will hear about DIR about 400 times more often than IANTD or stress management.

You can go to www.iantd.com and read their mission statement. It is very specific. The GUE mission statement is vague by comparison.

IMO, a lot of the DIR discussion is about gear and not enough about technique. Anyone can go into a dive shop, pull out their credit card and go home with a carload of gear, DIR or not.

It takes a lot of effort to learn how to use it safely once going beyond recreational diving, or even at the limits of recreational diving. In other words, training is a lot more important than exact choice of gear, yet there is a lot of buzz about DIR gear and not that much GUE technical training going on. I have heard complaints about requiring accomplished divers to take DIRF (with its requirement that DIR gear be used) before being admitted to more advanced GUE instruction.

It is presumptuous to say that a rather rigid system of gear will be best for all situations. Are the thousands of recreational divers all unsafe because they wear a jacket and have a standard hose config? I also question why DIR types are so sensitive, or need a troll free zone, here and on other boards.

Holistic sounds nice. We should all try to keep healthy and fit. Yes Virginia, GUE does have at least one overweight instructor who I know. Name to be withheld due to privacy considerations.

 

[roakey]

IMO, a lot of the DIR discussion is about gear and not enough about technique. Anyone can go into a dive shop, pull out their credit card and go home with a carload of gear, DIR or not.

You bet, problem is, most of the whiners whine and whinny about the gear and we can't seem to get past that. Take a look at any anti-DIR post and you'll see it's mostly about gear (marketing ploy, etc.).

You do realize who NAUI went to a few years ago when they wanted to improve their technical program, don't you?

Roak

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Amazingly long thread.

That's because one of our mods decided to combine many related threads into one ...

Yet, get on the internet and you will hear about DIR about 400 times more often than IANTD or stress management.

FWIW - most of what you hear about DIR comes from two classes of people ... those who've just "graduated" from DIR-F and those who have never taken a DIR course. Neither is exactly what you should consider an expert on the subject.

IMO, a lot of the DIR discussion is about gear and not enough about technique.

In the class, gear discussion takes up a rather small percentage of the curriculum. Gear is the easy part.

Anyone can go into a dive shop, pull out their credit card and go home with a carload of gear, DIR or not.

That's a bigger problem, and one not at all related to DIR. I find it ironic that you have to have a C-card to rent gear, but not to purchase it. Don't you?

It takes a lot of effort to learn how to use it safely once going beyond recreational diving, or even at the limits of recreational diving. In other words, training is a lot more important than exact choice of gear,

True ... and practicing the skills you learned in your training is also important. Yet it seems that whenever I call for a skills practice dive, it's just the DIR-trained divers who show up.

yet there is a lot of buzz about DIR gear and not that much GUE technical training going on.

That's because the vast majority of the buzz either comes from people with no DIR training, or those who've just finished DIR-F and haven't really gotten past the easy stuff yet.

I have heard complaints about requiring accomplished divers to take DIRF (with its requirement that DIR gear be used) before being admitted to more advanced GUE instruction.

LOL - I would've been one of those not long ago. However, taking the DIR-F class did show me that while I have a lot of experience, "accomplished" is a relative term. And I'm a better diver today because of it ... although getting to that point proved to be a rather humbling experience.

It is presumptuous to say that a rather rigid system of gear will be best for all situations.

I completely agree with that statement. One thing that taking the class does for you is to get you past the concept that DIR is all about gear.

Are the thousands of recreational divers all unsafe because they wear a jacket and have a standard hose config?

Not to my concern ... I know lots of excellent divers who don't wear technical gear. Some of them are my best dive buddies.

I also question why DIR types are so sensitive, or need a troll free zone, here and on other boards.

I questioned it too ... and that as a moderator.

However, a recent decision to ease that restriction, just for a single thread, showed why it's necessary ... because otherwise the trolls will completely drown out any attempt at meaningful discussion. Several people with no DIR training ... nor any real comprehension of what DIR really is ... did their best to derail that particular discussion.

BTW - the same proved to be true with the solo diving forum. Does that make solo divers "sensitive"? Somehow, I don't think so.

People have strong feelings about particular topics. And they're entitled to express their feelings. What they're not entitled to do is to prevent those who disagree with them from engaging in substantive discussion without being harrassed. In those cases where we see a pattern of harrassment developing, we establish troll-free zones.

Your rights to express yourself end at the point where they prevent others from doing the same. It's a simple as that.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[leadweight]

Hello Grateful Diver

I must agree with you that those who take the DIR-F class are better off than those who just buy the gear. This month I had my first taste of tech by completing an IANTD Advanced Nitrox course. It was a difficult and humbling experience which I will get around to writing up in another thread in a few days. There was definitely diver improvement as a result.

Perhaps I should have said proficient rather than accomplished. I have no doubt that there are divers redy for technical courses who do not need DIR-F and only half of a dive with an instructor would make that obvious. I could not have attempted the IANTD Advanced Nitrox course (at least with the instructor I chose) had I not been proficient in buoyancy, breathing, watermanship or any other aspect of recreational diving that you might be able to think of.

None the less, if you or anyone else benefits from DIR-F, it is a good thing. I doubt that I will be going that route as I am not interested in purchasing equipment that I would later have to modify for me to be happy with it. The specifics not being important for purposes of this thread.

Even at this point I might find a curve ball or two in a DIR-F course. However, I probably missed a thing or two in high school but will not be going back after two college degrees and decades of using that knowledge successfully.

I remain curious as to why the DIR buzz levels are so high, especially regarding the gear, when GUE is so small. Perhaps DIR gear appeals to a group that is much broader than those who are really set on improving as divers. That does not make the gear bad, but it does make for an interesting discussion.

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts.

-Ron

 

[leadweight]

Roak,

Are you telling me that NAUI did not ask anyone but GUE? Are you sure they did not consult with IANTD, TDI and other agencies based outside the US?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Hello Grateful Diver

I must agree with you that those who take the DIR-F class are better off than those who just buy the gear. This month I had my first taste of tech by completing an IANTD Advanced Nitrox course.

-<snip>-

I doubt that I will be going that route as I am not interested in purchasing equipment that I would later have to modify for me to be happy with it. The specifics not being important for purposes of this thread.

I agree that people tend to get too focused on equipment ... and that a lot of the derogatory comments aimed at equipment sometimes trouble me.

However, I'm curious ... what equipment did you use when you got into IANTD? I ask because I have several friends who are IANTD trained (we are blessed with a wonderful IANTD instructor in our area) ... and their equipment is essentially the same as what most DIR folks use (BP/wing, long hose, non-split fins, etc). In fact, about the only difference I can think of off the top of my head is the use of a computer ... and for DIR-F that's a total non-issue.

We also have some really good NAUI tech instructors around here ... and once again I don't see any substantive difference between their gear and DIR gear. At least not those who are still using open-circuit scuba rigs ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[leadweight]

Bob,

I will answer your question in another thread. Working on it right now. It did not look very DIR, but that was not the point of the class.

-Ron