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

[JeffG]

There was a change in the valve drill procedure as of this month. Had someone been doing their drills this way before the change they wouldn't have been doing it right, but because GUE has now adopted this specific method, the same person is now doing it right. BTW, I don't do my drills this way, I do them the way the instructor tells me to during the class.


My goal here is to show that as policies change, there may be instances where former policies that were frowned on by some may be adopted by the GUE. Might make some people think about calling stroke every chance they get.

Since when does that make a person a stroke? Holy miss the boat batman.

 

[Ben_ca]

As regard to the change in the valve drill just because you are still doing the valve drill the old way doesn't make you an unsafe diver($troke)... it's an unsafe attitude that does that. The fact that you are doing a valve drill shows that you have that skill and that yo u are practicing it.

Don't get hung up on the small stuff... You have to know the current standards and if you are deviating from them state so to your team so that they are informed.

 

[Meister481]

What's batman got to do with it? Is his equipment DIR? He's got a cool boat.


I understand your point. I wasn't aware that deviation was allowed. I didn't even think I could take a fundies class because my harness has platic buckles on it. But it is all black.

The stroke comment was harsh, just to make the point. So many people on both sides get upset about the smallest of things when discussions turn to DIR/NDIR related topics. It serves no purpose other than to cause more polarization.

 

[JeffG]

The stroke comment was harsh, just to make the point. So many people on both sides get upset about the smallest of things when discussions turn to DIR/NDIR related topics. It serves no purpose other than to cause more polarization.

Stroke comment done to make a point? No, Its just outright wrong. And posting it just contributes to the never ending pile of misinformation about DIR on the web.

 

[Charlie99]

My issue is that someone may be called a stroke for how they do something, then when GUE adopts it the same person doing the same thing is no longer a stroke. That's just not right, the stance of either it's GUE or wrong isn't going to help anyone or win any hearts over.

Ignoring the "s-word" for a moment, I think you are missing a key point.

A lot of times it doesn't matter whether a certain piece of equipment is on the left or the right, but it is important that everyone know where it is on both themselves and others. The same thing for certain procedures. There may be pros and cons to several different methods, but in some circumstances what is most important is standardization. Which one is the standard might not even be as important as having everyone doing it the same way. These are basic underlying tenets of the DIR system.

 

[JeffG]

The same thing for certain procedures. There may be pros and cons to several different methods, but in some circumstances what is most important is standardization. Which one is the standard might not even be as important as having everyone doing it the same way. These are basic underlying tenets of the DIR system.

and this misses the point too.

The valve drill is just a training drill. Contray to popular belief, DIR is not about diving in quarries and playing with your knob. DIR is about executing a dive plan safely. Training dives and training procedures are to build muscle memory to accomplish a task safely so that you will be ready for a real dive.

To look at different training procedures and coming up with the conclusion that someone is not DIR is "missing the forest for the trees."

 

[Otter]

I believe it accurate say that just because your equipment configuration is different or you perform a procedure different, you are NOT a stroke. "Stroke" originated from "ego stroke" and is more accurately attributed to a diver who have with unsafe attitudes.

Its clear that the meaning of 'stroke' has been used and abused to the point, by DIR and NDIR alike, that many postulate if you are not DIR you are a STROKE. That is a misuse of the term.

NOW, you could be a STROKE if you had a different equipment configuration. For instance, if you are diving with a team of 3 others and everyone but you had one configuration and you chose to have a different configuration with the result that you increased overall team risk due to your stubbornness. You are a STROKE because your attitude jeopardizes the entire team/mission not the mere fact that you wear split fins into an overhead environment.

This is what I was told by a GUE Instructor...I wasn't there when the term 'stroke' was coined.

 

[daniel f aleman]

Divers from FSU were using the term "stroke" back in the 1960s.

 

[PvilleStang]

God's gift to trolls. and if you're wondering, the DIR forum has a great article posted on what a troll is. But in respect, DIR has its place, just like the extreme right and left wingers. They bring about reform in the diving community, whether we like it or not.

 

[Arnvig]

I've been checking out the board for a few weeks and finally registered. I am wondering what exactly is DIR? I've seen it referred to in many posts but I'm not sure what it is.

Let me start by admitting, i'm not a DIR diver. Nor do I think I'll ever be one. But I do like the DIR philosofy, because it teaches me, to consider what i'm doing and why i'm doing it. The first 14 years of diving, I just did what I've been told, never reflecting much about it. My equipment was non-figurated, i.e. it was placed like the day it came out of the store. Well, I had changed a few of the hoses around, mostly to keep my pressuregauge from hanging over my head. The equipment was in accordance with the national federations recommended setup.

The first time I met a DIR diver I didnt even notice. It was in '96, while I was living in Germany, that I became a member of MESS, (Munich English Speaking Sportsdivers), a mixed party of people from all over the world including Michael Döelle who was originally from Lübeck, but at that time a resident of Munich.

We were diving together in a small lake "Ilse See" west of Augsburg. He had a set of twins, 2 regulators and a backplate with a wing, which he called a "caverig" and he told me he'd been on af cavediving course i Florida. While I was helping him putting on the rig, I noticed that all of his hoses was entangled behind his back. I started to straighten the setup, because he had obviusly failed to learn anything on that cavecourse. Of course, Michael gave me a ? , and explained to me, that every hose was set en a specific order after a carefully thought plan.

After the dive he asked me why I had my pressure gauge on the right side. My answer: "Thats where its always been, so I know where it is". "But you dont know why" he said. "You are righthanded and you'll be more likely to use you right hand to collect things or reach into holes. Your right side is far more exposed and likely to make contact with sharp objects, rocks, corals or wrecks. If you put your pressure gauge on your left side, you'll lessen the risc of anything happening to it." I wasnt able to make any counter argument og moved my pressure gauge to the left side. But he wasnt satisfied yet. "Even with the SPG on the left side, it's still hanging loose. You dont really know where it is. You'll have to secure it". A boltsnap and a wirebinder later he smiled. "Now you'll have to do that with the rest of your equipment"

This little incident started a longer proces for me, in my thoughts I walked thru my equipment and how I was diving. When I learned to dive, we used the old J-valve (the one with a reserve handle), but it was obvious that it only gave a false sense of security and I chose to change it. In reality it is not a reserve, only an unpleasant reminder that you are at a certain pressure, no matter the size of the tanks. I cant remember that I have ever been warned by my "reserve", but I have always known from my pressure gauge when it was time to "pull it" and that wasnt the idea in the first place.

In my thoughts i retraced every dive I could remember, to evaluate if my buddyline had ever given me problems. Just once in a cave in Spain, where I was near complete entanglement due to very narrow conditions. Twice I have lost contact with my buddy on low-vis dives. Conclusion for me, is that the buddyline is a help under the right cirkumstances and it very rarely causes trouble.

Twice my computer has gone haywire while diving. First time in a mountinlake in the austrian alpes, where it kept showing 0.6 m for 5 days after we surfaced. Did i check the table before diving ? Nope ! Second incident was at 18 m (60 Feet) in Kattegat (local danish waters), but my computer showed 26 m (85 Feet) so the dive was cut a little short. But what if it has been the other way around ? and did I check the tables before the dive ? Nope ! Since then I always carry a spare table in my pocket and chack before i dive (as i have been taught).
In this way I kept going over my equipment and my dives with my own expirience as reference.

If we go back to the starting point about DIR, this is what I see as the basic thought or philosophy: You have to consider why you are doing this and that, why your equipment is configured in exactly this way. If you use your own experience as reference, then it wont be as perfect as if you use the experience of thousands of divers from thousand of dives.
You might choose to take a more or less dogmatic approach to DIR, than those who define 100% DIR or you can just realize that you'll never be 100% DIR. Maybe you cant be 100% DIR, without blindly having someone dictating 100% how you should dive and then you are realy not much better than those who never gave it a thought.
Thats why I embrace DIR-philosofy, but not 100% DIR-diving. Some will argue, that you cant have one without the other and its probably true, but then allow me to acknowledge DIR for showing the path of reason. A path not all are capable of following all the way.

Let me end this small text by reminding that I'm not in anyway infailable. If you can use this posting to get a perspective on things that fine. If you find it utter BS then its fine too, at least you probably thought about it.