DIR in FFM???
- Thread starter FFMDiver
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SeaJay
Contributor
I must have missed something there. What's a crotch strap have to do with a FFM?
To answer your question: No. FFM's are not recommended by GUE in their DIR program.
That's not to say that they don't have their advantages, of course, they just aren't part of the DIR theme.
For example, you would not be able to hand off a FFM to an OOA buddy... Or rather, doing so wouldn't work very well. The long hose would be completely out.
Switching to your backup on a bungee necklace wouldn't work if you were wearing a FFM (and depending on it as your mask).
Of course, DIR isn't really about gear configuration. Sure, that's the most obvious thing about DIR divers, but that's a very small percentage of what DIR is all about.
The rest of DIR - SADDDD, the situational awareness, the buddy awareness, the communication, the practice, the fitness, the teamwork, the nailed buoyancy and trim, the kick styles, the skills... All of that is applicable no matter what sort of gear you're using.
...So while DIR might not specify a FFM, and while using a FFM definitely means that you're not doing it according to GUE's teachings, certainly a lot of what's taught in DIR can be utilized no matter what sort of gear you're using.
So... No, FFM's aren't taught in DIR... They wouldn't be classified as "DIR" specifically because of the air-sharing issues involved and the fact that the gear doesn't really lend itself well to the configuration. But that doesn't mean that the philosophies of DIR - the stuff "more important" than DIR gear configuration itself - can't be utilized while diving a FFM.
I'm sorry I can't give a clearer answer to that question.
Why do you ask? Perhaps explaining the situation or the basis behind the question could help us give answers...
To answer your question: No. FFM's are not recommended by GUE in their DIR program.
That's not to say that they don't have their advantages, of course, they just aren't part of the DIR theme.
For example, you would not be able to hand off a FFM to an OOA buddy... Or rather, doing so wouldn't work very well. The long hose would be completely out.
Switching to your backup on a bungee necklace wouldn't work if you were wearing a FFM (and depending on it as your mask).
Of course, DIR isn't really about gear configuration. Sure, that's the most obvious thing about DIR divers, but that's a very small percentage of what DIR is all about.
The rest of DIR - SADDDD, the situational awareness, the buddy awareness, the communication, the practice, the fitness, the teamwork, the nailed buoyancy and trim, the kick styles, the skills... All of that is applicable no matter what sort of gear you're using.
...So while DIR might not specify a FFM, and while using a FFM definitely means that you're not doing it according to GUE's teachings, certainly a lot of what's taught in DIR can be utilized no matter what sort of gear you're using.
So... No, FFM's aren't taught in DIR... They wouldn't be classified as "DIR" specifically because of the air-sharing issues involved and the fact that the gear doesn't really lend itself well to the configuration. But that doesn't mean that the philosophies of DIR - the stuff "more important" than DIR gear configuration itself - can't be utilized while diving a FFM.
I'm sorry I can't give a clearer answer to that question.
Why do you ask? Perhaps explaining the situation or the basis behind the question could help us give answers...
SeaJay
Contributor
*whoosh* 
Bob3
Contributor
Here's the proper way to rig a FFM with sideblock & comms. Nice & clean, eh?
FFMs are needed when some of the following are at issue: communications, contaminated environment, exceptionally long immersion, very fast water, and/or high partial pressures of O2 are being used, as in IWR (in water recompression).
FFMs are needed when some of the following are at issue: communications, contaminated environment, exceptionally long immersion, very fast water, and/or high partial pressures of O2 are being used, as in IWR (in water recompression).
SeaJay
Contributor
Yes and no.
That's not the whole rig. The rest of it is sitting on the dock or boat, and the diver's attached to it by this super-long hose which can hang up on things... And at the very least leaves him tethered to topside.
On the other hand, I'm jealous that he gets hours and hours of bottom time with little more than a bailout on his back. Hey, where's this guy's bailout? It is there, right?
No weight at all? Is he wearing shoes? Using his suit as buoyancy? And that reg... Does it fail open or closed? Does he have a backup?
Sorry, man... You KNOW I'm just giving you a hard time 'cause you get to make money doing what I pay through the nose to do.
But is there any truth to my concerns?
Bob3
Contributor
If I recall correctly, the guy was rigged for scuba. Adding a SAS (surface air supply) isn't much more than just plugging into a block though, if you have it rigged that way.
I'll try to dig up the side view of the rig, it's around here someplace.
BCs (when used) are normally a wing that hooks onto the harness on the back. I have an old Interspiro rig set up that way using an old (70s vintage) SEATEC wing, don't use it much as the bottles are 4400 psi & it always used to be (and still is) a problem getting a full fill.
Stories you've heard about regs failing closed are just that, urban legends. That particular reg is 100% DIR by the way, right down to using a "normal" regulator hose & being able to be disassembled underwater (not that you'd really want to). IP is 145 psi. (It's an Interspiro reg, not Poseidon).
Poseidon regs (the Jetstream/Odin) have a venturi assist valve that's upstream, prior to puking they dribble air, you know they're in need of attention long before they'd get close to puking. I've never heard of anyone letting things go long enough for that to happen though. Having one fail just turns it into a "normal" reg w/o the venturi assist. Neither myself nor any of the long time reg doctors I've spoken with have ever heard of anything like that happen though. Closest thing I've heard about to a "failure" was a guy that admitted that he hadn't turned his tank on far enough.
Don't need a backup, that AGA in the pic has a sideblock. Crack the valve & your air bypasses the 2nd completely.
Imagine having 2 guys dive all day on a buck & a half's worth of gasoline. You can stay down all day if you want, without a boat full of tanks (more room for bugs!!)
Try surface air sometime & get spoiled.
If only I could figure out how to pack a lunch along...:tease:
I'll try to dig up the side view of the rig, it's around here someplace.
BCs (when used) are normally a wing that hooks onto the harness on the back. I have an old Interspiro rig set up that way using an old (70s vintage) SEATEC wing, don't use it much as the bottles are 4400 psi & it always used to be (and still is) a problem getting a full fill.
Stories you've heard about regs failing closed are just that, urban legends. That particular reg is 100% DIR by the way, right down to using a "normal" regulator hose & being able to be disassembled underwater (not that you'd really want to). IP is 145 psi. (It's an Interspiro reg, not Poseidon).
Poseidon regs (the Jetstream/Odin) have a venturi assist valve that's upstream, prior to puking they dribble air, you know they're in need of attention long before they'd get close to puking. I've never heard of anyone letting things go long enough for that to happen though. Having one fail just turns it into a "normal" reg w/o the venturi assist. Neither myself nor any of the long time reg doctors I've spoken with have ever heard of anything like that happen though. Closest thing I've heard about to a "failure" was a guy that admitted that he hadn't turned his tank on far enough.
Don't need a backup, that AGA in the pic has a sideblock. Crack the valve & your air bypasses the 2nd completely.
Imagine having 2 guys dive all day on a buck & a half's worth of gasoline. You can stay down all day if you want, without a boat full of tanks (more room for bugs!!)
Try surface air sometime & get spoiled.
If only I could figure out how to pack a lunch along...:tease:
SeaJay
Contributor
Very cool...
So:
He does have a bailout system.
His reg fails open, and is bypassable.
His gear is user-servicable, even in the middle of a dive.
He IS wearing a BC - it's really that unobtrusive.
Pretty impressive.
I think I would very much enjoy getting spoiled.
Does this guy have a light? Can he actively manipulate his gas supply? (As in, can he get to his valves and all?)
What's the likelihood of tearing up an umbilical when doing a wreck penetration?
Is it possible to do a 250' dive while tethered to the surface with an umbilical? Isn't it a pain? What about if there's heavy current? Doesn't the umbilical cause problems in heavy current?
Not trying to start a war here... I'm seriously interested.
So:
He does have a bailout system.
His reg fails open, and is bypassable.
His gear is user-servicable, even in the middle of a dive.
He IS wearing a BC - it's really that unobtrusive.
Pretty impressive.
I think I would very much enjoy getting spoiled.
Does this guy have a light? Can he actively manipulate his gas supply? (As in, can he get to his valves and all?)
What's the likelihood of tearing up an umbilical when doing a wreck penetration?
Is it possible to do a 250' dive while tethered to the surface with an umbilical? Isn't it a pain? What about if there's heavy current? Doesn't the umbilical cause problems in heavy current?
Not trying to start a war here... I'm seriously interested.
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