DIR, NAUI TEC - Gear configs

[danvolker]

So, basically what I'm asking is multi-faceted. 1) What the heck is DIR? 2) Anyone got a simple (going to have to Barney Fife this one) description or link for the gear setups required for these? (Pictures help, as I'm more visually oriented than descriptive when it comes to learning).

Thanks ahead of time.

Here is a page with pictures of a streamlined DIR single tank setup. Some people like pockets, and you do need something to route the long hose under if you are using the full length 7 foot hose. I and many DIR style divers use a canister light where this pocket is, instead...
Of course, the pocket is cheaper
Another solution is using the knife sheath, which is supposed to be close to your middle on waiste band in front, as a routing holder for the hose, but this is much less desirable. For the pics, and some more good DIR reasoning, visit......
DIR Part 2

As you can see, the diver is slick with this configiration--it allows a kick and a long glide---whereas a typical pufferfish BC configuration new open water divers are usually beginning with, has them kicking and then NOT gliding. Showing a technical diving configuration does little to help a recreational divers visualize DIR for recreational diving.

Also hugely important in DIR is weighting, and that begins with how much you need, and "where" the weight will be distributed on the divers body. When you see a diver swimming head up, and feet down, it is very bad weighting, and it has nothing to do with having dive fins which are positively or negatively bouyant, as some new divers think


Regards,
Dan Volker

 

[Anti-Hero]

Don't you practice inverted ascents?

Not since I bought my Halcyon gaiters. j/k

 

[Gen732]

.....Showing a technical diving configuration does little to help a recreational divers visualize DIR for recreational diving.

Also hugely important in DIR is weighting, and that begins with how much you need, and "where" the weight will be distributed on the divers body. When you see a diver swimming head up, and feet down, it is very bad weighting, and it has nothing to do with having dive fins which are positively or negatively bouyant, as some new divers think


Regards,
Dan Volker

Actually seeing the configuration helped me to look at my gear and things that I can do that will help me out given what I have. Some people just need to see something to get an idea of where to start or to spark that idea in their head.

I found quickly that weighting was a MAJOR issue with me. Given that I only weigh 125 and diving a 6.5mm semi-dry in the PacNorWest, I found some advice from a cave diver friend extremely helpful. Experimentation didn't hurt in that department either. Started with figuring out just how much weight did I need to get me down (after having failed to be able to submerge the first time 2 dives in a row I finally found that happy minimum), then moving it around so that I could stay in whatever position I wanted to when I was under (looking into photography, so I know that sometimes horizontal just won't quite get the shot).

Now it's time to take everything and head to the local dive shop and do some talking there. See if I can't take some of this advice from everyone and put it to some use streamlining up my gear.

P.S. And for the non-DIR types out there, no I'm not converting overnight. But even you have to admit, they've got some handy advice if taken correctly.

Thanks all!!

 

[opisthobranch]

My impression has always been that he wasn't wearing undergarments under the suit, which would account for the super baggy look once he zipped up and shrink-wrapped himself. But even so, I'm certainly glad it wasn't me standing under full studio lighting, wearing a dry-suit and full rig during a lengthy photo shoot!

I wonder if Clinton knows he's become the subject of Internet scrutiny?

Oh yes, I'm definitely aware of it!

Frankly choosing me as a model for those shots was, uhh, a mistake but then Angelina Jolie wasn't available. At least not at the prices we could afford. I do better when I'm behind the camera.

Indeed the suit isn't the best fit though it looks worse in the picture than it dives (or did dive - it's strictly a backup suit these days). I wasn't wearing the typical undergarments I use and was absolutely sweating like a pig under the incredibly hot lights my friend Sami had setup to light the scene. I'm still not sure how I got talked into wearing 104s for that shoot either. :11:

Anyway re-shooting all those pictures with a better model in a closer-fitting drysuit and with some of the small gear issues fixed is on my to-do list. Unfortunately doing a series of shots like that is a LOT of work and somehow we haven't been able to convince anybody else to volunteer for the role of international rubber and webbing model!

Clinton

 

[tflaris]

So the more I look around different sites, and the more research I do into various subjects, the more I keep running into gear configurations talking about DIR and NAUI TEC configs. Was even able to find a site that talked about NAUI TEC configs and how hoses are routed and such. Basically, at least for me, not being able to physically look at the configs and see how things are routed, connected, etc, it all became very confusing very quickly.

Basically, I was looking at these different configurations to see about streamlining and standardizations. My normal dive buddy knows my config, and I know his (including the little quirk of his dive computer being on his right side) extremely well. I just hate having hoses hanging out and items drooping off of me when I'm diving, and kinda looking to streamline my profile some. I guess normally people don't start looking at things like this until they start thinking tech diving and such. Guess it's just this little bad habit I have of wanting to learn everything I can about things I do.

So, basically what I'm asking is multi-faceted. 1) What the heck is DIR? 2) Anyone got a simple (going to have to Barney Fife this one) description or link for the gear setups required for these? (Pictures help, as I'm more visually oriented than descriptive when it comes to learning).

Thanks ahead of time.

The DIR equipment configurations are a great starting point and as you gain experience you can modify if you desire. When diving a Team approach it is important for Divers to have standardization within the team. There are many things I like about the DIR equipment configurations. No extra equipment and also arranged in a manner that it can be easy deployed.

Just my 2 cents.

Do what works for you.

 

[TSandM]

Well, Clinton, you can look back on your suffering and know that that page of gear pictures is one of the most frequently linked to in threads where people ask DIR equipment questions, on any board!

 

[Blackwood]

Frankly choosing me as a model for those shots was, uhh, a mistake but then Angelina Jolie wasn't available. At least not at the prices we could afford.

her lips = drag monsters.

 

[sambolino44]

Oh yes, I'm definitely aware of it!
... doing a series of shots like that is a LOT of work ...

Clinton

Dude, I really was just kidding about the haircut comment. At least you HAVE some to make fun of!

I want you to know that I really appreciate how much hassle it must have been to make those photos, and that you probably didn't get anything for it besides a bunch of ribbing from dweebs like me. Also, I want you to know that I use those photos for reference in helping me set up my gear, and to show people what it's supposed to look like. I have found them to be very helpful. Thanks!

 

[opisthobranch]

Dude, I really was just kidding about the haircut comment. At least you HAVE some to make fun of!

I want you to know that I really appreciate how much hassle it must have been to make those photos, and that you probably didn't get anything for it besides a bunch of ribbing from dweebs like me. Also, I want you to know that I use those photos for reference in helping me set up my gear, and to show people what it's supposed to look like. I have found them to be very helpful. Thanks!

Hey - no worries mate, glad the pictures were useful to you.

Clinton

 

[Adobo]

How anyone can claim this is "streamlined" from a hydrodynamic context is beyond me...

The "model" in this picture dives in the Monterey/Carmel, CA area. He also dives in Alaska. Though I do not know him very well, I do know that he dives tech profiles on a regular basis.

I cannot speak for him but I will say that if it were me purchasing a drysuit, I would buy one that would work for the bulk of the diving that I do. In the case of temperate/cold water diving, this means a pretty thick undergarment (DUI 400g thinsulate and then some). Given that the diving includes tech profiles, managing gear failures such as leaky valves/manifolds is not optional so the suit has to have sufficient mobility (i.e. enough material to allow for reaching/manipulating valves even with thick undergarments on).

Now imagine this type of suit being worn for illustration purposes. Out of the water, it is understandable that the person is not wearring 400g thinsulate undergarment. Of course the suit will look incredibly baggy.

"Streamlined" is relative. What you see in the picture might not be streamlined for a 30ft reef dive in the tropics but for tech 2 profiles in temperate/cold water environments...

One of the bullet points constantly being harped on is "reducing drag." One of the reasons "bondage wings" are forbidden in DIR is the wrinkles caused by the bungee causes unnecessary drag, which compared to the picture is, well, ironic.

There are far more salient points in arguing against bondage wings.