My wife and I just became PADI AOW certified and recently purchased all our own gear including vest type BCDs, non-wrist computers, and Atomic regs. I started reading about DIR and GUE diving a few days ago and am very interested but lack the funding to purchase all new gear again and am hoping to get a lot more use out of our existing equipment. Is it possible to start learning, practice, and use DIR principles without the equipment such as a wing setup? If so, what good place to start?
Thank you,
David
David, this is a good question for Scubaboard. From where you are right now, reading about DIR concepts and proactive solutions, you CAN apply many of the DIR ideas to diving using the gear you have now...
For your vest BC, I would need to know the brand and model for specific "how to" advice, but the first step would be getting the 7 foot long hose for your primary, and short hose for bungeed necklace backup reg....you will then need to figure out a way to route the long hose under something in the vest's waiste band...some vests will have a belt that would make this easy--if you can put a knife scabbard or a Halcyon pocket or ( expensive solution--a light canister) on this waiste band, then you have a perfect way to use the long hose.....and you can begin to read up on all the DIR techniques on S drills, and sharing ideas in general. Again, if you can't find an easy way to route the hose with the particular model BC you have, reply back and more than likely, one of us will come up with a DIRish solution for you
Also, you need to get the bouyancy and trim issues worked out right away..something most open water dive instruction fails miserably in ( of course, individual instructors exist that will do a great job of this, but the masses that get churned out by the bulk of instructors, do NOT get appropriate help in learning bouyancy control and proper trim....You CAN teach this to yourself, there are plenty of DIR articles on Bouyancy and trim, which if needed, we could post links to.
First step in this is to carry no more weight than you need to stay neutral or just barely negative, with a tank which is low on gas ( 700 to 500psi), and 100% of the air dumped out of your BC. And you need to be sure you know how to dump all the air out of your bc. Huge numbers of new divers have no clue whatsoever, that they have quite a bit of air remaining in their bc's when they "think" they have dumped it, and they end up carrying much more lead than they should, to compensate for this big mistake.
Next, you need to find the optimal way to be able to easily and without effort, to swim flat horizontal, during your dives...it will mean getting to the desired depth on your dive, and then getting your self PERFECTLY NEUTRAL...I mean dead neutral....you need to really concentrate on perfecting this in the beginning. ....this is the issue of trim, the DIR way. The opposite of this is the way you see new divers doing their swim, where their body is head up, feet down at a 30 degree angle OR WORSE. The head up and feet down posture causes them to push a big "bow wave", creating huge drag, and forcing them to work very hard to end up swimming quite slowly...they get no glide....with the flat horizontal trim, and streamlined gear, you should have a nice slow kick, and a reasonably long glide. This keeps your heart rate down, which in turn allows you to breathe much less ( without trying not to breathe) so your bottom time will go up, and your reserve power for currents or emergencies is much higher as well...ie., you have been doing no work, and have lots of energy, as opposed to a diver who has been kicking like crazy to keep up with other divers, and is tired out after 15 minutes, and already low on air!
The other thing to BEGIN with, in your quest for DIRish diving skills, would be your buddy behavior--you and your buddy will need to begin diving as a team, each in the other's peripherol awareness and vision --you can look away from your buddy for a moment--but then after the moment, you are back to cataloging where they are, and how they are doing. This means side by side diving, NOT follow the leader diving.
You will track how much air your buddy has, they will keep track of how much you have...the buddy IS your reserve air supply, so you DO have a several good reasons to make sure your reserve, intelligent air supply, stays in good shape. If your buddy runs out of air, it will be as much your fault as his/hers. With this phase of thought, practicing the donation of the long hose, and switching to backup reg at your chin, will be an obvious necessity. It needs to be so easy for both of you, that it is a zero stress skill..one you could do anywhere, any time...as easy as breathing
Regards,
DanV
p.s.
On re-reading your post, I just noticed the console issue....I'd start shoppig for an inexpensive "wrist boot" for your computer, and throw away or , sell the console to someone you really don't like at all
You want the analog pressure guage naked and clipped off at your waiste--you should be able to see it without unclipping....there are plenty of DIR articles on how to create the clip for the naked pressure guage.
