Disadvantages of DIR ?

[Soggy]

Can DIR teach someone who has never been diving before (i.e. not certified by any agency) how to dive? Or must you have dive experience to begin the DIR classes?

There is currently no GUE OW certification available, though it is in the late stages of development.

 

[d33ps1x]

Without starting a new thread, it seems like many interesting comments were made here. I know a few of my misconceptions about DIR were quelled here.

Here is one that remains:

Can DIR teach someone who has never been diving before (i.e. not certified by any agency) how to dive? Or must you have dive experience to begin the DIR classes?

We recently had a long thread run on the GUE Quest mailing list on this very topic. The GUE open water course is slated to start next year but in the interim there seem to be many openwater instructors, most notably NAUI that are making strong attempts to start divers on the right foot as far as "DIR" diving goes.

It sounds like a lot of them have been quite successful at it as well. At the end of the day fundamentals are just that. Fundamental skills. The things that you get divers comfortable with to allow you to build skill subsets on top of. These skills are, in my opinion, better learned by a diver with NO preconcieved notions of supposed right or wrong or previously learned sketchy skills.

I recently DM'd an open water class for a local "DIR" shop that does GUE instruction as well and it was great to see divers in their first pool sessions doing the skills required of them in their OW class while in a horizontal hover. Watching them mimic their instructors frog kicking and body posture was a sight to see. No hand sculling at all! Just by starting on the right foot they looked better in the water on their first day then I looked on my 50th dive.

In short. It is more than possible. It is done every day.

 

[lamont]

And that right there is the bug that sticks to the windshield.

It shouldn't be ... mind you ... but it is what most annoys those looking in from the outside ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Well, here's the thing though. If you're down at the I-beams and your bust disk blows and you're diving with someone who doesn't have a long hose your reactions to the OOA are going to be much different. Your buddy without the long hose may be an extremely good diver. He might have a pony bottle that he has practiced long and hard with and unclips it without thinking about it and hands it off to you. You may recover from the OOA perfectly fine and exit the water. However, you're not going to be using the skills and reactions that you practice when working with the long hose. It may not be less safe, particularly in the context of the diving you're doing, but it isn't DIR (unfortunately the implication is that this is DIW -- if this was named FOO diving instead of DIR diving the fact that you weren't FOO diving on that dive wouldn't have the same emotional impact...).

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Well, now ... on my AOW deep dive, I require my students to do an OOA drill with me (me being the OOA diver). They are expected to do so while hovering, in as close to a horizontal position as they can manage. So far, none of them have been wearing a long hose. None of them have had any particular difficulty doing this exercise either. Certainly it's easier with a longer hose ... which is why I wear one. However, the importance of the skill isn't the gear configuration, it's the ability to do the skill while keeping a clear head, controlling your breathing, managing your buoyancy.

No ... it's not DIR. And I understand (as you well know) that's a non-issue. My statement was about the perception of DIR, however ... and the perception is what creates the controversy. I was attempting to point out where it comes from, without making any judgmental statements about whether it was right or wrong.

I really don't care what you call it ... all I care about is that you can safely respond to an emergency, and deploy the equipment that you have ... and that you do so with the confidence that comes from having developed and practiced solid basic diving skills.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[medic_diver45]

I'm new to all this: What is DIR?

 

[ShakaZulu]

I'm new to all this: What is DIR?

Dewd, don't do that. This thread has been going on for long enough, just look up, that is DIR.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?threadid=44823&s=

 

[headhunter]

I'm new to all this: What is DIR?

DIR stands for Doing It Right.

There is a good description called What is DIR at the top of the DIR forum.

I didn't know what it was before I came to ScubaBoard either.

As I'm sure you'll find out, there is a lot of passion and controversy surrounding DIR, GUE (Global Underwater Explorers) and Halcyon.

GUE is the organization that teaches DIR.

Halcyon is a company that was born out of the need for certain equipment to be DIR compliant at a time when other manufacturers did not want to produce this equipment. Since then, many other manufacturers have chosen to make DIR compliant gear.

Hope this helps.

Christian

 

[geraldp]

Folks who do not have a personal experience with DIR (i.e. actual GUE training and experience diving DIR) cannot really comment accurately as to any downsides.

Perhaps not, but I can make an observation. I attempted to sign up for the next DIR-F class and discovered that I'm going to have to make a fairly serious equipment change before class starts. That's not a cheap proposition. Somebody already mentioned the travel costs associated with traveling to the nearest classroom. Plus it looks like I'll have to take at least a day or two off of work. Anyway, the tuition is the cheaper portion of the course.

I'm not cheap when it comes to purchasing gear, and I'll make the plunge sooner or later, but it seems to me that just getting into the "brotherhood" has its downsides.

Jerry

 

[MikeFerrara]

I recently DM'd an open water class for a local "DIR" shop that does GUE instruction as well and it was great to see divers in their first pool sessions doing the skills required of them in their OW class while in a horizontal hover. Watching them mimic their instructors frog kicking and body posture was a sight to see. No hand sculling at all! Just by starting on the right foot they looked better in the water on their first day then I looked on my 50th dive.

In short. It is more than possible. It is done every day.

That's the way to do it. Unfortinately there aren't many instructors who do.

 

[Uncle Pug]

Jerry, sometimes I use irony.