Do you dive with strokes?

[Gombessa]

Honestly, do you do it? Is it a DIR rule/policy/suggestion not to (perhaps only in real technical dive situations)?

I'm not trying to chum the waters here, it's just that at least in the open water context, the few DIR practitioners I know are more than happy to dive with anyone, including me on my first post-checkout dives. In fact, that's how I got exposed to DIR and wanted to learn more.

From some of the other threads here, it sounds like others had the same experience and few will refuse to buddy with others solely on the basis of not being DIR. And if it wasn't the case, it's really hard to see how the DIR philosophy would spread.

So would you dive with, and where do you draw the line?

 

[onfloat]

What's a stroke?

 

[ScubaAndDreams]

What's a stroke?

for 2 or 3 hundred dollars?

 

[onfloat]

for 2 or 3 hundred dollars?

How about double that. Go big or go home.

 

[Ben_ca]

Honestly, do you do it? Is it a DIR rule/policy/suggestion not to (perhaps only in real technical dive situations)?

I'm not trying to chum the waters here, it's just that at least in the open water context, the few DIR practitioners I know are more than happy to dive with anyone, including me on my first post-checkout dives. In fact, that's how I got exposed to DIR and wanted to learn more.

From some of the other threads here, it sounds like others had the same experience and few will refuse to buddy with others solely on the basis of not being DIR. And if it wasn't the case, it's really hard to see how the DIR philosophy would spread.

So would you dive with, and where do you draw the line?

I would refrain from using the S-word..... it is reserved for unsafe divers...

Just diving a different style doesn't making them unsafe.

 

[alan_lee]

I'm new to the GUE scene, so I'm curious how the word came about.

Personally, I agree with Ben that just because the person is from another agency doesn't mean he's unsafe. Granted, there might be differences in terms of equipment and responses to situations, but if it's someone you dive with regularly, then it's worthwhile taking a bit of time going through these things with your buddy. I've got a non-DIR buddy and that was what I did.

 

[miketsp]

I would refrain from using the S-word..... it is reserved for unsafe divers...

Just diving a different style doesn't making them unsafe.

Do the STROKE test...

Stroke-test

 

[Gombessa]

I would refrain from using the S-word..... it is reserved for unsafe divers...

Just diving a different style doesn't making them unsafe.

Maybe I misunderstood the term. So diving with non-DIRers is not at all discouraged?

 

[Bismark]

Like Ben ca said, the s word is reserved for unsafe divers and you don't have to be dir to use it or non dir to deserve it. In the past, certain outspoken dir divers have created a "us vs them" dichotomy where all non-dir advocates belonged on the one side of the fence. This did more harm than good and created a schism between dir and non dir proponents. Hopefully, we can close the book on that chapter of history and move forward. I am a proponent of dir diving. I will dive with anyone on a recreational dive as long as they can demonstrate to me they are a safe diver. My wife is a non-dir diver and my best dive buddy. I will not dive a technical dive with a non dir diver for the simple reason that the consequences of mismatched gases or differenct emergency procedures could mean the difference between me diving again with my favorite dive buddy or not. It is really that simple. Honestly, some amazing technical diving (probably most of the technical diving in the world) is done by non dir divers but it just stands to reason that in a challenging environment where your life could be forfeit if you screw the pooch, you want common safety protocols. Mine are different than my TDI friends and that means we don't do the challenging stuff together. Simple as that. An 80' reef dive in warm water is a whole different kettle of fish and as I said at the outset, I will do that dive with any diver who is a safe diver.

Try to refrain from using the S word. It does no one any good and only serves to further open the schism that many of us are trying to heal. We are all in the ocean together and whether we use a 40" or an 84" hose doesn't change whether we are experiencing one of the most beautiful aspects of our world.

Like Jack said in "Mars Attacks".... "Why can't we all just get along?"

Guy

 

[TSandM]

Sidestepping the whole issue of the use of the word "stroke", this question was asked of my Fundies instructor, whether we should only dive with other DIR divers. And his answer was an absolute no. ("That would be elitist," he said.) But he did say that, as the dives get more complex and higher risk, the value of diving with a unified team with standardized gases and protocols increases.

I dive with a variety of non-DIR divers. My big criteria for somebody I'll dive with are that the person has to be an attentive buddy (take off on me, and you aren't going to get invited back) and not a silter, although I waive that for new divers But I'll readily admit that it's an awful lot of fun when you have a good team, run efficiently and quickly through planning and pre-dive checks, and get in the water and dive seamlessly, with good communication and good skills. There's really a grace to those dives. (You don't have to be DIR to do them, either -- One of the best dive buddies I've had is Do It Easy, who, though tech trained, is not DIR.)