Do you have to be GUE trained to be "DIR" ??

[andercb1]

I am transitioning into technical diving and can't wait to take my fundies class. I wish there was an instructor in Texas. I currently dive a DIR gear configuration and adhere to all the other rules. But I was thinking to myself does the class make you DIR or does the mentality and configuration make you DIR? What are yall's thoughts?

 

[Cave Diver]

DIR is a system. If you start taking bits and pieces away from it, it is no longer complete. Remove the gear, the training, the philosophy/mindset, etc. and it is no longer truly DIR.

I'm sure you'll get a host of other opinions as well...

 

[Gombessa]

Do you need to be GUE-trained? Technically no, for a variety of reasons.

First, there are at least 2, and probably more, agencies/organizations that officially claim to teach DIR-style diving.

Second, DIR predates GUE, and GUE isn't the de jure "controller" of DIR; in fact the agency has taken steps before to distance itself from the DIR moniker. I imagine a lot of the original DIR divers don't hold GUE cert cards at all, because of this second point.

As to what would make you a "true" DIR diver if you're self-taught or mentored, I have no idea. I'm sure the more seasoned here have some insight into that.

 

[rjack321]

DIR is a system. If you start taking bits and pieces away from it, it is no longer complete. Remove the gear, the training, the philosophy/mindset, etc. and it is no longer truly DIR.

I'm sure you'll get a host of other opinions as well...

I think everyone diving "DIR" is an amalgamation of gear, practices, attitude, training, etc. Most of these attributes have a fairly well established "DIR" vs "other" distinction but not all do. The reality is that there is no one holy grail of DIR, its a fairly wide gray swath. At some point you "aren't" DIR anymore but where on that swath you fall is subjective. Your training choices are part of where you fall on that continuum, but not the only factor.

Personally, attitude is more important than agency. In fact agency is nearly meaningless to me, 'cause I know GUE trained divers who are and those who aren't DIR today.

 

[TSandM]

Mindset is the most important. There are people who have taken GUE classes who don't execute their dives according to anything they were taught. There are novice divers seriously trying to meet standards on skills, planning, and situational awareness who are far more "DIR" than that.

If you haven't had any instruction at all, though, there is the problem that what you think you know may not be valid. I have read all kinds of things from people on this board in the last five years, where they thought they knew what the "DIR" answer was, and they were way off course.

If you have the good fortune to dive in a culture of DIR trained people, whether by GUE or other agencies, you have probably had good guidance. Otherwise . . . I'd take the class.

 

[Trace Malinowski]

I am transitioning into technical diving and can't wait to take my fundies class. I wish there was an instructor in Texas. I currently dive a DIR gear configuration and adhere to all the other rules. But I was thinking to myself does the class make you DIR or does the mentality and configuration make you DIR? What are yall's thoughts?

The class will give you the keys to the philosophy of team work, procedures, and configuration. Utilizing them correctly makes for DIR diving. Someone said there are no DIR divers, just DIR dives.

I'm more DIR during DIR dives than most of the people who define themselves as DIR divers in regard to safety, teamwork, running dives by the book and according to plan, having my gear properly configured, staying fit, and keeping skills sharp. Yet, I can wave good-bye and go solo diving afterward.

 

[Rainer]

It's a specific approach to diving (mindset, experience, standard procedures/gear/gases). You learn it where you can. Classes have helped. Diving with mentors has helped. Diving with teammates has helped. Even (gasp) the internet has helped.

 

[lamont]

I am transitioning into technical diving and can't wait to take my fundies class. I wish there was an instructor in Texas. I currently dive a DIR gear configuration and adhere to all the other rules. But I was thinking to myself does the class make you DIR or does the mentality and configuration make you DIR? What are yall's thoughts?

For a beginning diver, the most correct answer is that you need to be GUE or UTD trained in order to dive DIR. There's a whole pile of philosophical ratholes you can go down where DIR loses nearly all meaning and nearly anyone can be considered DIR, and to avoid that problem its easiest to start with simply agency affiliation.

From where you are now, you are probably missing a bunch of the common procedures and situational awareness that build a DIR diver. That is why it is best for you to focus on the courses and the agencies.

Once you have a bunch of technical diving certs under your belt and 500+ dives and you're basically a grown-up, then the definition becomes a lot fuzzier. Its also not very useful either. It is useful to know the training agency of anyone that you're diving with, because it goes to procedures -- but even then you're going to find slight differences over time -- and more important is the divers attitude and if you get along together or not. I had some good dives with limeyx/nick in MX recently because we both had the same goals, basically the same background, turned the dives on the same conditions, etc. Given my relative newbieness at cave diving I don't need to be following someone through hundreds of feet of "expect zero viz on exit" silty cave conditions, and we were both on the same page there. I don't know if we're "DIR" or not, but it worked well for us.

 

[kathydee]

does the mentality and configuration make you DIR?

There is a lot of information packed into a Fundies class. I think it would be difficult to gain the DIR mentality/skills without formal instruction and/or extensive mentoring. I tried.

I read the Fundies book, swapped to DIR equipment, dove with many DIR divers, watched GUE/DIR CD's, lurked in this forum for many months, asked a million questions and tried hard to mimic the techniques on the 5th DX demo CDs. These efforts all combined together into “DIR-ish” diving .

I showed up to my class fully kitted out in DIR equipment, with bits and pieces of the skills/ philosophy, but learned quickly that a well tuned system doesn’t function properly without all its parts.

So--the instructors generously sorted me out in no time. In retrospect, I think it would have been much more efficient to just start with the class .

 

[mikeguerrero]

Andercb1,

A lot should be said about the instructor's beliefs and attitudes within the agency they teach, GUE or UTD.

If you don't click with the instructor then half the battle has been lost. I can only speak about how much I clicked with my instructor when I took Essentials.

I learned a lot because of the attitude and knowledge and how he delivered it to me, very passionate.

I have also had a brief encounter with a the GUE instructor in our local waters, and felt the same connection.

I am almost certain the majority of those that posted on your thread could give you a positive mini recommendation on their instructors, it simply makes the difference.

MG