Doing it Right

[Scott T C]

Thank you for that reading.

I think I may have confused DIR with a Fundies approach this whole time thinking the DIR was just the fundies part. Wasn't aware that it was so many more pieces to a greater puzzle.

 

[Scott T C]

This was absolutely not a crack on my part, or an offensive comment....it is directly relevant to your question about a pony bottle-- I do not believe I could answer this question in good conscience, without discussing WHY no one should use a pony bottle as a backup....
And, I even went as far as answering what I know you were looking for....so why be pisswed at me

It wasn't the answering mate...it was how it was answered. When I read that post...you make it sound to me like I am a complete idiot that is going to kill myself or another. I take great offense to that as I try to take every safety precaution possible...this is my first time getting into all my own custom gear where I am piecing it all together and I want to do it all right...so I ask questions.

I guess I need to step back and look at one of my mottos...there are never any dumb questions...just dumb answers.

Instead of bashing me about a possible "troll" and about my suposed complete lack of any "formal" training of any kind...a simple; i would not recommend one because....blank. That was all I wanted. Short, simple, to the point.

 

[boulderjohn]

Trolling? Not even close...one it is my thread, two I just asked a side note like a what if...

This was absolutely not a crack on my part, or an offensive comment....it is directly relevant to your question about a pony bottle-- I do not believe I could answer this question in good conscience, without discussing WHY no one should use a pony bottle as a backup....
And, I even went as far as answering what I know you were looking for....so why be pisswed at me

This is a good example of why you feel you are getting so many wise ass comments.

You said you wanted to get into DIR and asked for DIR-related advice. When you received polite and helpful responses from people with loads of DIR training and experience (and it's hard to get more experience than Dan), you reacted with anger and told these people they were wrong.

Then you said you just came to this site to get advice, but whenever you get the advice, you reject it angrily.

This makes people reluctant to give you the helpful responses you say you want.

 

[Sat Diver]

Sadly it took to long to earn enough money. I am 31 and it is really hard to start at that age as a pilot. :/
.

I don't mean to sound negative and I may be out of line here, but bear with me for a minute.
31 is pretty old to start as a commercial diver. It takes a toll on your body.
I started when I was 17, and had to stop deep saturation by the time I was 26 due to suspected onset of mild osteonecrosis. By 32 I was retired from all forms of saturation diving.
I understand that your motivation is to be a good provider for your family, but also understand that a lot of us started in this business because we had no family.
You can always re think this career at a later stage, but you do not want to be doing that after sinking money into your training.
My training was paid for by a Scandinavian oil / offshore company. You sign a contract that as a very 'modestly' educated 17 year old, you just sign. But suffice to say, you become a bonded labourer.
You can carry on working as a pilot well into your 60's. You will also see your kids a lot more often.
Do not mean to sound negative, but just wanted you to consider certain aspects that you may or may not have thought about.

 

[lamont]

It wasn't the answering mate...it was how it was answered. When I read that post...you make it sound to me like I am a complete idiot that is going to kill myself or another. I take great offense to that as I try to take every safety precaution possible...this is my first time getting into all my own custom gear where I am piecing it all together and I want to do it all right...so I ask questions.

I guess I need to step back and look at one of my mottos...there are never any dumb questions...just dumb answers.

Instead of bashing me about a possible "troll" and about my suposed complete lack of any "formal" training of any kind...a simple; i would not recommend one because....blank. That was all I wanted. Short, simple, to the point.

Yeah, but, bluntly, you've never done this before and you don't know what you're doing. You just admitted as much. You're going to get some answers from some very senior folks (and Dan is as senior as it gets) that is going to be pitched for your level, and if you take offense that its condescending, then you're going to have a very frustrating time.

And really, there are all kinds of dumb questions, and based on how you phrase a question you can expect a certain kind of pitch out of the answer.

 

[danvolker]

I gleen from this there is no DIR solo diving?

You glean correctly
But so as not to appear ridiculously dogmatic, I'd like to point out that DIR is not a system that was created for 30 to 50 foot deep dives on tropical reefs like Breakers in Palm Beach, or the shallow stuff on Cayman before you get to the wall....If the really effortless diving (which is awesomely fun too) on shallow reefs like Breakers was all there was, George and JJ would never have developed DIR diving. There would have been no need for it, because on dives that shallow, you can make so many mistakes without repercussions...

DIR is a system that you give to an "Adventure Diver" who loves the Breakers type reef, but wants more....he or she wants to see what is over there... just below that next big drop off..or what is on the bump we see on the fathometer where no bumps are supposed to be--at around 140 feet...or even at 240 feet.

DIR is for seeing the huge marine life in the more pristine and less damaged deeper ecosystems, where commercial fishing has been less effective, and huge biomass still thrives. Or, it can be about getting into a cave and running line into it, on an expedition to look for artifacts from a Mayan civilization, or even glyphs from American Indians on a cave wall painted there more than 13,000 years ago ( we actually have a cave like this off of Boynton Beach and we will be desiring a penetration here soon ).

The divers who love the 30 foot pretty reefs can benefit from DIR ideas, there is no doubt. But it is not such a big, "DO THIS OR HORRIBLE THINGS COULD HAPPEN! " kind of a scenario.

If you are well skilled and a "natural born diver", then I think you will survive just fine on the 30 foot tropical reef, marveling in paradise while solo.
You could enjoy this even more with a buddy you really like, at least this is the way I feel about it...and yes, I can survive on a 30 foot tropical reef without my DIR buddy. In this case though, it would be -- "why wouldn't I want to be sharing this experience with a really good friend I can reminisce with later?"

 

[Cave Diver]

I think I may have confused DIR with a Fundies approach this whole time thinking the DIR was just the fundies part. Wasn't aware that it was so many more pieces to a greater puzzle.

That's part of the reason you're getting the responses you are and why people are viewing your comments as trolling. Fundies is DIR pre-school.

 

[BVickery]

You glean correctly
But so as not to appear ridiculously dogmatic, I'd like to point out that DIR is not a system that was created for 30 to 50 foot deep dives on tropical reefs like Breakers in Palm Beach, or the shallow stuff on Cayman before you get to the wall....If the really effortless diving (which is awesomely fun too) on shallow reefs like Breakers was all there was, George and JJ would never have developed DIR diving. There would have been no need for it, because on dives that shallow, you can make so many mistakes without repercussions...

DIR is a system that you give to an "Adventure Diver" who loves the Breakers type reef, but wants more....he or she wants to see what is over there... just below that next big drop off..or what is on the bump we see on the fathometer where no bumps are supposed to be--at around 140 feet...or even at 240 feet.

DIR is for seeing the huge marine life in the more pristine and less damaged deeper ecosystems, where commercial fishing has been less effective, and huge biomass still thrives. Or, it can be about getting into a cave and running line into it, on an expedition to look for artifacts from a Mayan civilization, or even glyphs from American Indians on a cave wall painted there more than 13,000 years ago ( we actually have a cave like this off of Boynton Beach and we will be desiring a penetration here soon ).

The divers who love the 30 foot pretty reefs can benefit from DIR ideas, there is no doubt. But it is not such a big, "DO THIS OR HORRIBLE THINGS COULD HAPPEN! " kind of a scenario.

If you are well skilled and a "natural born diver", then I think you will survive just fine on the 30 foot tropical reef, marveling in paradise while solo.
You could enjoy this even more with a buddy you really like, at least this is the way I feel about it...and yes, I can survive on a 30 foot tropical reef without my DIR buddy. In this case though, it would be -- "why wouldn't I want to be sharing this experience with a really good friend I can reminisce with later?"

Dan, thanks for clearing this up about DIR and such. Knowing this, and knowing about the GUE primer course, makes it seem that the guys over at GUE took some feedback about rec. divers who want to improve skills and used the DIR training methods to help the more rec. inclined divers (the 30ft reef divers) get a lot out of the system without going fully into DIR.

 

[Rhone Man]

Fundies is DIR pre-school.

Great aphorism!

 

[Scott T C]

I don't mean to sound negative and I may be out of line here, but bear with me for a minute.
31 is pretty old to start as a commercial diver. It takes a toll on your body.
I started when I was 17, and had to stop deep saturation by the time I was 26 due to suspected onset of mild osteonecrosis. By 32 I was retired from all forms of saturation diving.
I understand that your motivation is to be a good provider for your family, but also understand that a lot of us started in this business because we had no family.
You can always re think this career at a later stage, but you do not want to be doing that after sinking money into your training.
My training was paid for by a Scandinavian oil / offshore company. You sign a contract that as a very 'modestly' educated 17 year old, you just sign. But suffice to say, you become a bonded labourer.
You can carry on working as a pilot well into your 60's. You will also see your kids a lot more often.
Do not mean to sound negative, but just wanted you to consider certain aspects that you may or may not have thought about.

Not out of line at all mate.

I am not looking for the big offshore stuff at my age. Yes I know it does and will take a toll on the body, I figured I could do mainly inland stuff in and around the Charleston Area/Sea Port. I know the offshore pays better, but not looking to make a killing...just a good income to make our lives a little easier financially.

As far as aviation, I LOVED it as well...you felt free up there as you do under the water. The down side for me is that I would spend the next few year making vertually nothing, less than minimum wage basicly as an instructor to earn the logged flight time required. See, no one will employ you as a pilot in Commercial or Corporate unless you have your ATP (Airline Transport Pilot rating) and to obtain that you have to have a minimum of 1,500 hours logged...which is a good amount!

Hope that helps to clarify. Thanks again as always.