Getting to DIR by the long way around

[Bismark]

Thanks for the reply. I think I have gotten more useful responses from this one thread than anything else I have asked. I don't want to give the impression that I am particularly hung up on the gear aspect of DIR. To be honest, what interests me more is the emphasis on increasing your SA. I dive a lot with my wife in warmer climates and because I am the more trained and experienced one of the two of us I am particularly cognizant of my SA. (call it a function of my military background) I see the gear set up as a necessary thing that lets you dive more safely and therefore I can remove as much unecessary risk from the equation as I can. There are enough unforeseen things that can occur that it just seems prudent to remove what you can from the risk equation. I do like a bit of risk (used to fly military) but I don't want to get stupid about it.

Okay, so when is the next DIRF class in the closest location to Vancouver Island? I can travel no problem and I can probably bring along another person with comparable (or more) experience who is also interested. I have a pretty flexible schedule so that part is not too bad. After some questions and answer periods I want to do the class in cold water (had thought about Bonaire) because, well, that is where I live and dive most often. I would guess that if I learn the skills in my drysuit it should be easier to apply them in warm water.

As a second question, can anyone who teaches for any of the other agencies speak to their experience incorporating any of the DIR philosophy into other non-GUE OW classes? I believe that my role in educating divers is to turn out a properly trained critical-thinking diver, regardless of the training agency. Yes, you have to meet certain standards, but where do you draw the line? You kind of feel like a parent who is letting their son drive solo for the first time when your student is finally certified. How much additional info can you throw at them? I think SA is probably one of the most important things to teach a student, but where do you throw that into a course? Somewhere between mask clearing and buoyancy control?

Thanks again for all the help. Hope to meet a lot of you folks.

Cheers

 

[cmalinowski]

... I think SA is probably one of the most important things to teach a student, but where do you throw that into a course? Somewhere between mask clearing and buoyancy control? ...

You take a buddy away from a buddy team, or "make" something happen while they are simming along. Then, you explain to them the possible consequences of their lack of situational awareness and what it meant on that dive. I don't think it would be that hard to try and instill that need into people. Most training agencies don't. They say "if you get seperated" then do this. DIR says "don't get seperated. Period."

BTW, while I said DIR and its strict tenets aren't for everyone, they are for me and I would suggest that you look into them and only dismiss if you really don't think they are for you. My point was that you shouldn't fit your diving into DIR if you don't like it just to be DIR. Me? I like it. DIR fits my diving style. Maybe it will for you too.

Good luck with the class and your quest to become a better diver.

Take care,
Chris

 

[Gilldiver]

.

Okay, so when is the next DIRF class in the closest location to Vancouver Island? I can travel no problem and I can probably bring along another person with comparable (or more) experience who is also interested. I have a pretty flexible schedule so that part is not too bad. After some questions and answer periods I want to do the class in cold water (had thought about Bonaire) because, well, that is where I live and dive most often. I would guess that if I learn the skills in my drysuit it should be easier to apply them in warm water.

Cheers

The bigest weakness with GUE right now is their lack of instructors. A quick look at the GUE web site (http://www.gue.com/Training/Instructors/index.html) shows only 48 instructors in the world. In North America that have 19 instructors of which only 7 can teach more then DIRF and 5 who can teach tech or cave. So getting the training is more of a you have to go to them kind of thing. They will do classes around the country and world. I would sugest that you give them a call to see who is doing a class at a time and place you can make.

The instructor comment is not a dig on them, it is just a fact, and Jesus started out with only 12 and look where he got.

One thing I am watching is to see what happends to GUE whenever Jarrod Jablonski retires. Will there be a critical mass to keep it going?

 

[Ben_ca]

I would look around for mentors... others who are diving the dives that you would want to do in the future... express interest and often they will take you under they're wing...

There's some there on Victoria and a bunch more in Van... (who wouldn't mind coming over there to dive I suspect) so just wait I'm sure some of them will be along shortley

 

[TSandM]

PM jeckyll. He's taking Fundies in the very near future from Dan Mackay in Vancouver. I don't know the dates, and I don't know if the class is full.

BTW, we're diving with Diver's Choice here in Nanaimo tomorrow, but we're going out at 8am and leaving to get the 3:15 Tswassen ferry.

Oh, and just having the experience that a lot of DIR simply makes sense is a pretty common occurrence, I think. It's what happened to me.

 

[rsdancey]

I have been on several liveaboards in the last few months and I asked a couple of the staff some "DIR" questions and they looked at me with glassy eyes and had never heard of the term. Is this just an SB thing?

I did a Blackbeard's liveaboard last year, and my wife & I both used DIR-standard rigs on the trip. Nobody aboard had much clue about either DIR or the way our equipment was set up. One fellow asked if I was a "cave diver", and I told him no, but that the water we dived in regulary was so murky that it might as well be considered a lightless environment (thus the can light and Scouts). The DM on the trip groused once or twice about my long hose, which was a bit awkward to correctly rig in the very confined area available for suit-up just prior to diving -- but that was his complaint, rather than the fear that it might somehow "choke me" or other nonsense I understand DIR-rigs have elicited from the uninformed.

Considering that my personal experience, combined with lots of trip reports here on SB, and reading about liveaboards in several dive publications all provide the same picture of an industry that isn't overly concerned with team cohesion, situational awareness, dive planning, or gas management, frankly, I think they could all use a big dose of DIR-ness, but that is pretty unlikely.

Ryan

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I also have found it very difficult to criticize the DIR equipment configuration, however most of what I know has been picked up from looking at websites. I don't know any DIR divers.

I'm sure that I will never have the discipline to "team dive" and follow some of the DIR protocols, but with regard to equipment configuration, I have tried to implement some of the relevant gear configurations and have been pretty happy with them. Since I dive solo usually, some of the DIR gear just doesn't make sense for my personal open water diving.

The DIR people will all say that it is not a cafeteria plan and you can't just pick and choose the portions of DIR that appear to you, but I would argue that you can still realize significant benefits by applying some of their "stuff".

If I was seeking technical diving instruction, I would actively seek out a DIR instructor.

 

[nadwidny]

Okay, so when is the next DIRF class in the closest location to Vancouver Island? I can travel no problem and I can probably bring along another person with comparable (or more) experience who is also interested.

Dan MacKay came over during Christmas and he said he is doing some Fundy stuff in Port Alberni in March. Email him at dan@northerntechdiver.com for more details and see if there is room in any of the classes.

As a second question, can anyone who teaches for any of the other agencies speak to their experience incorporating any of the DIR philosophy into other non-GUE OW classes?

Can be done and quite successfully. My buddy taught an OW class DIR and thought it produced much better divers than the way he used to teach. Andrew G. has probably the most experience in doing DIR OW courses and I've talked to him quite a bit about it and found his experiences most interesting. The problem is there are a lot of people out there that think they are DIR and advertise themselves as such but they aren't. At this point if anyone says they teach "DIR" and they don't have a level 2 GUE course (Cave 2, Tech 2) then the chances are pretty good they are talking out their azz.

 

[Scubakevdm]

The bigest weakness with GUE right now is their lack of instructors. A quick look at the GUE web site (http://www.gue.com/Training/Instructors/index.html) shows only 48 instructors in the world. In North America that have 19 instructors of which only 7 can teach more then DIRF and 5 who can teach tech or cave. So getting the training is more of a you have to go to them kind of thing. They will do classes around the country and world. I would sugest that you give them a call to see who is doing a class at a time and place you can make.

The instructor comment is not a dig on them, it is just a fact, and Jesus started out with only 12 and look where he got.

One thing I am watching is to see what happends to GUE whenever Jarrod Jablonski retires. Will there be a critical mass to keep it going?

There are 73 instructors that can teach Fundementals as of the 8th of Jan, 2007... I think. I was there when David Rhea give Rick Gomez his card that morning, it was #500073.

 

[nadwidny]

The instructor comment is not a dig on them, it is just a fact, and Jesus started out with only 12 and look where he got.

That's pretty good! But I agree that the lack of instructors is quite worrisome. GUE is turning out more Fundy instructors every year but the number of Tech/Cave teachers shrinks every year. For an organization that is based on teaching technical this trend should be a concern.

One thing I am watching is to see what happends to GUE whenever Jarrod Jablonski retires. Will there be a critical mass to keep it going?

Jarrod is young so as long as he keeps his interest there shouldn't be a problem for years and years. But it is a good question. What if one day JJ wakes up and decides that he wants to start raising orchids? Who is around now and has the credentials to keep GUE going?