If you were just starting to go DIR, where would you start?

[Mo2vation]

I don't know if my opinion really matters, Ken. I don't want to insult anyone but I think we should collectively ask ourselves if being an avid cyber diver makes one an expert...

R..

Surely you have a line in your mind - on one side is some pontificating clown with no credibility (because they are fundyed, but not "experienced") and on the other side of that line you have cast the credible person who possesses this mystery cocktail of experience and the card.

Just wondering where that line is. Although you make a new distinction between the avid cyber diver and (presume) "real" diver.

Is it 1 dive a month? Is it 15 dives a month? Does one dive get more points than one dive trip where you may make 3 in a day? Is it 50 dives a year (essentially two 1-week resort trips...)? Is it 100 dives a year? 200? Does the Rot Chart of real diving grant bonus points to cold water diving? Double points for a night dive. Triple points if there was an OOA handled successfully? Does hunting count? How about instructors that boat 1000 dives a year, but only have about 100 or so without a class? Are they more experienced divers simply because they're wetter than the rest of us?

I mean, so long as you were bringing it up, just thought I'd ask.

---
Ken

 

[ckharlan66]

Just to add to the thoughts. I don't know what the answers are but book learning is acceptable in our world in most fields.

How many college professors actually have real world experience in their fields. I know very few of my business professors have owned or ran businesses but they are deemed qualified to teach due to their study of the literature and theories. Much of what is discussed on the board is relaying what is written in literature and understanding theories so just because you aren't doing 1000 dives a year doesn't necessarly mean you don't know the literature and theories as well as anyone else.

You might not be able to demostrate it as well as others though.

Just a viewpoint to add to the thoughts. I will move back to lurking now.

Chad

 

[Diver0001]

I mean, so long as you were bringing it up, just thought I'd ask.

---
Ken

I simply don't have the answer, Ken. We take ourselves very seriously on Scubaboard but I dont think it's always in balance with the experience level we have in reality.

R..

 

[OneBrightGator]

...We take ourselves very seriously on Scubaboard...

Too seriously.

You have to take each post individually, someone talking way above their experience and training in the Tech forums may be a Reg Tech and know more about regulators then 99% of the members. Bottom line is most people can tell when someone knows what they're talking about or when someone is just talking **** they heard/read/*******ized or whatever.

 

[Florabama]

Thanks for all your answers and the discussion. I really appreciate the book recommendations and will look those up ASAP. One question that came to mind as I read through the thread; how does hunting/spearfishing fit into DIR? Can you be a spear slinger and still be DIR?

 

[Krafty]

I Agree with the second post.

I got my open water from a DIR shop, met all the guys and we all took a trip to Apo island in the phillipines to dive.

When I returned home to CA and started to check out dive shops the DIR could get everyone talking.

I got the book DIR-F and read it and made my own decision.

I myself love the book.

 

[thmoose51]

Regardless of what anyone thinks about the DIR concept it has made one heck of a contribution to the "sport" of SCUBA diving. Even if I don't like what they say I still have to admit that they make sense. Sometimes, it seems as if the hard core DIRers? are splitting hairs just to get to the gnats ***** but I think it would be foolish to dismiss what they say without some deep thought about why they say it. My 2c anyway.