Is this guy smoking something or is he on to something?

[rjack321]

ok. when you find some you'd like me to see I'd be glad to take a look.

I can't remember the last time i even saw a thread about ankle weights...

Ditto. I may have used the term "poodle jacket" in jest once, but it was along the lines of Steve's comments - I like the name.

Ankle weights may have been a discussion on a different board. Doesn't seem like a controversial topic here.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I have stated on occasion that I'm not a big fan of ankle weights. I've also admitted that I've seen times when they were a legitimate option ... but that those times were rare.

I try hard not to come across as judgmental of someone else's skills. Frankly, lack of skills don't bother me. Skills are learnable, and I do an awful lot of dives every year with divers who are trying to improve theirs. What almost always bothers me in other divers is a careless attitude toward what I consider basic safety concerns ... and that's pretty non-agency specific, and has absolutely nothing to do with equipment choices ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Teamcasa]

... or you could choose to back up your allegations with an example ... particularly since you feel it's so simple to do so.

Dave ... seriously ... you're senior staff here. People are gonna give what you say some relevence. If you're going to make that sort of accusation, then I think it only fair to back it up.

Oh ... nice selective edit you made when you quoted me, by the way ... the little snide shakey-head thing was a nice touch too ... your bias is showing ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

<no selective edits.>
You are on this board more than most people so I'm sure you have seen exactly what I'm talking about but for some reason refuse to acknowledge it. Whatever your reasons are, it's fine with me.
You seem to have this preconceived notion that I'm anti DIR, I'm not - and I've said so in many posts so what exactly is this bias you think I have.
So let's be clear, I welcome all gear/training/configuration suggestions. However, I recoil at them when they are couched in cynicism and ridicule, particularly when it's a new SB member, fresh from OW asking a question that's goes crossways to DIR. They just end up leaving, never to log back in again.

Bob, you and many others are NOT guilty of this behavior but a few vocal others are and they know it.

Funny, just the other day I was at a pool shooting some tape for a specialized dive class and another dive volunteer told me, and I quote; "DIR and tech divers make the worst buddies. They train to dive by themselves and hate diving with others." I asked him where he got such a ridiculous notion. He told me on a scuba forum. (Not SB) I told him that Team Diving is a core tenet of tech/DIR diving and recommend he do a little more reading on it and take a fundies course before making any more absurd statements.

 

[PfcAJ]

"I believe something! You can't tell me what to believe! I can't produce evidence to support my belief, but by golly, I believe it!!!!"

 

[Cave Diver]

A simple search for poodle jacket or ankle weights should provide you with enough data.

Ok, in fairness I did a search using those two terms. I skimmed through about a dozen threads that mentioned ankle weights and other than a passing mention, there was no big amount of dissension on them. I gave up after about a half dozen threads mentioning poodle jackets, because again I found no huge deal of bashing going on.

In fact, one thread had some pretty damn good responses and points on the pros and cons of each (dont ask which one, because I skimmed through too many).

I will agree with you that both of these topics have brought up some heated discussions in the past. I can't recall any recent ones like that though.

This is especially true in BPW vs. Jacket. And I think I know why...

This board is skewed towards BPW users. I think that's because the average, recreational diver who goes on vacation once a year and dusts off his jacket BC when he's packing for the trip. They don't think about diving every day. They don't look for places to discuss diving when they're not. They're not interested in AOW, DIRF, or any of the stuff that will make them better divers.

But that's what we have here. The people who think about diving all the time. Who want to better themselves and seek out advice. So it's only natural that questions from newbies who find the board get more advanced type of answers.

That doesn't mean that the respondents are DIR or even tech. Just that a lot of them have been exposed to the concepts and adopted them. Some of them may not even know *why* they adopted them, which is sad. Rather it's more of a case of "if they're doing it, it must be a good idea, so I'll do it too."

I don't really care what style someone chooses to dive with. The two things that I try to emphasize when responding to questions are "is it safe?" and "do they understand the 'why' behind the answer."

Other than that dive how you want.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

<no selective edits.>
You are on this board more than most people so I'm sure you have seen exactly what I'm talking about but for some reason refuse to acknowledge it. Whatever your reasons are, it's fine with me.

Here's the part you left out, Dave ...

... but to be fair I only regularly visit a handful of forums, so perhaps it's occurring on ones I rarely ever go to ...

It speaks for itself ... no further explanation should be required.

You seem to have this preconceived notion that I'm anti DIR, I'm not - and I've said so in many posts so what exactly is this bias you think I have.

I have this preconceived notion that you ignore that which doesn't fit in with your preconceived notions. The above selective edit is just one such example, but a timely one.

So let's be clear, I welcome all gear/training/configuration suggestions. However, I recoil at them when they are couched in cynicism and ridicule, particularly when it's a new SB member, fresh from OW asking a question that's goes crossways to DIR. They just end up leaving, never to log back in again.

I rarely see a DIR person even responding to fresh from OW posters. The obvious exception would be TSandM ... and I daresay she's probably helped more new divers get more comfortable with what they're doing than any other diver on ScubaBoard.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[LiteHedded]

Here's the part you left out, Dave ...


It speaks for itself ... no further explanation should be required.


I have this preconceived notion that you ignore that which doesn't fit in with your preconceived notions. The above selective edit is just one such example, but a timely one.


I rarely see a DIR person even responding to fresh from OW posters. The obvious exception would be TSandM ... and I daresay she's probably helped more new divers get more comfortable with what they're doing than any other diver on ScubaBoard.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

I can't remember the last time I even looked at the basic forum. and I rarely come to this one because the discussions dont interest me and I don't really care what brand new open water divers do in their diving

 

[openmindOW]

... your bias is showing ...

What your missing, Bob, is that the remarks don't only have to be heard on SB. The remarks could be heard in cave country and on internet forums.

Bob, have you ever heard the phrase "Bungeed wings of death"?

Does that phrase suggest to you that bungeed wings are safe?

 

[LiteHedded]

What your missing, Bob, is that the remarks don't only have to be heard on SB. The remarks could be heard in cave country and on internet forums.

Bob, have you ever heard the phrase "Bungeed wings of death"?

Does that phrase suggest to you that bungeed wings are safe?

are you expecting a dir diver to suggest that?

 

[ScubaSteve]

OK, I am about to vent and who knows if the post will survive.

SUCK IT UP PEOPLE!!!

My god what a bunch of crybabies we are. If somebody hears the term poodle jacket and cries that DIR divers are all evil then they need to mature quite a bit before talking to another person. If "Bungeed Wing of Death" leads a diver to believe that they will die if they dive abungeed wing then they are too stupid to exist and cannot possibly possess sufficient mental capacity to dive safely. If someone hears the term Poodle Jacket and assumes DIR=BAD then they have no clue what they are thinking because all these things are NOT specific to DIR. The terms are NOT only used by DIR divers. The people that get offended just want to be offended. Bottom line.

We waste so much time caudling the minority that we really are just allowing them to get even dumber and more sensitive.