SeaJay
Contributor
Great question.
I haven't taken any SSI or BSAC courses... So I'm relatively ignorant when it comes to those and cannot truly give you an accuate description based on experience. However, I took the class with several individuals who have recieved a wide variety of training, and they remarked the same as I have. You'll also find the same comments from a wide variety of people on this board who claim the same.
For reference, the extent of my outside-of-GUE training has been OW, AOW, Rescue, and several specialties, including cavern, navigation, wreck and deep. Some of the people I took DIR-F with were PADI Master divers, and two of them were Master Instructors. Three of them were DM's... All through PADI, although two had gotten their original training through YMCA and SSI. If I'm not mistaken, there was also one that had extensive NAUI training. At about 120 dives at the time, I was the least trained of all the divers that took the DIR-F course with me. By the way, there were only four of us, including me... So all of that training was distributed over a few number of divers, hinting that each was fairly well educated and trained about diving.
...And there was the combined experience, too. Some of them had been diving for a few decades. I've been diving since 1986, but only got serious about it a year and a half ago. Don't laugh, now... That's when I got my first C-card. So I was officially a new diver, but already had lots of experience.
Anyway, to answer your question - I found that there were skills taught in DIR-F that WERE taught in PADI and NAUI classes. In fact, the notorious GI3 actually remarks on one of his videos, "If we could just get people to go back and review the PADI Open Water One manual, I think we'd all be better off." His implication was that DIR-F was not really "new" information, but rather a "mastery of the basics."
However, all of us involved in my DIR-F course did see new material that we'd never seen before. For us, it was more like a "piecing together of the puzzle" than either a "review of the basics" or completely new material. When I took my DIR-F course, I'd gone to great lengths to "piece the puzzle together already;" that is, I had already felt that my PADI training was lacking, and so I'd done research in books, on the internet, and in talking with more experienced divers. For me, DIR-F was wonderful in that it really filled in the missing pieces and found places for the puzzle pieces that I was unable to assemble on my own. The net result was one of, for the first time, really seeing "the big picture" when it came to diving.
...But my point above about "not having seen these skills before" isn't wholly incorrect... In fact, it's quite the opposite. For example, we spent all night Friday night (the first night of the class) understanding, from a mathematical standpoint, trim, buoyancy, and body position in the water. We touched on many aspects of diving which included not only a clearer understanding of the physics of diving (from trim and buoyancy to a little deco theory (preparation) to a better understanding of exactly how and why the recreational dive planner gives you the numbers it does. We talked about the theories behind the GUE recommended fin strokes, the body positioning, and yes, even gear configuration. It was an awesome time to bring up concerns for me, like, "Why dive with the computer/bottom timer on the right wrist?" "Why is the bottom dump on Halcyon wings on the wrong side?" "Why a backplate and wings," and so on. My questions were encouraged wholly, not discouraged, as one might expect. Heck, we even went over the correct placement of the D-rings on a rig and the bes way to "hit" them every time without fail. At midnight Friday night, a tired MHK and AndrewG. retired to their hotel room, but I stayed awake for hours in a darkened room, staring at the ceiling, mulling this awesome information over in my head.
Saturday and Sunday, we did things that WERE taught in my PADI courses, but never quite to that extent. They put me in 20' of water and told me to place myself horizontally... And stop moving. "Hang there," they said. "No problem," I thought. For the first time, someone watching me knew "good" from "bad," and I was horrible. I was really surprised that I could not do what they'd asked me to do. I was sure Friday night that I was fully capable. That just wasn't the case.
..If I had to answer your question with a short paragraph, I'd say that I was never taught anywhere close to the buoyancy control that DIR-F taught... And now that I have a better understanding, I can't imagine not having this tool to use in my daily diving. I was also taught trim, which was only briefly touched on in any of my PADI classes... And even at the Aquarium. The simplicity in thought, which leads to simple skills that can be mastered, a simple rig that is much more failure-resistant, and simple dive techniques and planning which are much less prone to failure... Well, none of those were touched on by any of my previous training.
MHK's reaction to my frustration - him saying, "You've never been trained with this stuff before," was accurate... Specifically, he was talking about the body position and the accuracy in buoyancy and trim which is one of the hallmarks of GUE training.
I hope that answers your question, and I hope that nobody takes it as inflammatory. Those were just my experiences... Others' mileage may vary.
Interestingly, I first caught a "glimpse" of my missing skills when I read the DIR Fundamentals book by JJ. Thus, if you're looking for more information on these skills, I would highly recommend reading that book. That's what a lot of people do that have questions about DIR-F. Frankly, the first time I read it, I silently made fun of it the whole time I read it... So you won't be alone in that regard. But I found two or three points which made sense to me... I found two or three little "fruits" which I found I might be able to incorporate into my diving. Having made fun of the book or not, it was worth the read just for those "fruits," I thought. However, the more I went along in my diving, the more I found myself referring back to that book for good ideas. It wasn't a huge leap for me to take the class "just to see what it's all about." I figured it was worth the investment if I could pick up a couple more "fruits."
The net result - and it didn't happen immediately - was that it changed my diving. When I go out diving with others, I'm the first one ready to dive, because my gear is simple and works every time. I never need to fiddle or mess around. I'm also the first one done cleaning my gear, as it's minimalist... I just rinse and go. Easy.
...And in reviewing the dives, I find that my comrades that are not familiar with this sort of diving style are busy talking about whatever issue they had... A weight problem, a current problem, an "I couldn't get down" problem, a leak, a mask flood, or whatever. They laugh and joke and say, "I wish that wouldn't have happened to me." My review of the dive typically is something like, "I wanna dive more. I don't do this enough. Man, that was fun." And nearly always, the person who was most taken aback by the backplate or long hose or the "where's your BC" comments... Now begins to ask questions. "Howcome you just hover like that?" (I tell him that I was waiting for them to catch up.) "Where did that lift bag come from?" "How much air did you have left??" "Howcome we can't get the marine life to come close to us?" "Man, SeaJay you were right there when so-and-so had that problem."
'Nuff said. I hope this hasn't come across arrogantly... It's not meant to be that way at all. Rather, it's a simple observation from an admittedly biased diver who's found a better way to dive. And it's your invitation to at least check it out.
...And no, I'm not connected to GUE's payroll.
