Near-DIR diving: Are there DIR things you would probably never do?

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BarryNL

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I must admit, I like most of what DIR says and I've been moving in that direction with my diving but there's a few things that I think will prevent me ever becoming a full DIR diver:

- Lamp in the same hand as the compass: Sorry, it's just too much of a pain - especially in dark and bad visibility you need to look at the compass every 20 seconds - constantly swapping the light around is too annoying.

- All stages on the left: It just seems like asking for trouble, sure if you follow procedures perfectly you should never breathe the wrong gas, but why not have the extra simplicity and safety of left-lean, right-rich?

- Single bladder wings: Again, there is extra safety in a double bladder. Even if I can happily swim my rig up I still don't want to keep finning to have to stay on the surface. I also don't want to be dumping $2,500 worth of stages and lights to get extra buoyancy (would any DIR diver really do this without a second thought?) Ok, I can hold a lift bag for extra buoyancy but a working wing is better and safer. So, balanced rigs: yes. Double bladders: also yes.

- No computers: Takes some of the fun out of diving. If I plan to look at a wreck at 10m but then decide to follow a big fish down to 20m I want the flexibility to do this without having to go and write a new dive plan first. Sometimes the dive plan can be "go and have a fun dive".

Are there any other DIR guidelines others will not adopt, or would anyone like to convince me I am wrong about any of these points?
 
Seriously!?!

You have 600 posts on this forum and are subscribed to the solo divers forum, is there even a remote chance that you aren't trolling.

Don't worry Barry, I'm sure someone will take the bait.
 
Seriously!?!

You have 600 posts on this forum and are subscribed to the solo divers forum, is there even a remote chance that you aren't trolling.

Don't worry Barry, I'm sure someone will take the bait.

If you bothered to take a quick browse through some of those 600 posts before blowing your top you'd notice I don't troll. My points are serious. If there are good counters to my points I'd like to hear them. I'm always willing to accept that there may be things I haven't considered. Pity you're not.
 
I must admit, I like most of what DIR says and I've been moving in that direction with my diving but there's a few things that I think will prevent me ever becoming a full DIR diver:

- Lamp in the same hand as the compass: Sorry, it's just too much of a pain - especially in dark and bad visibility you need to look at the compass every 20 seconds - constantly swapping the light around is too annoying.
Wrist mounted compass. Light spill over should be sufficient to read compass while still keeping it focused ahead on where you are going. Of course, if you are diving in visiblity that poor, or needing that much help from compass navigation, i.e. not following contour of a wreck or something, preferred method would be to lay/follow a line to return to your starting point.

- All stages on the left: It just seems like asking for trouble, sure if you follow procedures perfectly you should never breathe the wrong gas, but why not have the extra simplicity and safety of left-lean, right-rich?

Several reasons. One of the big ones is deployment of the long hose. Can't do that if there are stages in the way. One of the principle things of DIR is stanardized configuration for all dive conditions, so you'll always know where your gear is and how to access it.

- Single bladder wings: Again, there is extra safety in a double bladder. Even if I can happily swim my rig up I still don't want to keep finning to have to stay on the surface. I also don't want to be dumping $2,500 worth of stages and lights to get extra buoyancy (would any DIR diver really do this without a second thought?) Ok, I can hold a lift bag for extra buoyancy but a working wing is better and safer. So, balanced rigs: yes. Double bladders: also yes.
Drysuit is normally redundant bouyancy. In the event of no drysuit, lift bag is preferred. Two main reasons. For a dual bladder, you have to have two hoses. If you leave both hoses hooked up, you might have air "seep" into second wing, causing inflation and bouyancy issues that might be hard to pinpoint during dive. Secondly, if a wing "fails" during a dive, likely cause is a puncture from a sharp object on wreck, etc. Most bladders that are maintained and kept in good shape dont just "fail." If something punctures the primary bladder, what are the odds that it may also damage your secondary one as well? If you arent carrying another backup device (liftbag) then your SOL. If you are, then why bother carrying two bladders? Then, there is the whole static vs. dynamic discussion, but thats a whole other post...
- No computers: Takes some of the fun out of diving. If I plan to look at a wreck at 10m but then decide to follow a big fish down to 20m I want the flexibility to do this without having to go and write a new dive plan first. Sometimes the dive plan can be "go and have a fun dive".
Ok, so I break this one myself from time to time. The idea is that the use of computers makes many people to reliant on them. If things go south, they have no idea of depth/time/deco obligation, or how to make a solid plan to ascend safely from RIGHT NOW. On "big" dives, I have a written deco plan, and carry a computer more for data logging and depth/time info. On "rec" dives with no deco, I'll still plan it the dive, but generally use the computer as a comparison to my dive plan.

Note that "using" one is not the same as "relying" on one.
Are there any other DIR guidelines others will not adopt, or would anyone like to convince me I am wrong about any of these points?

I dont know if these *convince* you or not. Merely pointing out some of the reasoning behind the ones you mentioned so you can draw your own conclusions.

Are there things that I dont do? Sure. Fitness is probably the big one for me. I dont eat/exercise anywhere near what the "book" says I should. I'm also not doing 10k penetrations, 400', or 5 hour dives on a regular basis either. I maintain a lifestyle and level of fitness that I feel is appropriate for the diving that I do.

Even if one doesnt like everything DIR, or is vehemently opposed to *most* things DIR, there are still a lot of good ideas that have come from them that can benefit just about everyone.
 
Seriously!?!

You have 600 posts on this forum and are subscribed to the solo divers forum, is there even a remote chance that you aren't trolling.

Don't worry Barry, I'm sure someone will take the bait.

Even if he is trolling (which I dont believe) he raises some good points. A lot of people look at it from the standpoint of "I dont like DIR because I can't do <blank>." Instead, they should give more consideration to the "Why?" not the "What!"

The hardest thing I've found for most people to accept is the "rules" without giving consideration to the "reason."

Blindly following the "rules" without understanding the "reason" is bad. Once you start to appreciate the reasoning, it makes it easier for you to apply it when you find yourself in an unknown or unfamiliar situation.
 
Apologies if I have jumped the shark Barry. Unfortunately the no trolling sign above is more a recommendation then a rule here so there are generally quite a few troll posts.

Keep in mind I am not really qualified to answer your question as I have just gotten through fundies course but I am more then happy to regurgitate some of things I was taught.

First off DIR is a holistic system. It is not A la carte. You don't get to pick what works for you and discard the rest. It really is take it or leave it.

To your specific questions you have to understand the foundation that the DIR system was based on. That is team diving, not same water buddy, not solo first, buddy second. You dive as a team.

In DIR the team concept is very serious. Your first thought in planning is always based on your roll in the team. At a minimum you carry your buddies reserve gas and he carries yours. Because of this, one of the most basic requirements is having the skill set and proper equipment setup to be able to donate in an OOA situation quickly and without the potential of creating any additional stresses.

Knowing that this is one of the foundations of DIR I would look at your first two points as possible reducing the effectiveness of donating to an OOA diver. Torch in right hand does have the potential of blinding your buddy (yeah, yeah you could train to angle your wrist to reduce the chance but come on). I've never dove a bottle on the right side but after all the S drills I&#8217;ve done and now knowing how quickly it can go to snot if you snag on something I would think that bottle on the right could introduce potential for additional stress.

I really can&#8217;t provide much on the dual bladder other then to parrot what I have heard before. That is, it adds more complexity without solving much. If you have a balanced rig you should be able to handle a failed wing. If you are diving so many stages and deco bottles that you are no longer balanced then you are probably diving a drysuit anyways.

Computers equal fun dive? So all those dives I did before computers weren&#8217;t mainstream weren&#8217;t fun? Wow, I had no idea :p No reason you cant modify your dive plan in the middle of a dive in recreational limits and it&#8217;s my understanding they teach deco on the fly if you deviate during a deco dive. DIR does not say you can&#8217;t deviate from your dive plan. I actually asked my fundies instructor a question along this line. During our dive brief we planned the dive on rules of thirds so our run time was 25 mins. At 25 mins I signaled time to him and he signaled to extend it to 45mins. At the surface I asked him if it was a &#8220;real&#8221; dive and someone tried to extend outside of the plan should you thumb it. He looked at me for a sec and said if he dove with someone who was so strict about following a plan and not deviating within safe limits then he would probably not dive with that person again.
 
Even if he is trolling (which I dont believe) he raises some good points. A lot of people look at it from the standpoint of "I dont like DIR because I can't do <blank>." Instead, they should give more consideration to the "Why?" not the "What!"

The hardest thing I've found for most people to accept is the "rules" without giving consideration to the "reason."

Blindly following the "rules" without understanding the "reason" is bad. Once you start to appreciate the reasoning, it makes it easier for you to apply it when you find yourself in an unknown or unfamiliar situation.


Damn you :wink:

You didn't give me time to respond.
 
Sorry!

Humberto just came ashore here and as a result there is a lot of wind, a lot of noise and the power is out. Too hot and noisy to sleep comfy and to early to get ready for work. And I've still got almost half the battery life remaining on my laptop, so nothing better to do at the moment than post on S/B! :D
 
I like a lot of aspects of DIR...but all the equipment is bit of a nuisance. I just started getting into DIR (as in a couple of weeks ago) and I'm new to diving in general...so I am by NO means an expert. I understand that DIR is meant to be wholistic and helps people to be prepared. But...if I dive exclusively during the day, in average to good visibilty...I don't want to have to carry a light, and a back up light. I know if you do night diving ever, it becomes part of your buoyancy profile, but if you NEVER dive at night why carry around two lights...especially one that is always on your hand.
 
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