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

[Bismark]

With your light in your right hand while holding the scooter in your right hand also, then reeling out with your left hand is no problem. Reeling back in is harder. You need to let the line accumulate behind you first, then stop scootering, and reel it in to take up the slack. You always need to keep the scooter away from the line, because it can easily suck it into the prop.

I think of other things that are worse recipies for disaster:

1) 3 person buddy teams

2) no backup timer-gauge (other than being dependent on your buddy's)

3) single deco bottles (versus 2 of everything)

4) leaving your snorkel behind for open water diving

5) dry gloves

6) wearing multiple tanks all on one side

just to name a few; getting back to the original question.

I thought the general consensus was that your opinions were only important to you. N Didn't you get the memo? Nice to see you added dry gloves to your list though and you forgot to add multiple backup SPG's. Sounds like more trolling to me.

 

[nereas]

It is faster to gear up and go with only a single SPG to clip on. Even so, I know of tech instructors who prefer 2 of them anyway.

And argon is a better solution to cold than are dry gloves.

 

[OneBrightGator]

It might be wiser for you to actually come up here and dive in our conditions rather than make comments which clearly indicate your lack of familiarity with our dive conditions. On the other hand, maybe you shouldn't, you might get lost

I don't know if leaving the best cave diving in the world for frigid darkness would be considered "wise", but I digress. See, we have one DIR-er from Seattle saying they can scooter 0.35-0.4 miles on a compass and another saying they need to deploy 0.22 miles of line to get to the dive site. So you are right, I'm a bit confused as to what's what.

So, if you actually have dive sites that require what lamont says they do, please tell me, otherwise, STHU.

It's really too bad though, because this is all just proving my point in a roundabout way.

 

[Bismark]

It is faster to gear up and go with only a single SPG to clip on. Even so, I know of tech instructors who prefer 2 of them anyway.

And argon is a better solution to cold than are dry gloves.

Too funny to even comment on...........

 

[lamont]

Um, yeah, it pretty much sounds like it. Do you not have boats or compasses in the PNW? Do you *have* to run a line, or do you just do it so you can be cool and then reel up that 1/4 mile of line?

Helps to leave the line in so that you can find the wreck again -- works a lot better than running a compass heading for 1200 feet in 10' of viz.

 

[nadwidny]

Alright, so that's GI3, JJ, Casey and JeffG... bringing the grand total up too : drum roll: 4!!!!!!

Done it.

 

[lamont]

So, if you actually have dive sites that require what lamont says they do, please tell me, otherwise, STHU.

Why does it need to be 'required' in some objectively definable way? Who the **** made you the scuba police over how I'm allowed to dive?

 

[Bismark]

I don't know if leaving the best cave diving in the world for frigid darkness would be considered "wise", but I digress. See, we have one DIR-er from Seattle saying they can scooter 0.35-0.4 miles on a compass and another saying they need to deploy 0.22 miles of line to get to the dive site. So you are right, I'm a bit confused as to what's what.

So, if you actually have dive sites that require what lamont says they do, please tell me, otherwise, STHU.

It's really too bad though, because this is all just proving my point in a roundabout way.

I can understand your confusion. Things will become more clear with more experience: which you would have if you dove up here. Please tell me your diving world doesn't start and end in holes in the ground filled with water? Before you see fit to comment on diving in this type of environment, you should gain some experience so you don't just look silly. To those that know and regularly dive in a cold-water, open ocean environment with strong and shifting currents, your comments portray your lack of experience and knowledge. Come up and try it sometime for yourself and you will see what I am talking about. This is not exactly what I would call a benign environment........

 

[rjack321]

I have run 2500-3000ft of line with a scooter. A couple times to practice (shorter runs), once to make a trail between 3 wrecks that are not that simple to efficiently swim around. Another time was because we wanted something to "hook" the wreck with if we didn't nail it. I've also scootered wrecks from shore where line was a necessity (it was already laid) cause the vis is maybe 5-8ft on a good day and its 0.4 mile to the wreck.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned and has bit me in the butt (once really hard)... Is that you can scooter SE (or whatever direction) just perfectly. But if there's a massive cross current your direction of travel is nothing like your compass heading. That's when you need additional help - like good enough vis to see the set and drift and compensate or line if there isn't.

I can manage to set and retrieve line with my Gavin. But I rely on someone else to run the heading. I keep the reel and light in the left, scooter in the right, works fine. Its a little more difficult adjusting my buoyancy on the fly with the reel in my hand (light switched to the right), but I am getting the hang of that the more I do it.

 

[ucfdiver]

Just heard this quote recently, and this thread made me remember it.

...if your pecker was an inch long for every mile of line I've laid below 300 ft....