PfcAJ
Contributor
All these Qs are why I don't think you understand the system.Snip
Stages go on the left because longhose is on the right, which is a function of how the valves turn on the manifold. The longhose getting caught up in stages has the potential to be very bad. The secondary benefit is that it leaves 1 side unencumbered.
Computer/bottom timer (we're not real big on computers for planning deco) is on the right arm so you can see your depth while adjusting buoyancy. Compass is on the left so you can see it while scootering.
Sometimes you can easily talk, other times you can't (underwater).
A good example of an emergency procedure that benefits from standardization is unconscious diver recovery. Having your inflator(s) and dump(s) in the same place ensures you're always going to know where they are in a stressful situation. Another example is a regulator malfunction. Since everyone I dive with dives the same way, its easy to identify what you're breathing, what you're not breathing, and what needs to be fixed. Often its easier for a buddy to see and fix something that it is for you to fix it. I once had a post start to bubble at 200ft deep some 1500ft back in a cave. Because of DIR, it was trivial for my buddy to come in, shut down the post, purge the reg and fix the leak.
Bill Main was the guy who introduced a concept of strict minimalism and streamlined gear. Hogarthian served as the base and DIR took it to a fairly universal system.
DIR divers recognize the strength of the team concept. Equipment standardization serves to provide massive logistical benefits . I can show up literally anywhere in the world and hit the ground running because the equipment is the same. A standard set of in water procedures means seamless integration with any team. I can show up in Italy to wreck dive and dive the same way I do when I dive with my Hong Kong friends on a reef dive, which is exactly the same way I dive with my N Fl cave friends. The only thing that changes is the size/number of tanks. Easy peasy.
I will contend that the same advantages it has in technical diving easily transfer over to recreational diving. Literally all my responses for different situations are the same, from donating gas to hand signals, nothing changes.
I'm sure we can make parallels with your time in the Army. What happens to your thumb whenever you pick up your rifle to fire? It flips the safety, right? Ever ended up with something like a shotgun that doesn't have that thumb safety that you've trained on thousands and thousands of times and been put in a stressful situation? I have. That safety was not where I thought it was. This lesson hit home, and while no one got hurt, someone could have all because I was used to doing something a certain way and it didn't transfer over due to high stress. This just extends that concept to diving and smooths it out across all facets of the activity.