Please explain DIR to me...

[DennisS]

Basicly I wanted a multi faceted view of DIR. I wanted to see it from all angles, not just on commentator's opinion. In order to do that I had to draw as many people into it as possible. I'd actually like to draw a few anti-DIR people in to get their viewpoints.

Basicly the wider the perspective I can get on DIR, the better I can understand it.

It's been done, -many, many, many- times before. Search the old posts.

 

[cornfed]

Basicly the wider the perspective I can get on DIR, the better I can understand it.

I believe Roakey's point was that this is such a generic question (and one that has been answered many times) that it's not likely to prompt much discussion. Asking a few specific questions might jump start things.

 

[lamont]

Basicly I wanted a multi faceted view of DIR. I wanted to see it from all angles, not just on commentator's opinion. In order to do that I had to draw as many people into it as possible. I'd actually like to draw a few anti-DIR people in to get their viewpoints.

Basicly the wider the perspective I can get on DIR, the better I can understand it.

I think two of the most overlooked things about DIR both on the net and in JJ's book are situational awareness and "equipment, environment, team."

In my case, I had been diving with some Tech I trained divers and they'd been putting a few of us pre-DIRF'ies though S-drills and stuff. I'd been told several times that our team awareness sucked and been introduced to the "equipment, environment, team" concept.

I didn't really get it though until in DIRF class one of our team members drifted off while the other two of us were doing an S-drill and Brando asked for his mask while we went to the surface completely oblivious that he had any issues. At least I get the concept now, even if my team awareness still often sucks...

I gather that rec triox and tech 1 really hammer home those kinds of lessons.

In my opinion if you fixate on issues like sidemount diving or mounting stage bottles to a right side D-ring, you're missing the forest for the trees. Its important to have those discussions about gear config, and the DIR choices may not be the ones that everyone makes, but what GUE teaches doesn't end at gear config. If it did, then everyone could just by the DIR DVD and not bother with the classes...

 

[tekdivers]

Ok, I understand the need to organize your gear.

I also more than understand the need to organize your head, skills, and additude.

What I do not understand is that many people who discuss DIR tend to take the approach of gear Nazis.

I remember reading one post about a guy who had bought several BCD's to get in compliance with DIR standards. How he's spent a small fortune on dive lights so he could fit the standard.

It seems to me that by focusing on skills and additude, you would acomplish far more than any piece of gear ever could.

Seriously, some of the best divers I know dive with horse collar BCD's because that was what they trained on, and they still work.

I myself carry some gear that probably does not fit anyone's Idea of Ideal DIR gear, but I feel comfortable making any dive short of extreme cave penetration with what I use. But this is gear I am comfortable with and short of the new BCD I bought, it is the gear I have used and understand the capabilities of and limits of thoroughly.

I'm really not trying to troll here, I just want to understand what your system offers that I can incorporate into the diving that I do.

This really is not something that can just be answered in a short email.This discussion is something that could go on for quite along time..Your best bet is to contact a GUE Instructor and ask the specific questions that you have..The question that you have asked here is a very broadbased one.I think that you will find after to talking to someone that we are not gear Nazis.
CG

 

[Seabear70]

Please continue the discussion, I am actualy finding that I have a lot in common with the DIR'ers. As I believe I mentioned before, I don't think I am eligable for the class, but this is interesting information.

Some of the other posts in this area are kind of out there, like the one about the guy wanting to know if he should wear shorts? I know the shorts he's talking about, and that really dosn't make it better. It makes y'all sound like the guys running around with a carry permit, a 1911, a spyderco knife, and a shurfire flashlight that wonder why everyone else doesn't have the same things.

Here, other than pushing the class, you keep talking about things I can relate to. Boyancy control, teamwork, knowing your equipment throughly, these are things that everyone needs to understand. As for the class, like I said, I don't qualify.

 

[cornfed]

As for the class, like I said, I don't qualify.

Why not?

 

[BigJetDriver]

It makes y'all sound like the guys running around with a carry permit, a 1911, a spyderco knife, and a shurfire flashlight that wonder why everyone else doesn't have the same things.

As a fan of all of the above, I have to ask. What's wrong with that? (...Just a matter of curiosity!...)

 

[Green_Manelishi]

a 1911, a spyderco knife, and a shurfire flashlight that wonder why everyone else doesn't have the same things.

I wonder the same thing. If you have a 45ACP what else do you need?

Roakey ... 1911s (or clones) in .38 Super do not count

 

[The Kraken]

45 ACP, urgh, urgh, urgh . . . .
That's my kinda side arm !!!!
One shot, one kill !

 

[jonnythan]

We're not trying to "sell" the class, but the class is the only reliable way to get to the meat of DIR. There's so much crap on the internet about what DIR is and isn't, what's DIR and what's not, that it's virtually impossible to get a good clear view of it all without taking the class.

The book is a great starting point. There's some great information in it and it does a good job of outlining the gear requirements, the procedures, and (most importantly) why it works the way it works.

You don't need to be DIR to be a great diver. You don't need to be DIR to have great buoyancy control or trim. You don't need to be DIR to have great buddy skills. DIR's a package that requires you to have great buoyancy, good finning techniques, good buddy skills, etc.. the DIRF class teaches you how to achieve those things. You'll learn a bunch of kicks, how your equipment should fit and be properly configured, how you should look and feel in the water, and how to deal with various emergencies. It's called fundamentals for a reason.. you're learning the absolute basics of diving all over again. The only requirements for the class are being able to swim, being a non-smoker, and owning a bp/wing and long primary regulator hose.

Like I said, DIR is a whole system.. picking parts of the gear may be good for you, but it's not partially DIR.. so many of the procedures and techniques depend on all the little details in the gear.. if you leave parts out, you're leaving many other parts out. This includes the buddy system... DIR is almost worthless without a DIR buddy. Without a DIR buddy, it's basically a buoyancy and finning class.

BTW, I only know of maybe one "anti-DIR" guy on the forum who has a good understanding of DIR. ALL of the rest of them are pretty clueless about what it is and attack things they really don't understand. I used to be one of them.

Let me finish with this: 99% of the stuff you read about DIR on these forums are from people who are not and don't understand DIR. 99% of the stuff you read about DIR on these forums is absolute crap and can be safely ignored. The only way to get to the meat of it is to take the class.