I caught flak for doing a boat dive in doubles and drysuit in Florida a while back too. I had the last laugh on the way in when a front moved through and it turned cold and rainy. Everyone else was cold and miserable while we were warm and toasty. 
Super secret DIR equipment? Post your stories (all in good fun)
- Thread starter StreetDoctor
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Part of the fun of being on the MV Tala in the Red Sea was that nobody even blinked at my doubles, long hose and dry suit -- in fact, one of the guides was diving a Fusion, too!
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Clanggedin
Contributor
I am not DIR, nor a Tech Diver but I do dive long hose with BP/W which I purchased fresh out of OW class. When I went in to take my AOW cert I told Instructor of the class what I was diving and he responded with "You're not going to get yourself killed in a cave are ya?". LOL. Uhh Nope!
On my first dive with DIR divers - I was so exciting to see these divers in action, but also incredibly stressed to be in the water with these "scary" & "perfect" divers. Would they criticize every move? I anxiously awaited the Kool-Aid to come out signifying the indoctrination into some weird diving cult where I’d have to be super-serious and wear black. It didn't happen.
On the first dive I tried so hard to hold trim I blew through my air in 1/2 the time, at one point I got dizzy, and really needed a chiropractor the next day from overarching. They kept asking me what was wrong. I felt kind of silly. How could I answer? They welcomed me anyway, helped me relax and offered very useful diving tips. Later, when we took a few recreational divers out; they looked so nervous to be diving with us. One blew through the air in about 30 minutes. The stress was unnecessary.
Diving every weekend with these DIR divers for 4-5 months & meeting lots of them has dispelled 95% of the rumors I heard on SB. Where do these stereotypes come from? The skills are amazing & we do have tons of fun! I've seen DIR divers swimming upside down, doing loops with scooters, back flips in the water, drinking Kool-Aid at 50ft, doing jumping jacks with singles, pulling all kinds of pranks topside and underwater, wearing pink, purple, blue, red, yellow - you name it!
It's kind of sad how the board stereotypes create this unnecessary bias, when in actuality, I really can't believe how friendly, helpful, generous, accepting, fun and supportive our local GUE/UTD (DIR) divers are.
I just love diving with my new buddies like these awesome friends.
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Thanks everyone!
On the first dive I tried so hard to hold trim I blew through my air in 1/2 the time, at one point I got dizzy, and really needed a chiropractor the next day from overarching
. They kept asking me what was wrong. I felt kind of silly. How could I answer? They welcomed me anyway, helped me relax and offered very useful diving tips. Later, when we took a few recreational divers out; they looked so nervous to be diving with us. One blew through the air in about 30 minutes. The stress was unnecessary.Diving every weekend with these DIR divers for 4-5 months & meeting lots of them has dispelled 95% of the rumors I heard on SB. Where do these stereotypes come from? The skills are amazing & we do have tons of fun! I've seen DIR divers swimming upside down, doing loops with scooters, back flips in the water, drinking Kool-Aid at 50ft, doing jumping jacks with singles, pulling all kinds of pranks topside and underwater, wearing pink, purple, blue, red, yellow - you name it!
It's kind of sad how the board stereotypes create this unnecessary bias, when in actuality, I really can't believe how friendly, helpful, generous, accepting, fun and supportive our local GUE/UTD (DIR) divers are.
I just love diving with my new buddies like these awesome friends
.
Thanks everyone!
I was warned at my LDS about those who are DIR. I have been ridiculed for reading J J's book. In the end, I decided not take the good out of it all. Why do kids say that they do not like a vegetable before they try it? Some divers are the same way. I am not fully DIR compliant, but they have some really great ideas! And I have learned from everyone I dive with. I say I have more fun with my tech friends than with my rec friends. Does that mean that I stop diving with my rec friends? Nope. I do try to teach everyone I am around about the options. And I love the opportunity to learn even the most basic tidbit from anyone.
I would love to hear another funny story.
I would love to hear another funny story.
lamont
Contributor
On my first dive with DIR divers - I was so exciting to see these divers in action, but also incredibly stressed to be in the water with these "scary" & "perfect" divers. Would they criticize every move? I anxiously awaited the Kool-Aid to come out signifying the indoctrination into some weird diving cult where Id have to be super-serious and wear black. It didn't happen.
On the first dive I tried so hard to hold trim I blew through my air in 1/2 the time, at one point I got dizzy, and really needed a chiropractor the next day from overarching
Yeah, I took out a relative DIR newbie to do his first reel work a couple weeks ago, and mostly he did pretty well (generated some really nice rats nests just like everyone does their first go at it), but his biggest issue just seemed to be going to fast, and getting frustrated, and I expect that was probably in large part due to being a bit worried that he was looking bad to someone more senior than him.
Really, I felt a little bit clueless because someone who was actually an instructor (e.g. Bob Sherwood or whoever) probably would have been able to fix the issues that he was having underwater and been able to explain it all better topside. If he was actually being evaluated on his abilities to proficiently use a reel he wouldn't have done well (it was his first time), but if I was being evaluated on my abilities to proficiently supervise a diver who had just had a reel plopped into his hands for the first time I wouldn't have done particularly well either (my first time, too) .
We're all actually clueless, its just that more experienced divers are clueless about what they're doing on higher levels...
Agreed! I'm far from "DIR-compliant" and I'm certainly not qualified to do anything approaching "technical" diving, but I'm definitely envious of the typical skillset I see from GUE/UTD/etc. divers. More importantly, I think that once you dive with those folks, it's really only a matter of opening your eyes and watching to see the practical benefits of some of their gear choices.
Bungeed octo? Upon seeing that for the first time, it immediately made sense to me and seemed like a really smart way to make a primary 2nd stage issue as comfortable to solve as possible. ADOPTED
Long hose? I haven't made the switch yet (still shopping for a can light to use as a hose catch), but I've been present-for/participated in OOA drills with somebody on a long hose, and I can tell you without hesitation which setup I'd rather use in an emergency. GOING TO ADOPT
BP/W? I was at the point where I was really happy with my Scubapro Knighthawk. My weighting was dialed in pretty well, and by and large my trim felt good. I felt like I'd hit a wall though, because the damn thing was extremely difficult to keep from sliding around a bit. Switching to a continuous webbing harness (even with the Halcyon cinch installed) has been a very noticeable improvement. My tank stays solidly positioned, I've got more weight on my back which makes trimming out way easier, and I've got less padding and clutter getting in my way. ADOPTED
Philosophy doesn't have to play into it at all - most of the choices simply make a lot of sense.
OP
StreetDoctor
Contributor
*DROOL*
I want a scooter SOOOO BAD. Speaking of which I have a pretty awesome scooter story.
The first time I ever dove a scooter was at a local quarry about 4 months ago with a local DIR instructor (ppO2 Diver on here) who was borrowing two mako's from a friend. We had done one dive on the shallow side buzzing the training platforms, doing loops, etc. It was AWESOME. Duane was taking video and was hanging back while I led. For some reason I really like stopping and flaring out (reminds me of parachuting?) The second dive we decided to do a lap of the entire quarry (about 30 minutes). I was so excited and having so much fun with the scooter that I really wasn't paying attention to what was directly in front of me. We were on the deeper side which is about 50' and we were following the wall around at about 35'. Visibility was pretty good so you could see the bottom from our depth. As we rounded the southwest corner of the quarry I had completely forgotten about the large 12" diameter pipe that runs from the surface down to the bottom at about a 60 degree angle. From our depth it was about 10' off the wall, just perfect enough for me to be looking down and not paying attention to what was in front of me and.... *WHAM* straight to the forehead. It felt like I got hit by a bus and I had no idea what happened. At first I thought something had happened with the scooter and maybe it exploded LOL. I could hear Duane laughing in his regulator behind me and when I finally realized I hit the pipe I couldn't stop laughing myself. Thank God for cold water and a 7mm hood otherwise I would have probably knocked myself out. Unfortunately (well fortunately for me) Duane had stopped taping otherwise it probably would have been the #1 video on youtube. :laughing:
I want a scooter SOOOO BAD. Speaking of which I have a pretty awesome scooter story.
The first time I ever dove a scooter was at a local quarry about 4 months ago with a local DIR instructor (ppO2 Diver on here) who was borrowing two mako's from a friend. We had done one dive on the shallow side buzzing the training platforms, doing loops, etc. It was AWESOME. Duane was taking video and was hanging back while I led. For some reason I really like stopping and flaring out (reminds me of parachuting?) The second dive we decided to do a lap of the entire quarry (about 30 minutes). I was so excited and having so much fun with the scooter that I really wasn't paying attention to what was directly in front of me. We were on the deeper side which is about 50' and we were following the wall around at about 35'. Visibility was pretty good so you could see the bottom from our depth. As we rounded the southwest corner of the quarry I had completely forgotten about the large 12" diameter pipe that runs from the surface down to the bottom at about a 60 degree angle. From our depth it was about 10' off the wall, just perfect enough for me to be looking down and not paying attention to what was in front of me and.... *WHAM* straight to the forehead. It felt like I got hit by a bus and I had no idea what happened. At first I thought something had happened with the scooter and maybe it exploded LOL. I could hear Duane laughing in his regulator behind me and when I finally realized I hit the pipe I couldn't stop laughing myself. Thank God for cold water and a 7mm hood otherwise I would have probably knocked myself out. Unfortunately (well fortunately for me) Duane had stopped taping otherwise it probably would have been the #1 video on youtube. :laughing:
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