Tired of DIR

[detroit diver]

Originally posted by WetDane
.......(TDI), one is an actual tech employee and was told loud and clrear that training from a different agency (GUE) being implied very clearly would effectively end the employment. ......

WetDane,

Was it just GUE that they would get fired for, or any competing agency?

 

[Jonathan]

OK - read the book. I have to say it did not make any new startling revelations I had not come across in other publications but it does put it all (well a lot of it) quite neatly into one place.

The one new equipment configuration thing I picked up was the clip on the primary second stage so you can clip it off to the D ring when using the deco gas - not heard of that or seen that before.

I did, however, find it a bit evangelical. I would definitely argue with "Without question the most popular and effective diving system ever devised" (page three second paragraph). Effective maybe, but popular? I can pretty much guarentee you that a very low percentage of Japanese divers have ever heard of DIR, GUE or WKPP - and there is a lot of them.

It reminds me very much of the BSAC / PADI arguments that used to go on in the UK. Hopefully things don't get that silly - it ended up hurting BSAC which is hopefully now recovering (not a BSAC diver but a PADI one - happy to dive with BSAC divers or whoever...)

There was some comment (either here or elsewhere - I'm not going hunting now) that soon GUE will have an open water qualification - so they all had to learn somewhere so let's not go dissing other methods and organisations. Also comments like BWOD etc do not help the diving world.

There I'm done. Well worth the read.
Jonathan

 

[large_diver]

I agree the book is a good resource...also agree that some of the superlatives are kind of funny, especially when so many folks have never even heard of DIR ;-)

 

[detroit diver]

Originally posted by Jonathan
.... Also comments like BWOD etc do not help the diving world.

.....

Yeah, but they are descriptive!

 

[Lost Yooper]

Maybe it will make people stop for a sec, and actually consider what they are doing, rather than listen to a clueless salesman and blow a wad of money on a useless convulation. As for dissing agencies and organizations, most of them have it coming.



Mike

 

[Starfish]

OKay I am going to jump in here. . .

As a relatively newbie diver with some experience, I think that the frustration you are hearing from people is based on the following:

"I just paid $260 for a Basic OW class, bought $700 worth of basic gear (excluding regs, BC and tank), spent many weeks of my time on training, and countless hour memorizing and understanding my basic training book and your now telling me all of it is a waste of money?!"

As a newbie this is what I heard when I first started reading this board.

Now that I have been here a while, I see merits in the DIR system, but I still have to trash nearly $700 worth of equipment AND hunt down a DIR instructor in a State that, I believe, has no DIR instructors.
I also have to order gear off a web site to get a BP & Wing confirguration WITHOUT having someone to help me set it up. THAT SEEMS even more DIWrong then if I adapt to DIR.

This frustrates me.

And I don't doubt it frustrates others. --Starfish

 

[Lost Yooper]

BINGO!! I've done exactly that...... only several times over!! I only wish it was $700 wasted in gear . The hardest part is finding a good instructor up here in the sticks. I can totally relate to you, Starfish. Been there, done that, ain't no fun! Cut your losses as soon as you can.



Mike

 

[Hal Iotis]

Starfish - I wouldn't trash anything that is still functional and safe so long as you can continue diving with it within your and its limitations. Lotsa divers have a whole lot of fun diving with their jacket BC's and otherwise non-DIR rigs. However, I have found crummy gear to be a major impediment to fun and relaxing diving. Fortunately, I read this board thoroughly before embarking on a major replacement program for worn and disfunctional gear. My SS BP and 36# wings should arrive this week. Still trying to figure out which computer to buy. I don't think you lost $700.

 

[Starfish]

I have decided to take the first tentative step and buy a BP & Wing but it is a scary prospect to do without any live-and-in-person help.

Will I fully adopt DIR? Maybe over time.
Will I implement parts of DIR? Yes.

I believe I have found a shop I can order through in the Minneapolis area. Meanwhile there is a dedicated MN board elsewhere, but I have the _sense_ that the few members are the-blind-leading-the-blind.

So please, Dear fellow Scuba Board Members, understand that for many of us, it's not that we think DIR is ultimately right or wrong, it the chaos created by being told everything that we were taught is now being criticized.

 

[metridium]

Originally posted by Starfish
I have decided to take the first tentative step and buy a BP & Wing but it is a scary prospect to do without any live-and-in-person help.

I set up my Halcyon system solo last year, without an instruction manual or owner's guide. I admit to a little head-scratching on the tank buckles, but in the end it was no big deal.

Now that those are easily available, it should be even easier.
If you have any questions, just post them here and we'll walk you through it.