Units

[grazie42]

Originally posted by Dan Gibson:
But can you hold those 4" stops

No, I have no idea what a 4" stop is (I know my comp screen is 17" but that knowledge doesen´t do me much good). If I want to I can stop every 10cm though...

 

[OneBrightGator]

Alright, so basically because of a lack of familiarity there is no unit standardization. There are plenty of people who start down the DIR road who are unfamiliar with backplates, wings, cannister lights, etc. yet those are still standardized. Odd.

 

[lamont]

Alright, so basically because of a lack of familiarity there is no unit standardization. There are plenty of people who start down the DIR road who are unfamiliar with backplates, wings, cannister lights, etc. yet those are still standardized. Odd.

among everyone I dive with, including non-DIR recreational divers, its standardized on fsw. works very well. exactly what problem are you trying to solve?

 

[OneBrightGator]

Well, it's not a problem for you, probably not for a large number of divers, but since DIR is viewed/presented as a system for all divers and all (most, whatever) types of diving with some minor modifications I find it odd that multiple units are used. Sounds kinda like the Warm-DIR vs. Cold-DIR argument.

 

[Kevrumbo]

among everyone I dive with, including non-DIR recreational divers, its standardized on fsw. works very well. exactly what problem are you trying to solve?

Not if you dive a lot overseas . . .the rest of the World uses metric. I always swap out my Imperial/PSI SPG for my Metric/Bar SPG when I travel & dive outside the States (and change the units on my BT). . .

 

[aquaoren]

I learned diving in metric and am more comfortable in metric, nevertheless since moving to Canada, Im forced to use imperial (which sucks...) eventhough Canada is supposed to be metric.
I'm trying to convert my team to use metric but am unsuccessful until now...

 

[Nailer99]

Heh. The metric system. For all 12 years of public school I attended, I was taught the metric system. It was widely acknowledged that the USA would be going metric. Right after I graduated, I got a job in construction. I was lost- I didn't know how many inches were in 8 feet or what a sixteenth of an inch was. 22 years later, and imperial units are burned into my soul; the metric system is just another useless thing they wasted my time with in school, like when they made us read "Wuthering Heights".

OK, so it's not useless(The metric system, I mean. "Wuthering Heights" is 100% useless.) I fully understand that Metric is superior to imperial, but we failed to switch over, and we probably never will. Sheets of plywood and sheetrock are still 4 feet by eight feet, and EVERYTHING is built out of plywood and sheetrock. I guess we'll just have to look at it like languages or something. If I want to go dive in Germany, I'll probably have to learn some German, and brush up on my metric conversions, too.

 

[bperrybap]

This has been a very interesting thread. I'm with OneBrightGator
on being stumped why DIR didn't select a single set of units.
I find it fascinating that the DIR guys allow use of imperial units.
I assumed that when given options, the DIR way was to choose
the better/safer/more reliable equipment or ways of doing things.

Ignoring which unit system "feels" better,
Metric seems so much easier and simpler to do calculations
especially if you are having to them in your head.

So if metric is easier and simpler to do calculations or
re-calculations while diving, doensn't that make it safer?

And if its safer, why would DIR not chose the "better"/"simpler"
and less error prone system?

Just curious.....

--- bill

 

[radinator]

I find it fascinating that the DIR guys allow use of imperial units.
I assumed that when given options, the DIR way was to choose
the better/safer/more reliable equipment or ways of doing things.

Actually, since DIR (well, GUE to be precise, but let's ignore that for my point) grew out of Florida, you should be surprised they let you use metric.

Ignoring which unit system "feels" better,
Metric seems so much easier and simpler to do calculations
especially if you are having to them in your head.

So if metric is easier and simpler to do calculations or
re-calculations while diving, doensn't that make it safer?

And if its safer, why would DIR not chose the "better"/"simpler"
and less error prone system?

I'm one of those rare birds in the US since, with science training, I'm equally comfortable in metric and imperial. When it comes to the math needed for diving, I don't really see one as easier than the other, or less error-prone. They are different, but it's really whatever you are used to. The only difficulty is in mixing systems, and even that goes away if you are comfortable in both.

Take someone who doesn't intuitively 'get' metric and try to force them to use metric, now that is an error prone diver.

 

[grazie42]

But that´s an argument FOR teaching it in class, not against it...

If DIR is supposed to be a "globally viable solution" then sooner or later people are going to end up diving a system they´re not "feeling". Instead of choosing one system and giving people a chance to use it during class, GUE leaves divers having to fend for themselves when they encounter the "real world". Which, using radinators words, makes for a lot of error prone dir-divers...

That´s hardly optimal, is it?