What is the best path for me to take

[suthnbelle]

Leah, since you're closer to Charlotte than Raleigh our NC group also practices skills at Lake Norman Quarry in Charlotte. Sparticle and the rest of the soon-to-be DIR types in our group could venture down here.

 

[Adobo]

I want to continue to move toward a DIR direction, so with that in mind what path should I take to move forward?

New diver with about 50 dives, SDI certified June 06
Golem BP/W added bent D rings for the shoulders
Scuba Pro Fins both jet and twin jet (working out in the pool to overcome a hip injury so until that is over come I use the splits in OW and the jets in workouts and rehab)
Reg set is in the mail but is DIR configured with hose set up
Wrist computer/bottom timer

So I know the gear is only the first part. I have been in touch with a local group from Atlanta and might get to dive along with them some this summer.

So what can I do or do I need to be doing to move closer to my goal. I would like to take fundies, but that will be some time before I can do that--maybe next year or so.

Thanks

Good: free videos of common skills taught in fundies/essentials - can be found in sites like Baue.org

Better: Intro to Tech DVD from 5thd-x. DVD has larger videos of the common skills. Each skills is done from beginning to end and then re-done with grease pencilled breakdonwns of how the skills are done. DVD also has some files that has "bullet points" around some of the basic ideas for entry level DIR divers. (Note: DVDs are never intended to replace real training from qualified instructors.)

Best: GUE fundies or 5thd-x essentials.

And whatever you do, dive a bunch with like-minded divers.

 

[krcollins]

Skills review via the available videos is essential but you really need to find a buddy that is as passionate as you are and dive dive dive with them. Then go take fundie with her/him.
Also sit awareness is huge and can't be learned by watching a video. Try to raise your overall acumen about what is going on around you in your everyday life....Pay attention to things you would not normally pay attention to...then quiz yourself. IE what was the vertical clearance of that overpass I just went through?

 

[Ben_ca]

Good: free videos of common skills taught in fundies/essentials - can be found in sites like Baue.org

Take note www.baue.org Not www.baue.com

one is the Bay Area Underwater Explorers and the other is a uhmmm.... dead end :11doh:

 

[Archangel]

All GREAT advice from my DIR family members. Let me also, add. . .

. . . have fun, do OOA drills, have fun, work at basic 5, have fun, get accustomed to the 'team' concept, have fun, heal, have fun, look at the squishy fishies, and above all have fun.

Tevis

 

[DIR-Atlanta]

Just a couple of thoughts - it's really hard for one single person to adopt DIR without some type of support system. That's why it's super-important to have a group of divers that you can practice, train, and even (shudder!) do some fun diving with, and on a regular basis. "Build it and they will come".

The best advice I can offer is kind of a follow-on to the postings by rjack321, krcollins and others. It will be a lot easier if you can get a little group together to start practicing, with the idea of taking the Fundamentals class together at some point. Once you get that going, then work on expanding the size of the group. That's basically how the DIR-Atlanta group got started in 2003, and now we have about 6-8 folks who are diving and training together on a fairly regular basis (as well as a network of DIR buddies in neighboring states).

Don't get discouraged if you don't have a lot of success early on. You will be trying to overcome a lot of non-DIR inertia that has been created by the dive industry as a whole, and you will be frustrated at times with the slow progress as you try to move forward with this. Just remember that the goal (at least initially) is not necessarily to "convert" everyone you meet to DIR - that's what gives DIR a bad image in a lot of places.

If people decide that DIR is right for them, then that's great, but even if they don't, they will still take something positive away from their exposure to DIR. The main goal is to try and help people become better divers. In the end, that's what it's all about anyway.

 

[jeckyll]

Just as an example, there is finally a Fundies class scheduled here for March.

It's taken about a year to get enough momentum going and get enough people interested to get it to run. And that's _with_ a large number of folk diving in BP/W and long hoses already, so they wouldn't even have had to switch equipment.

 

[Jason B]

Leah, as Sparticle said, you are more than welcome to come up to Fantasy Lake in Rollesville, NC and do skills with our group.

 

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

Thanks, I think I try to make it up that way when the weather breaks and it is warm enough for me to get wet again. I really would like to spend a day diving with you guys.

I have been sending Kool-aid packets via email to my dive buddy and she is interested in learning more about DIR too.

Thanks for the invitation. I look forward to taking you guys up on it.

Leah

 

[SparticleBrane]

It'll be a few months, if you're a warm-water kinda person. Fantasy Lake is in the low 50s right now and will probably stay that way through April.
May it'll start to warm up into the 60s. June, high 60s through mid 70s. July-September you'll see high 70s-mid 80s. October it starts to cool down again to the mid to low 70s. In November, every day of diving I had (5 in all), each was of a degree or two and then you'd back in the mid 50s.