DIR is a holistic diving philosophy based around the use of a scooter with the back up regulator coming off the left post and the diver breathing the long hose off the right post and standardized equipment, gases and procedures that will give divers the best all around chance of team success and survival in most every diving environment through a unified team concept. While DIR practices are not necessarily always the best based upon the environment and the mission, and while the components may be faulted to various extent when scrutinized outside the whole, as a whole the components forming the philosophy of "Doing It Right" bring a level of intelligence to technical diving on a wide scale that had been sadly lacking. Those who have been well-trained or who are well researched in their knowledge of the system can agree on the majority of points that are understood to form the DIR philosophy. Minor variations in procedures and equipment had often been regional and depended upon the GUE instructor(s) teaching in the area or the size and influence of the DIR diving groups in an area. Where once DIR was almost exclusively linked to Global Underwater Explorers, the departure of several reputable expert instructors from the organization, has found the diving public being educated on DIR principles through other agencies such as NAUI with the NAUI Tec program and Andrew Georgitsis (former GUE training director) and even in PDIC Tek when Marcus Werneck, a former GUE cave instructor, was a PDIC instructor trainer and developing DIR for both recreational and technical training for PDIC. For many, GUE will always be the final word in what practices are currently DIR, while others view GUE through more politically jaded eyes and see DIR outside of GUE's influence to be a better alternative. The open circuit Hogarthian based equipment configuration is almost universally agreed upon by every DIR practioner and arguments usually consist of things like front crotch D-rings in or out (By the way, Andrew Georgitsis told me that the concept of a non-scootering position was given to him through Ted Cole), what lights to use, what cutting tools and what pocket contents. There might be some minor variations of dive planning and some slightly different gas mixes, but despite the differences it would be possible for almost any DIR diver or team to dive in unity with another diver or team with only some minor adjustments that can be discussed and agreed upon before a dive. Like other philosophies, there are those who would like to argue minute details ad nauseum, but the big picture concepts are relatively obvious to those with knowledge of the system. For some, the philosophy borders on the passionate. This ferver can extend from years of experience and the realization that this system works great for them. Such divers often wished they had known these concepts years before in their diving careers. For others, the fervor is based upon vicarious attachment, astute marketing, or in some cases really seeing how all the pieces fit together and they "get it." One ScubaBoard member says that, "There are no DIR divers just DIR dives," which is probably true and DIR dives only exist when divers follow GUE's current protocols for many people. Such a topic would be hotly debated. Compared to a religion such as Christianity, GUE would be like the Papacy and other instructors would be like Protestant ministers and the obvious truths are often lost due to politics. Christians understand the ideas that form their religion and whether a window is 3 feet, 2 feet or 6 inches is like the difference between the amount of meat in a caserole that will make the difference between a mortal and a venial sin for a Catholic school boy. Skills are practiced to perfection and beyond to create automatic responses as per protocols and this will increase the safety of the divers and the skill in which they can maintain buoyancy, propel themselves and perform tasks such as gas switches and lift bag deployments. Like any philosophy, people can take things to the extreme and various personality types within the DIR community exist, like in any other community, bringing all the positive and negative energy to the system and to the sport of diving and keeping threads like this alive.
, Dave give me a beer 
(~120' on air)
